Author: Madhavi Rajadhyaksha
Publication: The Times of India
Date: August 17, 2006
Introduction: Water woes follow Chikungunya
scare, Bhikhus put up a brave front
It's a two-floor structure that stands apart
for more than one reason. Not only is it the only concrete construction amid
destroyed mud houses and narrow stone strewn roads in Dhangar Takli village
in Poorna taluka, but it also houses a Sanskrit gurukul, the only such residential
centre imparting Vedic teachings in the entire district. But nature's fury
has no favourites and even the Daji Maharaj Sanskritic Sansthan school on
the banks of the Godavari river suffered grave damages during the floods.
The experience has shaken up everyone right
from the seven-year-old bhikshus to the 48-year-old Umesh Maharaj who runs
the gurukul. "Our vedic rituals require us to be near the banks of the
river, so that we can have our daily snan. But the rage of the river this
year was unprecedented," said Maharaj, pointing towards cracks on the
gurukul's ground floor wall.
"We were out playing when the river water
suddenly started rushing into the village," recalls Krishna Kulkarni
(10), who rushed to higher ground with others. The inmates spent the night
saving their study material and lugging gunny bags of grains to the top floor.
In fact, it is the second tragedy to have
struck the gurukul recently. Just last month 40 of the 80 young bhikshus who
live in the ashram had to be sent home after the area was struck by mosquito-borne
chikungunya infection.
But the damage caused by the floods is worse.
"We washed out the walls, got the cows back from the village and are
slowly resuming to normal life," said Maharaj. Dhoti-clad youngsters
who returned a few days ago are already back to their rigid routine.
The student-monks start their day at 3.30
am reciting the Vedic tomes. As the sun rises, they take a bath near the banks
of the river and offer suryanamaskaram. They then proceed with their Vedic
recitations, interspersed with academics of the village school.
The only break is a few hours reserved for
play in the evening.
Maharaj, who has recently taken the responsibility
to re-start the century-old dilapidated Sanskrit ashram in Nanded too, believes
life is best lived in close touch with one's culture. "If they can learn
10,500 Sanskrit mantras, they will never have any problem in life's dealings,"
he said.
Students, who leave the gurukul around the
age of 20, later join the mainstream, mostly continuing to impart Vedic teachings
in village schools. But sadly, the cultural centre of higher learning is yet
to get its worth.
