Surabharati Samiti
THE SPRINGBOARD FOR SAMSKRT SPEAKERS
It was 1952. Four years had passed since the inception of the Egmore Samskrt School. It had been achieving with commendable success its two objectives: propagation of Samskrt language and literature and popularization of Gita recitation and Gita studies.
Prof. P A Subrahmanya Ayyar, the Founder of the School, was still restless. He had yet another aim in life – to make people speak in Samskrt. It was his magnificent obsession, especially when the political and social atmosphere in which he lived was vitiated by anti-Samskrt propaganda. He had a firm faith that one could converse in that glorious language. He would become furious if anyone said that Samskrt was a dead language. Ultimately, the Professor decided that he would act.
The School Union of the Egmore Samskrt School was launched on 30-11-1952 by the then Minister of Education, Madras State, Sri M V Krishna Rao. Hence, for all practical purposes, the “Speak in Samskrt” campaign of the Egmore Samskrt School is more than 60 years old. At the beginning people were sceptical about the Professor’s experiment. Yet, he persisted, undauntedly. He would not give up his magnificent obsession. Meetings were held with great regularity – not once a month, but once a fortnight.
After the death of P A S in 1959, there was a lull in the “Samskrt speaking” activities of the School. After nearly a decade of hibernation, a wing of the School was launched in 1969 and was christened as Surabharati Samiti under whose auspices a meeting is held once a month at which speeches are made only in Samskrt. More than 500 such meetings have been held so far without a break.
The monthly meetings normally begin at 6.00 PM on the third Friday of every month. But there may be exceptions. The Venue is
Flat No 7, 3rd Floor
21 Valliammal Street
Kilpauk, Chennai 600 010
Anyone can attend the meetings and speak. There is no membership fee. For further
details, please contact:
+1 (206) 963-1840 (whatsapp only).