Persons in Guyana, as well as other Caribbean countries, can now benefit from the ‘Little Guru’ app to learn Sanskrit – one of the oldest languages.
The government of India last week launched the ‘Little Guru’ app for learning Sanskrit and on Friday, Indian High Commissioner to Guyana Dr K J Srinivasa formally launched the app in Guyana, Antigua & Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis and Anguilla.
At Friday’s virtual launch, High Commissioner Srinivasa was joined by Ravi Dev of the Hindus for Selfless Service (HSS) Sanghachalak and Vikas Ramkissoon, Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture.
The dignitaries in their remarks emphasised the greatness of Sanskrit language and suggested that all those interested in learning the language to take benefit of the app. They outlined that Sanskrit language is the best pathway to Indian culture and encouraged youngsters to learn the language using the App for their better understanding and immersion into the Indian culture.
This App was launched by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on April 9 in India to commemorate the 71st ICCR Foundation Day.
Sanskrit, the oldest language, continues to be a living language, being used daily in religious activities as well as by scholars in accessing literary texts for research work, etc. Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is promoting Sanskrit across the world by providing books and material to Sanskrit institutes. ICCR also deputes teachers and professors to universities and institutes for teaching Sanskrit.
Over the past few years, ICCR has been receiving a large number of requests from across the world both from the Indian diaspora as well as foreigners interested in Sanskrit. Many of the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and other religious texts are in Sanskrit and there has been a great demand from such countries for assistance in learning the language.
Within the diaspora community the desire to stay connected with their roots as well as to access the rich literary epics and texts of India has attracted a huge demand for Sanskrit. A number of Sanskrit universities across the world have also been keen on an App which would help not only the students who are currently studying in these universities but also to act as a feeder for young scholars to learn Sanskrit before joining universities.
Little Guru is a gamified app based on an interactive platform which will make Sanskrit learning easy, entertaining and fun. This app will help people who are already learning Sanskrit or those who are desirous to learn Sanskrit to do so in an easy manner based on games, competition, rewards, peer to peer interactions, etc. This unique App combines education with entertainment thereby helping keep attention of the learner as well as encourage him/her to advance further. ICCR is confident that the launch of this App ‘Little Guru’ will go a long way in popularizing Sanskrit.
This App would help create awareness not only about language but also open the doors for people to access the rich cultural heritage of India. The developers of the app has provided the High Commission with ‘special promotional code’ for the people of Guyana for subscription at concessional prices to unlock the higher levels and learn advance techniques. For more details, interested persons can contact the High Commission at [email protected] and/or telephone +592-226 3996 & 2268965.
