U.S.A, March 15, 2008: A group of students of Indian origin from various US Universities, meeting at an online forum, decided to create an online Sanskrit magazine. Under the name “Campus Samskritam Network” (CSN), faculty and alumni from MIT, UMD, CMU, UPitt, PSU, UPenn, Caltech, Purdue and other prestigious universities have been working on an eletronic publication, hosted on the www.speaksanskrit.org website here.
Called “Vishvavani” (the language of the World), it release its third issue last week. From an article on ancient Indian mathematics by Prabha Mandyam to another on Swami Vivekananda by Harichandan Mantripragada, along with a travelogue by Dr. Jyotsna Kalavar, the magazine goes so far as to have a Sanskrit crossword puzzle.
In the past two years, blogging in Sanskrit has emerged as a popular online activity contributing to and providing growing evidence of the popularity of the language. A famous one is Kalidasa, here (requires a special font to read), created by Microsoft Seattle engineer Ajit Krishnan.
The common link for many bloggers and students at CSN appears to be Samskrita-Bharati (SB), a non-profit organization spearheading the speak-Sanskrit movement in India, USA and elsewhere. The organization is all set to hold its fifth Annual Meeting for Volunteers in Maryland during the March 22-23 weekend, where over 30 volunteers from about 15 cities across the US are expected to participate.