Sanskrit verses are part of the daily prayer for Mantasha Khan (Class IX), Inayat Ali (class VIII), Jofisha Khan (class IV) and 30 other Muslim students who study at the Shaishvika Vidyalaya in Indore, a high school with 269 students run by the Vidya Bharati. It’s not just the Medha Suktam, a Vedic hymn recited to strengthen the intellect, that they recite with perfect diction but they also chant the Gayatri mantra, Surya namaskar mantra and shlokas (hymns) from the Bhagvad Gita with equal ease, besides the Ramcharitamanas and Hanuman Chalisa. And their parents never objected. One of the parents-Shakil Khan -has been encouraging his community members to send their children to this school, which was founded in 1975. And the results are encouraging. In 1996, it had four Muslim students. This year, out of 50 students who got admission, 25 are from minority community. It was only when girls were asked to put on bindis that Muslim parents requested they do so only during the school hours. “But then we dropped the regulation,” said Shri Modak, proud of the students the school has produced.
(VSK, Chennai)
