[h=2]The only Sanskrit newspaper in the world is struggling for survival[/h][h=4]Sudharma clings to the belief that Sanskrit isn’t a dead language[/h]When KV Sampath Kumar was a child, he saw his father Pandit Varadaraja Iyengar toil to bring out a newspaper day after day, almost singlehandedly. It was a labour of love that Kumar has continued — the publication of the world’s only Sanskrit newspaper, Sudharma. “When he [Iyengar] was on his deathbed, I made a promise to him that I would keep Sudharma alive,” said Kumar.
It’s safe to say Kumar has fulfilled that promise. Forty-six years after it was founded, Mysore-based Sudharma is still unique. Kumar says his father decided to start a Sanskrit newspaper because he was convinced there were Sanskrit readers, despite the dominance of English and regional languages in news media. Sudharma was founded in 1970, in Mysore. Back then, it was available at five paise per copy. In 1988, Sampath computerised it and in 2011, a web version of Sudharma was launched. Today, the two-page newspaper sells for the princely sum of Rs 1.25.
Going online was a good move for Sudharma, which continues to have a loyal readership and subscriber base, according to Kumar. “In the same year [2011], we got more than 50,000 e-paper readers from 55 countries around the world,” he claimed. According to his estimate, around 3,000 people subscribe to Sudharma in India and get hard copies of the newspaper. Online, Sudharma has one lakh subscribers in 100 countries, says Kumar.
From the one-man mission that the newspaper was in his father’s time, Sudharma now is run by a five-member team. Sampath himself does the reporting as well as commissioning, proof-reading and editing. Jayalakshmi, Sampath’s wife, is also fluent in Sanskrit and is the publisher. She looks after the printing press that her father-in-law established in 1945, which still brings out Sudharma. For the last 23 years, she has devoted herself to keeping the newspaper alive.
“Day to day expenses, paying for workers, writers, and a dearth of advertisers are major challenges,” said Kumar. “There is no profit in this. It is only for the love of the ancient language that we are doing this, but the pressures are surmounting day by day.”
To pay for Sudharma, the couple takes up all sorts of printing work and relies on the generosity of their readers and fans. An appeal for financial help from readers, published in the newspaper, reads, “We have published more than 100 books (less than Rupees 100) in Sanskrit, which includes stories for children, detective stories, basic Sanskrit learning.”
The paper also has Sanskrit scholars HV Nagarajarao, Dr TV Sathyanarayana, Gangadhar Bhat, as honorary editors. Kumar said Sudharma has a loyal following at Vidyapeethas, academic institutions, Kendriya Vidyalayas and public libraries in places like Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Rajasthan. Yet, at a time when the mainstream news industry itself is changing everyday with the onslaught of digital editions, websites, and news apps, Sudharma’s challenges are many.
Conventional wisdom would suggest that the newspaper’s language would be a drawback. However, Kumar and Jayalakshmi are committed to spreading the awareness of Sanskrit and reject the idea that it’s a dead language. “There are more than a crore people worldwide who know Sanskrit,” said Kumar. “How to reach out to them is the major question. We want to increase our range of coverage with more pages, and change the entire layout to appeal to the newer generation. But that takes a lot of money.”
Kumar says he has written both to State and Central governments multiple times, Union Minister Smriti Irani and the Directorate of Audio-Visual Publicity (DAVP), asking for assistance in the form of government ads or otherwise. Not much has come by way of help.
The husband and wife pair, however, remains optimistic about Sudharma. “The parampara [tradition] will never end,” said Kumar. “I never thought of doing this work before 26 years ago. In the same manner, Sudharma will live forever. The blessings from God and my father will be there.”
http://www.newslaundry.com/2016/06/...aper-in-the-world-is-struggling-for-survival/
It’s safe to say Kumar has fulfilled that promise. Forty-six years after it was founded, Mysore-based Sudharma is still unique. Kumar says his father decided to start a Sanskrit newspaper because he was convinced there were Sanskrit readers, despite the dominance of English and regional languages in news media. Sudharma was founded in 1970, in Mysore. Back then, it was available at five paise per copy. In 1988, Sampath computerised it and in 2011, a web version of Sudharma was launched. Today, the two-page newspaper sells for the princely sum of Rs 1.25.
Going online was a good move for Sudharma, which continues to have a loyal readership and subscriber base, according to Kumar. “In the same year [2011], we got more than 50,000 e-paper readers from 55 countries around the world,” he claimed. According to his estimate, around 3,000 people subscribe to Sudharma in India and get hard copies of the newspaper. Online, Sudharma has one lakh subscribers in 100 countries, says Kumar.
From the one-man mission that the newspaper was in his father’s time, Sudharma now is run by a five-member team. Sampath himself does the reporting as well as commissioning, proof-reading and editing. Jayalakshmi, Sampath’s wife, is also fluent in Sanskrit and is the publisher. She looks after the printing press that her father-in-law established in 1945, which still brings out Sudharma. For the last 23 years, she has devoted herself to keeping the newspaper alive.
“Day to day expenses, paying for workers, writers, and a dearth of advertisers are major challenges,” said Kumar. “There is no profit in this. It is only for the love of the ancient language that we are doing this, but the pressures are surmounting day by day.”
To pay for Sudharma, the couple takes up all sorts of printing work and relies on the generosity of their readers and fans. An appeal for financial help from readers, published in the newspaper, reads, “We have published more than 100 books (less than Rupees 100) in Sanskrit, which includes stories for children, detective stories, basic Sanskrit learning.”
The paper also has Sanskrit scholars HV Nagarajarao, Dr TV Sathyanarayana, Gangadhar Bhat, as honorary editors. Kumar said Sudharma has a loyal following at Vidyapeethas, academic institutions, Kendriya Vidyalayas and public libraries in places like Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Rajasthan. Yet, at a time when the mainstream news industry itself is changing everyday with the onslaught of digital editions, websites, and news apps, Sudharma’s challenges are many.
Conventional wisdom would suggest that the newspaper’s language would be a drawback. However, Kumar and Jayalakshmi are committed to spreading the awareness of Sanskrit and reject the idea that it’s a dead language. “There are more than a crore people worldwide who know Sanskrit,” said Kumar. “How to reach out to them is the major question. We want to increase our range of coverage with more pages, and change the entire layout to appeal to the newer generation. But that takes a lot of money.”
Kumar says he has written both to State and Central governments multiple times, Union Minister Smriti Irani and the Directorate of Audio-Visual Publicity (DAVP), asking for assistance in the form of government ads or otherwise. Not much has come by way of help.
The husband and wife pair, however, remains optimistic about Sudharma. “The parampara [tradition] will never end,” said Kumar. “I never thought of doing this work before 26 years ago. In the same manner, Sudharma will live forever. The blessings from God and my father will be there.”
http://www.newslaundry.com/2016/06/...aper-in-the-world-is-struggling-for-survival/
