The importance of oral recitation has been emphasized as a pedagogical aid to boost learning and assimilation and also lead to better expression and confidence levels of students. During our visits to schools, we often engage with students to assess their ability to read out and recite poems or passages with clarity and proper enunciation.
As a part of our culture, oral recitation and memorization has been a very important part of education. In fact, the Vedas, whose antiquity is estimated at over five thousand years by various evidences and inferences, were actually handed down to us through the oral traditions.
As a young student studying in class six, I distinctly recall an incident that tremendously influenced me. I once decided to participate in a talent contest, after gathering the courage to deal with my diffidence and shyness. This was a grand annual event held by a leading English newspaper of Pune, where I spent a part of my childhood. The question of what could I present at the contest was being discussed at home. My septuagenarian grandfather, a highly erudite and inspiring personality, who was well versed with the Bhagavat Gita and the Bible, suggested that I recite the Raghuveera Gadhyam. This was a striking, difficult yet beautiful Sanskrit composition, requiring very deft enunciation and clarity in the rendition. I feared that this composition may sound unsophisticated, old fashioned and even crass to the unfamiliar ear generally fed on the more commonplace film songs and western numbers! Nevertheless, with a spirit of implicit obedience stemming from complete faith in my grandpa, who was possibly my first spiritual Guru, I consented.
On the day of the competition, as I was waiting for my turn, I heard many participants and school mates singing popular English songs and film numbers. As someone who was fairly well versed in these as well, I even asked my mother if I should abandon the heavy and possibly unattractive Gadhyam (prose passage) and follow a beaten, comfortable path and just sing one of those numbers or recite a poem. The possibility of the audience ridiculing and even jeering at something that sounded very unfamiliar and rustic did bother me. Reassuring me, my mother softly told me to collect myself and do as planned with full faith.
I took the floor with a deep breath, gave a crisp introduction of the Gadhyam in English and started my recitation in Sanskrit, giving it my best. It felt as if I was witnessing my own eloquent performance as a mere channel and almost experienced the words of Saint Francis… “make me a channel of Your peace…”. On completion, I thanked all and took my seat. The competition which had a large number of participants drew to a close by early evening. Again, feelings of doubt, fear and a tinge of shame came to me as the judges climbed the stage. I gathered that one of them was a senior editor of the paper and a Christian. The other judge was a Muslim lady, who was also very accomplished. As the judges announced the results, I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to know that they had awarded me the first prize in the entire contest. This was flashed with a full length photograph of me in the paper the following week.
Winning the prize did mean a lot to me, as would have to a typical eleven year old. But, looking back, what that incident gave me was far, far more valuable than the prize. This taught me an important lesson of having faith in one’s self and action, even if it was against the predominant perception of contemporary trends and the overwhelming, general flow in any field. The recitation, specifically, gave me excellent training in enunciation, clarity, voice modulation and breathing techniques that have helped me a great deal, both in my singing and speaking in public.
Years later, there was an international recitation competition for school children at Cambridge, Massachusetts, when I was studying at Harvard University. This time, my daughter went through the same experience. I had tears in my eyes as the judges announced that she had got the first prize for reciting the same Sanskrit passage, Raghuveera Gadhyam, nearly three decades later, across many seas, as she faced an international audience with the same poignant feelings, I guess!
Most importantly, the Sanskrit composition of Raghuveera Gadhyam with its sparkling rhythm, exquisite metaphors and very powerful and inspiring meaning is a treasure that has remained with me for all these years. At that age and stage in life, passages, poems, prayers, hymns and shlokas are very effortlessly memorized and come to be an integral part of the child.
The Children’s University would be bringing out a compilation of such verses, poems, songs and shlokas from various religions and cultures of the world for children to learn by heart and recite. This would greatly enrich their lives.
Smt. Jayanti S. Ravi
