It was raining heavily in Mumbai last week so there were a lot of messages going back and forth about cancelling that day's class. But most of us confirmed that we would be there. I would have loved to add 'come hell or high water' but I was afraid that the heavy rain and Mumbai's record of getting water-logged every monsoon (thanks to BMC!) would turn the phrase from figurative to literal. I didn't need an encore of 2005.
I have a feeling that it is going to be a lot of grammar from this point on. And the teacher doesn't seem to be in any mood to give us any break or slack.
So we learned 24 forms of a masculine noun ending in 'अ ' i.e. 'देव' - singular, dual and plural (3) * 8 cases (Nominative, Accusative, Instrumental, Dative, Ablative,Genitive, Locative and Vocative). Yes, you guessed it right. I I had to refer to my study material to write down what the cases are called in English.
Then we did the same for a neuter noun ending in 'अ ' i.e. 'वन '. To be sure, there are a lot of commonalities with 'देव'. But remembering exceptions also takes an effort - and a few precious grey cells.
As if this isn't enough, there's the rule about when to use 'न ' and when to use 'ण'.
This isn't going to be easy by any means. But I am encouraged by the fact that another of my teachers from my school days - he must be in his late 60s or early 70s now - is learning Sanskrit through correspondence course. If he can do it at his age, so can I.
All for Kalidasa's Meghadootam.
I have a feeling that it is going to be a lot of grammar from this point on. And the teacher doesn't seem to be in any mood to give us any break or slack.
So we learned 24 forms of a masculine noun ending in 'अ ' i.e. 'देव' - singular, dual and plural (3) * 8 cases (Nominative, Accusative, Instrumental, Dative, Ablative,Genitive, Locative and Vocative). Yes, you guessed it right. I I had to refer to my study material to write down what the cases are called in English.
Then we did the same for a neuter noun ending in 'अ ' i.e. 'वन '. To be sure, there are a lot of commonalities with 'देव'. But remembering exceptions also takes an effort - and a few precious grey cells.
As if this isn't enough, there's the rule about when to use 'न ' and when to use 'ण'.
This isn't going to be easy by any means. But I am encouraged by the fact that another of my teachers from my school days - he must be in his late 60s or early 70s now - is learning Sanskrit through correspondence course. If he can do it at his age, so can I.
All for Kalidasa's Meghadootam.
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