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Where Muslim students excel in Gita slokas
At a time when bigots, fanatics and pseudo-secularists raise hell on mere suspicion that lessons from scriptures could misguide students, the Bhagavad Gita Oriental Government Aided High School at Girmajipet here stands out for enabling its largely Muslim students to learn Sanskrit and Telugu so well that they can recite poems in the two languages as well as slokas from the Bhagavad Gita with cons
​Warangal: At a time when bigots, fanatics and pseudo-secularists raise hell on mere suspicion that lessons from scriptures could misguide students, the Bhagavad Gita Oriental Government Aided High School at Girmajipet here stands out for enabling its largely Muslim students to learn Sanskrit and Telugu so well that they can recite poems in the two languages as well as slokas from the Bhagavad Gita with consummate ease.
All oriental schools do teach Telugu and Sanskrit to students. But this one is unique in that out of the 200 students, studying in Class III to Class X, 95 per cent are Muslims.
These Muslim children not only recite Telugu poems with impeccable pronunciation, but also sing slokas from Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavatam with equal ease and remarkable clarity.
The school was established in 1955 at Girmajipet in the town, where the majority of residents are Muslims.
Since it is a government-aided high school, all the residents of the area send their wards to this school, where the children are taught, apart from the regular curriculum in Telugu, the Sanskrit slokas of Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita.
Every day, during prayer time in the morning, the students recite two slokas from Bhagavad Gita, though it is not part of their regular curriculum.
Ask any student and he would eagerly recite Bhagavad Gita slokas fluently and even elaborate their nuances.
The students see Bhagavad Gita as a reliable source for imbibing moral values. Even their parents encourage them to learn Sanskrit and recite Bhagavad Gita slokas.
Several students of the Bhagavad Gita Oriental School have participated and won a number of prizes in sloka recital competitions organised by Tirupati-Tirumala Devastanams and other spiritual organisations.
Ravinder, Sanskrit teacher in the school, said that though it was not part of the curriculum, the students were encouraged to recite slokas.
Sazid Hussain, Class X student, said that it had nothing to do with religion. “After all, we are all Indians first. It does not stop me from attending Namaz prayers,” he reasoned.
