sanskrit scholar

I'm lucky enough to say that this man with the beautiful smile is my sanskrit teacher,- just looking at the picture puts me in a good mood. The old book he is holding in his hands is written on palm leaves, albeit not in sanskrit, but in the local language, kannada.

When I came to his office at the university in Mysore for the first time, I was very surprised - the building looked rather desolate, only some sleepy guards in the hallway, the grids in front of windows, the suspicious looks and the vast empty spaces gave associations to a military barrack rather than a university. And in the office, no books or papers to be seen anywhere, just a big desk with a very old PC (Windows 98- yawn!), a closet and some plastic chairs. But who cares- this man is like a walking library with old stories, vedic quotes and tonns of grammar in his head, - the classes are the hightlight of my days... :)