Lucknow :

Kishwar Zubin Nasreen, the head of the department of Sanskrit at Allahabad University, on Tuesday became the first Muslim woman to receive the Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Sansthan award for her immense contribution in the field of Sanskrit. The award, instituted in the memory of socialist leader Janeshwar Mishra, will be given annually to a Muslim woman scholar of the language.

Though Nasreen has been a professor of Sanskrit for 36 years, she has been closely associated with the language since 1963.

“Besides being a beautiful language, Sanskrit teaches you to become a good human being and also helps you learn a lot about Indian culture and moral values,” she said.

“My religion never came in my way. In fact, after I learnt Arabic, considered one of the most difficult languages, Sanskrit was a cake walk,” she said.

“The first thing I tell my students is that they should learn Sanskrit as a therapy. That gradually moulds the character of a student, making the person a good human being enriched with the right balance of moral values and patriotism,” she added.

Nasreen said besides parental support, her inspiration to learn the language were compilations of Kalidas, which strike a balance between ancient and contemporary messages.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / August 06th, 2014