Abhinav Seetharaman, an undergraduate student at Columbia University, delivered a talk about Sanskrit and its global influence. One of Abinhav’s concerns is why Latin and Ancient Greek are taught much more than Sanskrit, for he explained how all three have had an immense influence on the world in which we live today. He explained and demonstrated how learning Sanskrit has ameliorated his pronunciation, linguistic and cultural understanding, and view of the world. Abhinav Seetharaman is a third-year undergraduate student at Columbia University, majoring in Economics and Sustainable Development with a concentration in Sanskrit. He started learning the Sanskrit language as a high-school student and completed a 3-year Sanskrit immersion program before matriculation into college. As a sophomore last year, he co-founded a YouTube channel called ‘Spoken Sanskrit Series,’ that aims to teach conversational Sanskrit in an enjoyable and casual manner. His efforts towards the revival of the language continue with him being co-founder and singer in a Sanskrit A Cappella group called “The Sanskrit Boys.” Additionally, Abhinav is a professional South-Indian percussionist and performs in concerts and outreach programs across the United States, India, and other venues abroad. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

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