The theme ‘Protecting Languages, Preserving Cultures- Spotlight on Sanskrit’ was the focus of the June 4 event hosted by the Indian Embassy in Ireland. The event was part of the ‘India-Ireland Friendship Lecture Series’ held in Dublin to celebrate the inclusion of Sanskrit, amongst seven other Indian languages, in Google Translate recently. The event coincided with the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, celebrating 75 years of India’s Independence.
It was a first-of-a-kind public event to explore the potential of synergising creative energy between the ancient language Sanskirt and cutting-edge machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Akhilesh Mishra, Ambassador of India to Ireland, hosted Isaac R. Caswell, senior software engineer, Google Research, at the function.
In his introduction, Ambassador Mishra recalled the unbroken relationship between Sanskrit and India.
“Sanskrit is inherently a universal language. It doesn’t belong to any specific geographical region, unlike most other languages in India and outside. But through its very unique linguistics, Devnagri script, and very huge body of literature, which focuses upon every aspect of human life and experience,” the Ambassador said.
Caswell spoke about protecting languages and preserving cultures, with an emphasis on Sanskrit. He said that both Irish and Sanskrit are similar to each other as they both have struggled to stay relevant and prevalent in the current milieu.
“Sanskrit is a deeply embedded part of Hindu culture and goes beyond it as well. I have hardly overemphasised how important the language is to the Indian identity. There is hardly any other language treated with such devotion as Sanskrit,” Caswell added.
The Indian Embassy in Ireland also tweeted the video link of the event.
At the “India-Ireland Friendship Lecture Series” on June 4, 2022, the Embassy hosted Mr. Isaac R. Caswell, # Google Inc, who spoke on ‘Protecting Languages, Preserving Cultures – Spotlight on # Sanskrit‘ along with an introductory address by Ambassador @AkhileshIFS. @MEAIndia pic.twitter.com/sLI0RYifhU
