Students are replaying Sanskrit games instead of skipping homework, Bhopal teacher says

Students are voluntarily spending far more time learning Sanskrit through games than they do through conventional homework, often replaying exercises until they master concepts, according to Abhishek Tiwari, a Sanskrit teacher at Bhopal’s PM SHRI Kendriya Vidyalaya-1 school who built an AI-assisted gaming lab for the subject.

Tiwari said he created the lab after growing frustrated that many students viewed Sanskrit as a subject where they simply needed to score a passing mark rather than enjoy learning it. Using generative AI, he mined NCERT textbooks for classes 6 to 10 and turned them into a free online portal hosting games such as a frog-jump quiz, a word-search puzzle, and a memory-card module covering topics like Sandhi and Samas.

‘My objective is to make learning and understanding Sanskrit fun. The response, so far, has been very encouraging,’ Tiwari told TOI. Fellow teachers said the self-paced, low-pressure format encourages weaker learners to repeat activities without peer scrutiny, improving both comprehension and inclusivity in the classroom.

The games include Sanskrit-Maha-Quiz, which mimics the multiple-choice format of the quiz show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati,’ and Surya-Namaskar Strike, which tests the sequence of the 12 asanas alongside their mantras, among riddle-based and crossword-style modules that offer variety for different learning styles.

The lab was built entirely with free AI tools and required no special budget, and the school has since recommended the initiative to Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan headquarters, proposing it for national recognition given how easily it could be replicated at other schools.