But Prof Khan's relationship with the classical language, which belongs to the Indo-Aryan group and is the root of many 
Indian languages, is quite personal.

"When my father decided to send me to school, he chose one that taught Sanskrit because he also studied it and loved the 
language. My love for it and my association with Sanskrit began when I was a young boy in school," he said.

In ancient India, Sanskrit was the main language used by scholars and was sometimes referred to as devabhasha - the 
language of gods. Today, it is spoken by less than 1% of Indians and is mostly used by Hindu priests during religious 
ceremonies.