He considers himself privileged because nobody in his family persuaded him to do something against his wishes. ``Though I read the Quran, I teach the Ramayana and the Mahabharat at the institute,'' he says, adding that he had been learning Sanskrit right from his childhood.

According to him, no subject should be treated like a particular person's or religion's domain and everyone should have an equal exposure to every religion and subject. Sanskrit should, in fact, be introduced as a secondary subjects in schools like in earlier days, he opines. ``The word Quran is also in fact adapted from Sanskrit,'' claims Istagir. ``Though it was suggested along with 35 other names, it was only this name that the people adopted, which proves the power of the language,'' he adds.

``The subject is losing its importance and people fail to realise that it was a subject that this country was once proud of,'' he regrets.