I can pretty well understand Sanskrit and have learned it for 10 years. It is definitely not difficult to learn. 'Sanskrit' died several hundred years ago as a

I can pretty well understand Sanskrit and have learned it for 10 years. It is definitely not difficult to learn. 'Sanskrit' died several hundred years ago as a spoken language - and efforts to revive it by adopting it has yielded mixed results. (The villages you mention are adopters). A language is said to be living when 1) There are people who speak it for daily purposes 2) It continues to evolve to address needs of the present. Sanskrit passes criteria 1 with some determined followers, but fails criteria 2. Point to be noted is that characteristics that make Sanskrit orderly and strict, is an offshoot of the language being ear marked for restricted scholarly usage and not the tenet of a living breathing language. That said, there is a vast literary treasure awaiting people who are determined to learn Sanskrit and there are enough avenues available in India and abroad for the same.