“What’s in a name? 

Honoring The Legend- Dante Alighieri

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” William Shakespeareuses this line in his play Romeo and Juliet to convey that the naming of things is irrelevant. But we all agree that Name does matter! Named in honor of the legendary Italian writer and scholar, Dante Alighieri, DIFL was established by Dr. Sharma over 53 years ago. Many people ask us “Who is Dante?”  It is certainly interesting to hear the assumptions people make about the name “Dante” and some even correlate it to Maharashtrian surname “DANTE” and presume that we may be Maharashtrians!!  The truth is that “Dante” actually refers to Dante Alighieri, the famous Italian poet and writer who lived in the 13th and 14th centuries. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Italian language and one of the most important figures in the development of Western literature. His epic poem “The Divine Comedy” apart from other literary wonders like “La Vita Nuova,” “De vulgari eloquentia,” “Convivio” remains a classic of world literature and continues to be widely studied and admired. By naming the institute after Dante, its founder, Dr. V. K. Sharma, sought to pay homage to this great literary figure and to inspire students to pursue their own love of language and education.

With a strong foundation set by Dr. Sharma, DIFL was joined by his wife, Mrs. Kamlesh Sharma, and eventually by their son, Priyanshu Sharma. Priyanshu, who had lived in Japan for many years, brought with him a wealth of experience and knowledge of foreign cultures, languages, and education, having taught English, Hindi, and French to many Japanese people and Japanese to many French people.