In kerala, we are exposed to Sanskrit first through Malayalam

In kerala, we are exposed to Sanskrit first through Malayalam.. and even now the chaste Malayalam is almost sixty to seventy percent Sanskrit- oriented. Most of the poetic works in Malayalam including even cinema lyrics of today are extremely Sanskrit-oriented..
Even Malayalee names have mostly Sanskrit origin.. You will find many Pushpangadhans and Rajeevaakshans in Malayalam...
And basically we read Gita, or Ramayanam or Bhagavatham through Malayalam... and learned the nuances through exponents of such texts in Sanskrit-malayalam or Sanskrit-tamil, by great people like Sengalipuram Anantharama Dikshitar or Vazhakunnu Thiruveni... 

We started learning Sanskrit grammar through malayalam verses like Baalaprabhodhanam.."അതെന്നു പ്രഥമക്കര്‍ത്ഥം ദ്വിതീയക്കതിനെ പുനഃ തൃതീയാ ഹേതുവായിക്കൊണ്ട് ....this was our start in Sanskrit..

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Of course I have had occasions to read oriental Scholars like Radhakrisnan and Hirayanna and others in English, and added to that Max Muller and other western scholars in their own presentations.. 

But the Sanskrit Kavyas were commented upon by great scholars like Mallinatha Soori, Vedas were explained by Sayana and Bhattabhaskara in Sanksrit, and the Grammatical texts were later on explained by greats like Appayya Deeskhita, Kuppuswamy Sastrigal, and in kerala by many malayalam writers.. 

Rajaraja Varma was called the Kerala Panini. It was nice that the weseterners tried to rediscover Sanskrit, but Indian Languages and particularly Sanskrit, grew in the Indian Style also.. The kerala School, The Adayar School, The Maharstra..Poona school, The Varanasi School, The Kolkotta School,, The Kashmiri line ...The Lahore Dhaka  schools.. the branches go on.
 I have tried to approach Sanskrit from Malayalam, Sanskrit itself, Tamil, a little Telugu, and also from English.. And a little German too..
 Indian approach appears to be more realistic and revealing.. I love to read Shakespeare or Sheldon in English, but I would prefer to enjoy my Valmiki and Kalidasa through Sanskrit,  and also through Indian tongues like Malayalam , Tamil etc...