Life can be hectic for a New York City psychologist. But packed schedules notwithstanding, Esther Loewengart always manages to set aside time for the one activity she confesses she wouldn't miss for the world.
Several times a month, Loewengart attends Hindi classes at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Manhattan. Five visits to India had her hooked on Hindi. "It is essential to know the language in order to understand the culture of a country," says this New Yorker who prefers to go by her Indian name, "Kalpana."
Fluent in French and German, Kalpana says Hindi is a much more difficult language to master. "It has a different alphabet, and that poses a challenge." When she first enrolled in Hindi classes at the Bhavan, Kalpana had five classmates. She now has 30.
The director of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, P. Jayaraman, says there has been a "peculiar upswing in the number of Americans who are genuinely interested in learning Hindi." He says there are many reasons for this. "Some want to understand Bollywood films. Others are interested in Indian literature, or are frequent travelers to India."
Many of Darshan Krishna's students are learning Hindi because they have an Indian spouse or, she adds with a laugh, "they want an Indian spouse!" The director of Bethesda, Maryland-based India School, Krishna says: "Many Americans love Indian films and Shah Rukh Khan. For them learning Hindi is a way to enjoy a Bollywood movie." For others it's religion, spirituality and yoga that draws them to Indian languages.
It was a taunt from a snack vendor in Kolkata that steeled Amber Howell's determination to learn Hindi. "I really love puchkas [Bengali for golgappas]," Howell confides with an embarrassed laugh. "And then one day the puchkawalla complained to my Indian host, 'these dumb Americans come here and only want to speak in English, but make no effort to learn our languages.' " A resident of Rockville, Maryland, Howell enrolled in a 16-week Hindi course and says she is determined to continue until she is fluent.
Krishna's past pupils include U.S. diplomats on their way to postings in South Asia. These days many of her students are on their way to India to work in private firms.
A recent Yale graduate, Ryan Floyd is currently working in Mumbai. Prior to leaving for India, Floyd enrolled in a Hindi class saying he wanted to learn as much about Indian culture, politics and civilization as possible. "I surfed the Internet and found that Hindi is the most widely spoken language, even though in Maharashtra it isn't as big as in the North," he said.
Hindi is taught in over 30 universities across the United States, including Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley.
Harvard offers its students five levels of "Urdu-Hindi." Urdu 101: Introductory Urdu-Hindi, is an introduction to the lingua franca of the subcontinent in its "Hindustani" form. Students are introduced to both the Perso-Arabic and the Devanagiri script systems.
"In this system students can learn both literary traditions," explains Professor Ali Asani, head tutor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies at Harvard.
"Traditionally, American universities have taught one or the other [language]. We view this as an artificial divide and try to cultivate a more pluralistic approach to language study. Teaching Urdu-Hindi breaks down all the stereotypes between Indian and Pakistani students," says Asani. At Harvard, conventional teaching materials are supplemented by popular songs and clips from contemporary Indian cinema. "This makes it very attractive for students."
A majority of Asani's students are Americans of South Asian origin. Many have enrolled in the course in order to get in touch with their roots. Some have started writing letters to relatives in India and Pakistan, and very often bring these to Asani to check for spelling and grammatical errors. Asani also has what he calls "non-heritage" students.
Caleb Isaac Franklin's exposure to Hindi started with a dare. Franklin and a friend were flipping through a Harvard course guide when they came across the Urdu-Hindi course. "My friend dared me to take the course. We laughed at the time, but I did go to the class," he says.
What Franklin saw amazed him. "I learnt about a culture I didn't know existed," says the Los Angeles native who has been studying Urdu-Hindi at Harvard for more than two years.
"I read and write Urdu a lot better than I can speak it," he confesses. He prefers it to Hindi of which he says "every Devanagiri word to me is a puzzle."
Franklin's parents didn't know what to make of their son's decision to enroll in the course, but, he says proudly, they enjoyed watching Hindi films with him over the summer vacation. "They loved Lagaan." Knowing Hindi and Urdu has opened up the whole South Asian scene to Franklin. "I have been approached to act in South Asian plays."
Franklin is hesitant about practicing his Urdu with the Indian or Pakistani students on campus. "I am an African American, and if a non-African American comes up to me and uses (African American) slang I get offended, so I don't want to go up to an Indian and say kaisey ho bhai! "
Over the 25 years that Asani has been teaching at Harvard he says he has seen a marked increase in the size of his classes. He had 10 students in his first class, and has now had to split up his class into four sections to deal with the growing interest.
"We get people coming out of curiosity. Some graduate students want to learn the language for their research. We've had students who have traveled to India and fallen in love with the place and want to study the language. We've had students with South Asian boyfriends, girlfriends. We deal with a mixed clientele," jokes Asani.
Jason Crosby, a graduate student of law and international studies at the American University in Washington, D.C., started studying Hindi while working as a consultant in Pune three years ago. "It wasn't necessary for me to learn Hindi, but it did make life easier," he admits, adding he was confident enough to speak in Hindi with rickshaw drivers and shopkeepers in India.
These people were at first surprised by Crosby's ability to speak Hindi. "Once they figured I could speak it [Hindi], they wanted to continue talking to me in Hindi!" Crosby says he enjoyed his 20 months in India and eventually hopes to return.
Maggie Cummings, a program specialist in the undersecretary's office at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., doesn't consider herself a "typical" student of Hindi. Growing up, her best friend in seventh grade was from Pakistan. "I wanted to learn Urdu but they didn't teach it at my college so I picked Hindi." She majored in Hindi at Brown University, Rhode Island.
Cummings credits a one-year stint at an Indian restaurant in Providence for her proficiency in Hindi. "If anyone wants to learn Hindi I highly recommend Indian restaurants," she says with a laugh.
Cummings, who graduated from college in 1987, says her Hindi had turned "a little rusty" from disuse. She has enrolled in Hindi classes in Maryland where she is pleasantly surprised to find herself "way ahead" of other students.
She did eventually get a chance to study Urdu while at the University of Wisconsin. She learnt the script from a calligraphy specialist whom she gives credit for her beautiful handwriting. "But I can't read the script anymore. It's a beautiful script, but much more complicated than Devanagiri."
While in Boston she did some private tutoring for Hindi students. "Indians have an interesting reaction when they hear me talk," says Cummings. "Some will completely ignore the fact that I'm speaking Hindi and continue to speak to me in English. Others will ignore the fact that I am an American. Many of the Indians I speak to say they have never heard Americans speak Hindi and are shocked at how good my Hindi is."
Kathryn Klose says she is always a little hesitant about how Indians will react to her interest in their culture. "It's more about Indian culture being so much about a religion, I don't want to feel like we are offending anyone. There is always a fear about intruding," says Klose, an accountant and controller for a software development firm in Gaithersburg, Maryland, by day, and a self-confessed Bollywood junkie by night. But every Indian she has met has been excited by her interest.
Klose started teaching yoga three years ago. "Once you're into yoga, you want to pronounce the postures correctly," she explains. Her final push into Indian culture came when a video store attendant in her neighborhood suggested she watch Lagaan. "I watched it….It was beautiful. I was hooked!"
Besides Hindi and Urdu, Sanskrit is also taught at universities and in private courses across the U.S. Saudamini Deshmukh, a Hindi teacher at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., teaches Sanskrit at her home in Bethesda, Maryland. Five of her six students are Americans who do not have a South Asian background. "It is not an easy language, and so only people who are serious enroll in the class," says Deshmukh. One of her students is a serious student of languages, while the others are yoga practitioners.
Deshmukh's student Jane [she didn't want her last name published] has been a Bharatnatyam dancer for the past seven years. She enrolled in a Sanskrit course to "better understand the mythology behind the dance."
"I am also interested in languages. The more obscure the text and script the better… I love a challenge," says Jane, who has also studied Classical Greek. "People who invest time in learning Sanskrit are either doing it for academic reasons or, like me, just for fun," she explains. Jane has been reading the Ramayana with Deshmukh. "She is an excellent student," says her teacher appreciatively.
Cummings also tried learning Sanskrit, but says the experience was a "traumatic one." "It's a really hard language…words cannot express how difficult they made it, I was traumatized by that experience."
Whether inspired by Bollywood films, a fascination with all things Indian or a need to reconnect with an Indian heritage, more and more Americans are enrolling in Indian language courses.
For Kalpana, her knowledge of Hindi has opened up many new worlds. "I now understand Hindi movies. The next frontier is literature," she says.
In parting, she adds a promise: "Next time we'll do this interview in Hindi!" ¨
About the Author: Ashish Kumar Sen is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist working with The Washington Times. He also contributes to the Times of India, Outlook and the Khaleej Times.