Americans coming to India to discover themselves is not an uncommon thing. This trend probably started in the 1960s and peaked in the 1970s. But, Americans coming to India in the 21st century to discover themselves by learning Hindi? Now, that is an uncommon thing and that is precisely what New York-based writer and author Katherine Russell Rich (that is Chef Hemant Mathur of Devi in the video clip)  did and that experience is the basis of her book “Dreaming in Hindi: Coming Awake in Hindi.” The book captures the spirit of India by an American, who journeys into the heart of India and re-discovers herself and discovers India during the process. The book  made it to Oprah’s list of summer readings for 2009.

At the turn of the century Rich, who was in her 40s suddenly finds herself fired from her magazine job and is not sure what to do next. As a long time cancer survivor Rich is in some ways used to living with uncertainties and is “perpetually in half-alert” about a recurring bout of the disease. She decides to learn Hindi in New York first from a desi and then from a Bulgarian Hindi teacher. Rich then lands a scholarship and a book deal and the next thing we read is that she is enrolled as a full-time Hindi student in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

Rich spends a year (2001-2002) in Udaipur and through her book we get a peek into her life and the cultural learning’s she uncovered during her educational sojourn in India. She spends part of the time as a tenant of a local Jain family where she is introduced to the intricacies of navigating an Indian family system. The period she spent in India is a tumultuous one both in the USA and India. Barely a few days after she lands in Udaipur, the famous World Trade Center in New York is destroyed. And during her stay in India the horrible massacre of Muslims in Gujarat takes place and she witnesses the widening of schism between the Hindus and Muslims. She also discovers the cultural differences when speaking in “shudh” Hindi to her Muslim rickshaw driver, who chides her when she says “dhanyavad.” He corrects her and says that the correct word is “shukriya.”

It is difficult to slot the book neatly into a category since it is part memoir, part travelogue and part scientific. These three strands are interwoven in her narrative, and sometimes the scientific parts can be a little distracting to the reader. Why the focus on neurolinguists I ask Rich. “I wanted to find out about the science of language acquisition. I wanted to make a guinea pig and see what happens.” So, if you are interested in learning what happens to your brain when you are busy acquiring a new language then Rich has the answers for you.

I am still a little puzzled since like many Indians I am a polyglot and don’t have the foggiest notion of the changes that take place when you learn a new language. While she agrees with me she correctly points out that most Americans tend to be monolingual and when you learn a new language as an older person the whole process scrambles your brain in a way. “Your brain sets up another world cognitively and you begin to think in a different way.” By learning Hindi she wanted to access India in a very different way.

So, who is her intended audience for the book I ask her. It turns out the audience for Rich’s book is actually Americans. “The book is for an American audience that is monolingual. We have to make a change, and cannot afford to be monolingual in an increasingly globalized world. The book is also for smart people who read The New Yorker.” What about the Indians I ask? That too she answers. “Indians in India are always curious to know what others are thinking about them. I meant this book to be a love letter from India.”

At this stage of our conversation I am curious to know what changes she underwent when “she slapped herself back to life from the edge of the desert?” “I am a lot nicer from the experience of learning Hindi. Me having to learn a new language stripped me down completely. I am from New York and we are edgy. I lost some of the edges,” she replies.

While I am busy listening to Rich answer my questions there is a parallel process taking place. I recollect Rich quoting Michel Paradis, a well-known neurolinguist, who says when learning a new language as an adult, “You will always be off by a beat, by a stress, detectably from someone else.” And the first thing I noticed when Rich started speaking is that she was off by a beat, by a stress when she pronounced “Hindi” with a sharp “d” instead of the soft “dh.” I also noticed that the minute she heard my voice on the phone she switched to a sing-song Indian accent. Puzzled, I ask her why? She quickly defends herself by stating that she she does not get to practice her Hindi often. But, why the Indian accent I ask her? Apparently that is a natural instinct to mimic when learning a new language. But, she dropped the sing-song accent and switched to her regular American accent after that.

One of the things I noticed when I got a copy of the book was the use of Tamil looking fonts for the title “Dreaming in Hindi.” I ask her what was the reason behind the choice of fonts? Apparently Rich had no say in the title and offers an explanation that maybe the book designer wanted to avoid the cliched look that you see in Indian restaurant menu that generally mimic Hindi looking fonts.”

Now that Kathy is back from the edge of the desert after discovering herself in Hindi she is busy  slapping herself back to life by taking weekly Hindi lessons in New York and keeping in touch with her Indian friends via FaceBook. She is in the process of writing her third book: a novel.

“Dreaming in Hindi,” is a book that is a little bit of everything and it can be a little dense in parts. But, the book makes for an unusual read since the author looks at India with an interesting pair of lens.