Happy Hindi Diwas! – Celebrating World Hindi Day

आज हिन्दी दिवस पर मैं अपने आप को सौभाग्यशाली मानती हूँ कि मुझे हिंदी जानने,समझने,और बोलने का मौका मिला । मेरा जन्म अमेरिका में हुआ पर हिन्दी मुझे अपने दिल की भाषा लगती हैं।

Today is Hindi Diwas, the day celebrating the Hindi language. It’s such a beautiful language. I remember when I first saw the Devnagari script it looked like art to me rather than like language… I learned to speak Hindi not from books or a classroom but from spending time with young children (who loved to play jokes on the gullible American and they taught me all sorts of vulgarities telling me the words meant something else!)

The gift of speaking Hindi means that I can share with people who don’t speak English, like this beautiful gathering this past summer during the Ramayan Katha at Parmarth Niketan.