Good luck! You'll have fun no matter the level of competency you achieve. Learning a language is the best way to understand culture.
So many intersections here with my interests: Back in the '80s I wrote a long paper on Kagaro Nikki sp.? (in English, the Gossamer Years). And I had a good friend in a writer group who got me interested in Bengali Culture. I actually wrote a small book on Rabindranath Tagore for children--I figured American children would probably never hear of him otherwise. 😃
I love languages...only fluent in English, but took enough courses in Spanish and German to get teaching certification in those two languages. I never did teach them, but it amused me to be certified.
You see the intersections?
Have fun! I've read a lot of Japanese literature (mostly classic) but never was inclined to try the language. Now Chinese....😂
Well, maybe someday we can talk about Ravi Thakur :) as we fondly call him.
I am a native Bengali speaker and I have read all his prose/novel, can't say I even read most of his poetry because the sheer volume of that stuff!!
My older daughter is named after one of his poems :)
Camellia.
I learned a lot by reading about him. A window into a certain time in India's history. Also, his thoughts on education were way ahead of the times, I think, and influence education to this day.
Bengal renaissance!
Created the backbone of modern India.
And yet, if I say his name to anybody I know, I get a blank stare...amazing.
PS
Except my family...I bore them by talking about stuff that interests me :)
His house at Jorasanko still exists in north Calcutta. Now is the time of puja so they still have their family puja, although you do know his family is not Hindu :)
They were Bhrambha!
But they still did the traditional Durga Puja. It’s quite famous. I visited his home many times.
This is from this year, last week :)
Knock yourself out!
This is in English and well narrated.
The first one was entertaining, but the second one was lovely. All the reading I did about Tagore and I never got this view of his home and his life. Lovely.
Thank you!