Invisible India | Navigating Indian Culture With Love

Is India safe for foreign travelers? I believe that in 95% of situations, having the right skills and language will help you get out of sketchy situations. But how? With most Hindi travel guides out there, the book is going to teach "Namaste, Mera naam Jessica hai. Aap kaise hain? Aapka naam kya hai?" While these are not bad things to learn, but actually not that important if you’re just trying to survive in India. But what are the things you need to know? How to book a taxi and how to give directions to an Uber coming to pick you up. How to get out of an uncomfortable situation, how to negotiate or count money. How to tell someone to leave you alone! In this podcast, we talk about how to get out of situations: -how to get around by taxi, auto, train and airplane -negotiation strategies and vocab -how to get out of compromising/scary situations -managing money, counting and smart ways to manage payments. This is a segment from "Travel Hindi You Will Actually Use" - a 10 part course which will teach you all this and more! See the Video version of this episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/670cSlPHHm8 _________ Review me on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen— i’m going to enter you into a drawing to get my latest course for free! So just click on my Invisible India page wherever you listen and leave a review! It will help me so much and I will see your comments there. It means a lot to me. Also, be sure to download the India Travel Guide- 30 pages of LOTS of tips, including safety for women! https://learn-hindi-anywhere.teachable.com/p/my-downloadable-india-travel-guide https://blog.feedspot.com/indian_culture_podcasts/

Asking questions in Hindi might be the most important thing you can learn. In this episode, Jessica talks about the importance of asking questions and not just making declarative statements in Hindi. In this episode, we talk about "kya - what." "Kya" is the most important word you need to know to be able to ask questions in Hindi. This video is a sample from the larger Hindi Grammar Foundations course by Jessica Kumar. Hindi Grammar Foundations is a 2.5 hour course including 30+ video lessons, downloadable homework, audio recordings and multiple perspectives from two teachers. Enroll in Hindi Grammar Foundations today. https://learn-hindi-anywhere.teachable.com/p/hindi-grammar-foundations

If this is your first trip to India or eighth, this episode highlights the top 10 pro pointers you need to known to reduce the headaches, inconveniences and ripoffs that are likely to happen while visiting India. Download the new e-booklet "The Traveler's Guide to India" What's Included in the e-booklet? 30+ pages of practical tips, which will put you years ahead in: -Language Learning -Transportation -Money & Payments -Guide to Food -Communication Strategy -Things NOT to Say in India -& so much more! Also see the accompanying YouTube video to this episode! https://youtu.be/H918-ESq2JI Links included in the episode: Gender Based Inequality & Violence- Episode 15 Learn Hindi with me! www.learnhindianywhere.com

Navigating the Indian medical system can be incredibly confusing, intimidating and even downright frustrating if you didn't grow up in South Asia. Knowing the ins and outs of how the medical field is run in India is crucial to being able to care for yourself and others in routine visits and especially emergencies. If you are visiting India, living in India as a foreigner, or an NRI who is caring for someone, this is the episode for you. A recent injury prompted me to record this episode while my mind was fresh with lots of doctor visits, medical tests, procedures, pharmacy experiences and even emergency room dramas. I cover it all in this episode and give practical tips of how to get through most situations. I also summarized this information in a free PDF guide on my website www.invisibleindiapodcast.com. Save it on your phone or print it out for your next visit to India. "Questions to Ask Your Doctor in India" Physician Assistant, Melody Crisp - Instagram YouTube version of this video hereEpisode 3 Giving Birth in India.

I've been following Indicast with Aditya Mhatre and Abhishek Kumar for 17 years. They are the hosts of India's longest running multi-person podcast. Covering major business tycoon stories, to media personalities, to the latest news, these guys are the dynamic duo of Indian podcasting. In Part 2, Jessica talks with them about predictions for future digital India and how they think tech has changed the ways people live. Part 1 about their personal lives of being two of India’s first podcasters and how the show came into being. Hear about some of their most popular episodes and high profile guests and most interested episodes that would have never otherwise gotten exposure in the mainstream media. Find Indicast at ⁠www.theindicast.com⁠ Mentioned in this Episode: See the new Kids’ Hindi Starter Course. Meant for kids Ages 4-10, the Kids’ course culminates years of experience with hard data on how kids learn best. Shot in a fun YouTube style, it is designed to keep even the most active kids engaged. Check out Jessica’s other Hindi courses, including Overcome Hindi Pronunciation Pitfalls, and Hindi Hacks You Never Knew You Needed! Be sure to subscribe to Jessica’s newsletter for discounts and special announcements about courses and other important items.

Aditya Mhatre and Abhishek Kumar were two of the first people in India to start podcasting, and today more than 15 years later, their show theindicast.com is still running. Interviewing some of the biggest celebrities in India, with humility, intellect and humor, Aditya and Abhishek are a dynamic duo. During this interview, Jessica gets behind the scenes of what it meant for Abhishek and Aditya personally to run the show this long and how the podcast has opened new opportunities for them during the dawn of Digital India. Mentioned in the Show: See the newest Hindi course from Jessica at www.learnhindianywhere.com Sign up for my newsletter to get special recommendations and deals on language learning services and products at www.invisibleindiapodcast.com.

What NOT to say in Hindi as a kid! This is an preview from the Kids' Hindi Kickstarter Course coming out next week on www.learnhindianywhere.com. It is an 18 part course taking you through all the responses you need to know as a kid in your first years of speaking Hindi. Jessica has 17 years experience in helping others learn Hindi and has multiple other courses online including Hindi Hacks, Overcome Pronunciation Pitfalls. This time, she teams up with her 8 year old son to create a whole course for kids designed for kids 4-10 years old. This is especially helpful for NRIs or kids who have had some exposure to Hindi, but aren't confident speakers. The whole 18 part course is pre-recorded with videos, audio files and visual homework assignments which are proven to engage the linguistic part of a child's brain. Be sure to watch the visual of this episode on YouTube - India with Jessica. The course launches March 10, so sign up for Jessica's newsletter and get updates on when it is coming. It will be up soon at www.learnhindianywhere.com ___________________________________________ To see my NEW Hindi courses and the Hindi Learners' Corner for one on one consultations, check out www.learnhindianywhere.com! SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER to get deals, tips and discounts on upcoming products and my courses as well. I don't send annoying stuff and definitely not every day. Only when its relevant.

In Episode 80, Jessica Kumar and Mallika Thoppay take on colorism in South Asian communities. Mallika shares about her activism and how colorism affects everyone and hurts us all. She works with children in helping them to accept others as they are and stand up for themselves if they are being discriminated against. She authored "Unfair and Lovely" to combat colorism in India. The book tackles colorism and is an effort to nip this social issue in the bud. It chronicles the journey of Sahana, who is a middle school girl. She and her sister, Surabhi, move to a new city and start attending school there. Both of them aspire to succeed at their new school, academically and socially, hoping to make new friends, participate in extracurricular activities etc.. Sahana happens to be darker skinned than Surabhi. The book delves into how the sisters' journeys are different, and how Sahana has to overcome the obstacles she faces. The author's hope is that the book teaches kids to accept everyone, regardless of physical appearance, and to stand up for themselves when the situation demands it. You get get this book in the US & India. In India: http://www.tinyurl.com/unfairlovelyindia In US: http://www.tinyurl.com/unfairlovely Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60794691-unfair-lovely ______________ Be sure and follow my Instagram for a giveaway of the book in the US and India both! Follow Mallika on Instagram @mallikamt Be sure to watch the YouTube version of our interview as well. https://youtu.be/GSJhv-oK6sc _______________ To see my NEW Hindi courses and the Hindi Learners' Corner for one on one consultations, check out www.learnhindianywhere.com! SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER to get deals, tips and discounts on upcoming products and my courses as well. I don't send annoying stuff and definitely not every day. Only when its relevant.

Join me for a wrap of 2022 with snippets of the best episodes from this year. I'm very thankful for your support and encouragement through the past four years! Here are the highlight episodes of 2022! Episode 68Episode 71Episode 72Episode 74Episode 78 To keep the Invisible India Podcast going, please consider supporting me on Patreon. I am still basically a one-woman show and its great to have your support to keep it going! www.patreon.com/invisbleindia To see my NEW Hindi courses check out www.learnhindianywhere.com! SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER to get deals, tips and discounts on upcoming products and my courses as well. I don't send annoying stuff and definitely not every day. Only when its relevant.

If you've ever wondered what the differences are between the educational system in Western countries, this episode is for you. If you're an NRI wondering if you should move back to India, or if you are a Westerner thinking about making the shift to India, this is for you too. In this episode, Jessica details the major differences between Indian and Western education styles as well a a LIST OF QUESTIONS you need to ask a new school before enrolling your child. Mentioned in this Episode: Check out Jessica's new Pronunciation Course, Overcome Hindi Pronunciation Pitfalls! Be sure to subscribe to Jessica's newsletter for discounts and special announcements about courses and other important items. Also see the YouTube version of this video on www.youtube.com@indiawithjessica Be sure to follow Jessica on social to keep up with announcements, giveaways and discounts. www.instagram.com/indiawithjessicawww.facebook.com/indiawithjessicahttps://www.tiktok.com/@IndiaWithJessicawww.twitter.com/invisibleindia_

How do you build relationships in India? Part 2 of this 2 part episode deals with the relational dynamics of living in India as someone who didn't grow up there. Skip the outdated guide books and listen in to this advice from Jessica, who first started living in India in 2006. Friendships, finding common ground, how to manage house help and language learning tips are all here. Whether you are visiting or planning on living in India, these tips will help you go beyond surviving to thriving in India with these tips! Mentioned in this episode Download the Ultimate Hindi Learning Resource Guide for FREE It is a 21 page PDF including curated resources of Jessica's top recommendations of Indian owned businesses who are creating the best Hindi learning tools! The Guide Includes: -Ratings of Hindi teachers, top classes, programs and apps! -Contact information and discount codes for the best teachers and programs to learn Hindi! -Personal notes and recommendations on ways to learn Hindi through native speakers. -21 pages of Jessica's curated recommendations for teachers based on 16+ years of experience in learning Hindi Get it here! _____________________ Other episodes to check out Surviving the Most Common Inconveniences in India Episode 18 My Top 5 Most Raw Experiences in India Episode 50 _____________________ Join our Patreon community for special content and perks! www.patreon.com/invisibleindia

What are the crucial elements you need to life life well in India? Part 1 of this 2 part episode deals with the practicalities of living in India as someone who didn't grow up there. Skip the outdated guide books and listen in to this advice from Jessica, who first started living in India in 2006. Negotiation, dealing with the complications of Indian currency, how to give and receive directions and of course tips on learning the local language(s) of the place you are visiting or living in. Whether you are visiting or planning on living in India, these tips will help you go beyond surviving to thriving in India with these tips! Links mentioned in this episode Download the Ultimate Hindi Learning Resource Guide for FREE It is a 21 page PDF including curated resources of Jessica's top recommendations of Indian owned businesses who are creating the best Hindi learning tools! The Guide Includes: -Ratings of Hindi teachers, top classes, programs and apps! -Contact information and discount codes for the best teachers and programs to learn Hindi! -Personal notes and recommendations on ways to learn Hindi through native speakers. -21 pages of Jessica's curated recommendations for teachers based on 16+ years of experience in learning Hindi Get it here! _____________________ Join our Patreon community for special content and perks! www.patreon.com/invisibleindia

Episode 75 contains a teaser of Jessica's upcoming course Overcome Hindi Pronunciation Pitfalls! Abhishek joins Jessica to work through some of the most common pronunciation errors that learners of Hindi make. In this episode, we take a small slice and discuss the vowel sounds of Hindi which are often mispronounced. Hear the subtle differences between short A and long A, and why you may have been saying "Namaste" incorrectly all these years! Keep an eye out of the upcoming course later in the summer of 2022. www.learnhindianywhere.com Links mentioned in this episode: The "Hindi Hacks You Never Knew You Needed" course is live! Cut out the fluff and get the first phrases and concepts that you need to know to get you speaking quickly and on your way! _____________________ Download the Ultimate Hindi Learning Resource Guide. It is a 21 page PDF including curated resources of Jessica's top recommendations of Indian owned businesses who are creating the best Hindi learning tools! The Guide Includes:-Ratings of Hindi teachers, top classes, programs and apps! -Contact information and discount codes for the best teachers and programs to learn Hindi! -Personal notes and recommendations on ways to learn Hindi through native speakers. -21 pages of Jessica's curated recommendations for teachers based on 16+ years of experience in learning Hindi Get it here! _____________________ Join our Patreon community for special content! www.patreon.com/invisibleindia

Jessica dives deeper about having Indian in-laws as a foreigner. In this 2 part episode, Jessica discusses listener questions about having Indian in-laws when you didn’t grow up in Indian culture. We talk about how to address conflict, what happens when you're in a multi-generational home and how to address the different view of boundaries in East vs West. Be sure to listen to Part 1 to hear about meeting the inlaws for the first time and other popular questions about marrying an Indian. _____________________ Links mentioned in this episode: The "Hindi Hacks You Never Knew You Needed" course is live! Cut out the fluff and get the first phrases and concepts that you need to know to get you speaking quickly and on your way! _____________________ Download the Ultimate Hindi Learning Resource Guide. It is a 21 page PDF including curated resources of Jessica's top recommendations of Indian owned businesses who are creating the best Hindi learning tools! The Guide Includes: -Ratings of Hindi teachers, top classes, programs and apps! -Contact information and discount codes for the best teachers and programs to learn Hindi! -Personal notes and recommendations on ways to learn Hindi through native speakers. -21 pages of Jessica's curated recommendations for teachers based on 16+ years of experience in learning Hindi Get it here! _____________________ Join our Patreon community for special content! www.patreon.com/invisibleindia

Jessica tells all about having Indian in-laws as a foreigner. In this 2 part episode, Jessica discusses listener questions about having Indian in-laws when you didn’t grow up in Indian culture. You probably know Indian families are close knit. That is why having a good relationship with our in-laws is so important. We discuss questions like what to expect when meeting the in-laws for the first time, gender biases, handling boundaries, managing questions about children and more. Listen in as a guide for your own masala desi relationship. _____________________ Links mentioned in this episode: Hindi Hacks You Never Knew You NeededJoin our Patreon community for special content! www.patreon.com/invisibleindia

Hearing others' perspectives always brings out new perspectives. I interviewed two other women who are married to Indians who bring various cultural and linguistic background to their stories. Sheida is from Iran living in Canada. Parneet is French, living in Belgium. I asked the various questions to bring out these women's thoughts and experiences: 1) Things you enjoy about being married to an Indian. 2) Your favorite thing about Indian culture. 3) One challenge of being cross culturally married. Hear their thoughts, opinions and be exposed to different cultural perspectives. Find Parneet @paris_punjabexpress and Sheida on Instagram. _____________________ Links mentioned in this episode: Hindi Hacks You Never Knew You NeededJoin our Patreon community for special content! www.patreon.com/invisibleindia

Devika Cariapa is an award-winning children’s author who uses her background in history and archaeology to creatively communicate with a young audience. Her first book, India Through Archaeology: Excavating History (Tulika Books) encourages children to explore Indian history through the lens of archaeology. It was awarded the Hindu Young World-Goodbooks Award 2018 and the Sahitya Akademi’s Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2019. She is also the author of India Through People : 25 Game Changers (Tulika Books) about the courageous men and women who left an imprint on the course of modern India, The Adventures of the Kohinoor (Juggernaut), an adaptation of William Dalrymple and Anita Anand’s book, Kohinoor and Uncle Nehru, Please Send an Elephant, a picture book for younger readers on Nehru’s ‘elephant diplomacy’. The Adventures of the Kohinoor is on the Neev Book Awards 2021 short list. Listen to this conversation about children's literature in India! Find Devika on Instagram @stories_from_stones. _____________________ Links mentioned in this episode: Tulika BooksDevika Cariapa's booksHindi Hacks You Never Knew You NeededPratham booksJoin our Patreon community for special content! www.patreon.com/invisibleindia

What are the top five verbs you need to now in Hindi to start most simple conversations? Jessica breaks down the basic verbs to listen for in Hindi conversation and how these verbs can be used for beginners and intermediate speakers of Hindi. This episode is a sneak preview of Jessica's upcoming Hindi course "Hindi Hacks You Didn't Know You Needed to Know." This course if different from other courses on the market. If you've ever felt perfectionism stop you from trying to speak Hindi, this is a great place to start to overcome barriers and learn the most irrelevant. The first course will be released mid-March 2022 with many more to come! ___________________ SIGN UP for the Invisible India Newsletter to hear about Jessica's upcoming Hindi Course! It is coming mid-March. There will be a discount for subscribers of the newsletter. Sign up for updates here! ______ Know a company that would like to sponsor the show? Have an idea for a guest who is breaking stereotypes in South Asian spaces? Write to me jessica@invisibleindiapodcast.com

Eliza Keyton (Eli Kutty) and Jessica Kumar are both language learners of Indian languages. In the years since learning Malayalam and Hindi, Eliza and Jessica have become increasingly convinced that there needs to be greater representation of Indians and proper credit given to those who have taught their indigenous languages to foreigners. In this episode, Eliza and Jessica talk through the challenges of navigating leftover colonialism which makes learning a language responsibly tricky in today's climate. Jessica and Eliza both share their clear intentions of uplifting Desi voices and pointing the attention back to native speakers of their target languages. They both speak about their unique experiences as white Americans and how one needs to be aware of white privilege while learning a language. Hear Episode 68 for more information about Eliza and Jessica's personal journey of learning Indian languages. Find Eliza on Instagram @Eli.Kutty and YouTube! ___________________ SIGN UP for the Invisible India Newsletter to hear about Jessica's upcoming Hindi Course! It is in the works now! There will be a discount for subscribers of the newsletter. Sign up for updates here! ______ Know a company that would like to sponsor the show? Have an idea for a guest who is breaking stereotypes in South Asian spaces? Write to me jessica@invisibleindiapodcast.com ______ This episode was edited by Sahastranshu Mishra.

Eliza Keyton (Eli Kutty) is an American Malayalam learner and dedicated to sharing her learnings with other learners. Jessica and Eliza dive into the complexities of learning Hindi vs Malayalam and the challenges of learning an Indian language. Jessica and Eliza both share their clear intentions of uplifting Desi voices and pointing the attention back to native speakers of their target languages. They both speak about their unique experiences as white Americans and how one needs to be aware of white privilege while learning a language. Both women are married to Indian men, yet have very different paths that have led them to diving deep into learning Indian languages. Find Eliza on Instagram @Eli.Kutty and YouTube! _____________________ SIGN UP for the Invisible India Newsletter to hear about Jessica's upcoming Hindi Course! It is in the works now! There will be a discount for subscribers of the newsletter. Sign up for updates here! ______ Know a company that would like to sponsor the show? Have an idea for a guest who is breaking stereotypes in South Asian spaces? Write to me jessica@invisibleindiapodcast.com ______ This episode was edited by Sahastranshu Mishra.