Veer had been writing his manuscript in English, though the thoughts often arrived in Hindi first.
One evening, he finally said what had been troubling him.
🦁 Veer Singh
Ved, can I publish my book in Hindi?
📖 Ved
Of course you can. Why do you ask as though the answer might be no?
🦁 Veer Singh
I suppose I assumed serious books are written in English.
Ved looked genuinely puzzled.
📖 Ved
Some of the deepest ideas ever written down were never written in English at all.
🦁 Veer Singh
But would a Hindi book reach as many readers?
📖 Ved
It would reach different readers, not fewer. Hindi carries hundreds of millions of readers who think, dream and remember in that language.
Veer had not considered it that way.
🦁 Veer Singh
When I write in English, some of what I mean loses its shape.
📖 Ved
Then perhaps English is not the language your book was meant to be written in.
🦁 Veer Singh
Is it strange to say I feel more like myself when I write in Hindi?
📖 Ved
It is not strange at all. A book written in the language closest to your heart often carries more of your true voice than one written in the language you were taught to perform in.
Ved gestured toward a shelf Veer had not paid much attention to before.
📖 Ved
Look here. Poetry, philosophy, memory, all written in Hindi, all standing proudly beside every other language on this shelf.
🦁 Veer Singh
I had not noticed how many there were.
📖 Ved
A book's worth is not measured by the language it is written in, but by the honesty it is written with.
Veer opened his laptop, and for the first time, let the thoughts stay exactly as they had first arrived, in Hindi.
