At a time when her life seemed to be crashing, Katherine Russell Rich took on a writing assignment in India, where she was seduced by the idea of trying to speak Hindi. In a rash moment, she decided she would go live and study in the ancient city of Udaipur --- a move that led to unexpected reclamation. In this beautifully written memoir, she documents her experiences, from the hilarious to the frightening to the full-out exhilarating, and interweaves them with reporting on what effects a second language has on the brain. Hindi becomes the lens through which she gains a perspective not only on India but on the radical way the country and the language itself are changing her.