Kalady: Admissions Director Leading with Hindi and Bangla

Meet Kalady—a Hindi and Bangla-speaking Director of Global Philanthropic Partnerships and Admissions for Baret Scholars.

My international experience is highly valued and opens a lot of doors: travel opportunities, decision-making authority, respect from teammates, trust from clients, and more. In most business environments, my background is seen as ‘interesting’—and that goes a long way!

Languages: Bangla, Hindi, and English

Grew Up In: Wisconsin

College & Degrees Held:

• Washington and Lee University: Bachelor's degree in Art History and Math majors with Middle Eastern/South Asian Studies minor
  
• University of Pennsylvania: Master of Arts in South Asia Regional Studies

Study Abroad: Netherlands; Nepal; Varanasi & Delhi, India

How have your language and cultural skills supported and/or enhanced your professional opportunities?

100%—but how they help me has changed along the way. When my career was more research-focused, I needed Bangla/Hindi to do my job. Then, I was headhunted to the private sector, in part due to my global experience. In my current position, my international experience is highly valued and opens a lot of doors: travel opportunities, decision-making authority, respect from teammates, trust from clients, and more. In most business environments, my background is seen as “interesting”—and that goes a long way!

What advice would you share with current language learners or those considering studying a language?

When I first lived in South Asia and started studying Hindi and Bangla, I fixated on achieving professional language proficiency. That was my one benchmark. Along the way, however, I realized that I was gaining A LOT of other things—relatable memories, novel ways of thinking, expanded awareness, strong sense of place, new networks, etc.—and those have been even more determinative to my path. In other words, don’t miss the forest from the trees!

It’s often said that English is the language of global business, and because of that, language skills aren’t necessary to succeed. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

As someone with a background in cultural heritage and business, I am extremely wary of the global English hegemony. A world where everyone speaks or conducts business only in English risks falling into intellectual/cultural homogeneity, which stifles innovation, creativity, and dissent. Ultimately, I see multiplicity of language as one component of multiplicity of thought: a critical resource that prevents ideological “lock-in” in the long haul.

Do you have an interesting, moving, or humorous anecdote featuring your language skills to share?

In 2017, I was living in India for the first time and staying with a huge joint-family in Varanasi that only spoke Hindi. Around Christmastime, my housemate and I wanted to share the holiday spirit with everyone (particularly our 8-year-old host sister Puki!). Try as we might, we could only manage to download one movie: the English version of Elf with Will Ferrell. As you can imagine, this is NOT the clearest “starter film” for introducing Christmas traditions. We wrestled between English, Hindi, and hand gestures for three hours to semi-coherently explain the plot line. It was chaotic, connective, and fun.

Check out our Connect with Hindi page—or explore another language of your choosing—for information about university programs, scholarship opportunities, testimonials, and more!

Then tell us how you put your language skills to work @LangConnectsFdn on social media.

Know a multilingual professional who's using language skills in their work or career? Refer them to us for consideration in an upcoming Professional Profile.