Meet Jessica Kumar – An American thriving in Bihar, India

India is a kaleidoscope of languages, cultures, customs, and religions. So how does someone who is not born in this complex land of tradition and rituals make this culture her own, blend herself seamlessly in the social fabric, and in a way, brings the West and the East closer?

Meet Jessica Kumar, an American, who is an economic development advocate living in Bihar. Jessica is from Chicago, USA but first came to India in 2006 for an internship.

Her husband Abhishek is from Bihar and went to the US in the early 2000s for higher studies. They met through mutual friends virtually while Jessica was working in India and Abhishek was studying in the US. 

But destiny had something else in plan. After 10 years of career and life in the US, Jessica and Abhishek found themselves moving back to India.

Abhishek felt the need to get involved in development work in India and be closer to his aging parents. Since Jessica had already learned Hindi from previous work experiences in India, she was willing to leave her life in Chicago and move to Bihar along with him – a daring step by her which has paid huge rewards.

Jessica and Abhishek have two kids and are passionate about the Hindi language as well as helping others understand the multi-faceted culture of India.

Jessica runs the Invisible India Podcast to highlight cross-cultural relationships between Westerners and Indians and share her and Abhishek’s cross-cultural story. Her podcast highlights lesser-known facts of Indian culture from the perspective of a returning NRI and an American living in India. They explore the mysteries of Indian culture and current social issues through conducting interviews with various experts, stereotype breakers and interesting people in cross-cultural relationships.

_{Invisible India Podcast by Jessica Kumar}

Jessica also launched Learn Hindi Anywhere website in 2020, a method to help non-native Hindi speakers become conversational in Hindi. Jessica is passionate about helping both non-Indians and NRIs learn spoken Hindi.

Jessica and Abhishek are exemplary icons in the Indian Diaspora who have thrived beautifully together and contributed to the growth story of the new India.