A Japanese woman, Sakura Ishikawa, speaking in Bangla and describing her love for the language has recently gone viral on social media. In the video, she also mentions having read stories featuring Feluda (a detective created by Satyajit Ray) and Rabindranath Tagore’s Postmaster.

Among other facets of Bengali culture she enjoys is food – in particular, ilish maach, a Bengali preparation of Hilsa fish with mustard. “I did not like roshogolla the first time I had it, but loved it the second time,” said Ishikawa.

After studying Bangla at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, Ishikawa moved to Delhi to study Hindi as well. When asked which of the two languages she prefers, she said “Bangla has many expressions, Bangla is a rich language,” adding that she has also enjoyed Bengali films like Ray’s classic Pather Panchali.