This American spent 20 years learning Tamil

How American data engineer Brian Linebaugh fell in love with Tamil and made a documentary titled 'Beyond Words'.

Brian Linebaugh pauses to think. He has just been tasked to do one of the most arduous jobs ever: sing.

After a few seconds, he breaks into an impromptu rendition of ‘Nenje Un Aasai’, a Rajinikanth song he used to hum many years ago. Rather sheepishly, he says, “Sorry, but that’s the best I can do.”

Sing he might not, but speak he can. He rattles off a Thirukural with flair. He has read a bit of Subramania Bharatiyar and even recites the popular song, ‘Sentamizh Nadu’.

Brian Linebaugh is an American data engineer based in California in the US. But that is not all; he has also nursed a fascination for the Tamil language for two decades and has put all that down, along with visuals, in the form of a documentary titled ‘Beyond Words’.

Drawn towards the language

Brian’s fascination with Tamil began when he heard the language being spoken among Indian children in his school in California. “There was something about it that drew me, “ he recalls. While other American children in his class would go for guitar or soccer classes, Brian would attempt to speak basic Tamil words. “I bought a few books on learning Tamil, and even learnt to say words like ‘manjal’ (yellow), ‘sivappu’ (read) and ‘gnayiru’ (Sunday) but I really wanted to speak it fluently. For that, I needed immersion. I realised I needed to interact with people in social situations.”

So, when he was 19, Brian took the most radical decision of his life. He packed his bags, travelled alone a thousand miles and landed in Madurai in Tamil Nadu. “I was just blown away by everything there,” he recalls, “The sights, the sounds and...the language.”