Brajesh Samarth is a Senior Lecturer and Language Coordinator in Hindi-Urdu at Emory College of Arts and Sciences, USA. His research examines the processes of identity maintenance through language in the Indian diaspora. He has extensively studied Hindi-Urdu literature and music including South Asian diaspora poetry, Dastangoi (the lost art of Urdu storytelling), storytelling through Phad painting, Sufism, Yoga, and cultural symbolism related to Rajasthani turbans. He holds a Ph.D. in linguistics, and has taught Hindi and Urdu in various language programs such as the School for International Training in Jaipur, Stanford University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.