A Bulgarian Received One of India's Most Prestigious Awards

Prof. Gabriela Nikolaeva, A Bulgarina who teaches at New York University, has been awarded one of India's most prestigious state awards.

She is awarded the Hindi Sevi Shaman Award for her contribution to the training and promotion of Hindi language. The award was personally handed by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, at an official ceremony at the presidential palace Rashprapati Bavan in downtown Delhi.

The annual Hindi and Indian culture awards are in 12 categories. 22 researchers and writers from India and only two foreign professors Fuji Takeshi from Japan and Gabriela Nikolaeva Ilieva from Bulgaria were awarded.

Gabriela graduated from the Classic High School in Sofia and then studied Indology at Sofia University. For 20 years, she has taught Hindi, Urdu, and Indian literature at New York.

“I accept this award as an additional impetus in my work on the globalization of Hindi pedagogy and the development of world standards for teaching Hindi outside India," Gabriela told BNT. Hindi is spoken by more than 700 million people in the world. In the Bulgarian and Hindi languages, there are nearly 700 words with the same root from Sanskrit," she said.