What according to you is success, Anindita Roy asked me. One would think she knows. Being one of the 60 winners of the prestigious 2016 Many Languages, One World international essay competition. Organised by the United Nations and ELS Educational Services, in its third edition, 9,000 individuals from 165 countries submitted a paper on global citizenship and multilingual ability in one of the UN official languages — which isn’t their first or primary language of instruction. Victory comes to those who not only ace the paper but also pass a video interview with language experts. The fruit of this would be the honour of participating in Many Languages, One World youth forum at Hofstre University, New York. But Roy, in spite of clearing both the written and video round in Spanish, was denied the chance to avail this opportunity because her visa was denied. Hence, she considers her success “unfulfilled”. Born in Calcutta and currently a research student in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, Anindita has been a voracious reader since she was a child. ”I was amazed by the Spanish poet Lorca’s work and I started to learn Spanish so that I can read him in original language,” she says recalling her first tryst with the language. “You discover a whole new culture when you learn a language, your views change. It’s like discovering a whole new world. ” This passion and love for Spanish language drove her to even carry on her higher studies in it. Randomly, she came across the essay’s ad and decided to try. The rest, as she says, is “not a full success story”. But we think her quest to pursue the language further makes her story a success-in-the-making.