And, The ‘Hindi Word Of The Year’ In Oxford Dictionary Goes To: ‘Nari Shakti’ 

Oxford Dictionary usually chooses one “Hindi Word Of The Year’ that reflects the essence and conversations of that particular year in question. This year, on 26 January, ‘Nari Shakti’ was chosen. Broken down, ‘Nari’ means woman, and ‘Shakti’ means power, reports Indian Express.

In 2018, ‘Nari Shakti’ evoked a lot of conversations across the nation due to several efforts of the government, universities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to empower women. The word was selected by an advisory panel of language experts that included Namita Gokhale, Kritika Agrawal, Randhir Thakur and Saurabh Dwivedi.

Two main events happened last year that got the word traction. One, was the banning of the controversial Islamic practice of Triple Talaq. The second, was the contentious decision of the Supreme Court to allow women of child-bearing age to be enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

Other decisions like lifting the ban on the entry of women into Haj without a male companion and allowing women to participate in combat roles in the armed forces, also contributed to the selection of the phrase.

The announcement of ‘Nari Shakti’ being the Oxford Dictionary’s Hindi Word of the Year was made at a session of the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF).