Oxford Dictionaries names 'Nari Shakti' Hindi word of 2018; JLF director says it 'encapsulates spirit of our times'

Jaipur: Oxford Dictionaries on Saturday declared “Nari Shakti” the Hindi word for the year 2018. The announcement was made during a session at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) at Diggi Palace. According to Oxford Dictionaries, the word has been derived from Sanskrit and is used today to symbolise women “taking charge of their lives”. [caption id=“attachment_5968181” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “March 2018 recorded a large spike in the use of ‘Nari Shakti’ as discussion arose around the Government of India’s Nari Shakti Puraskar (Women Power Award) held on the International Women’s Day,” they said in a statement. The word was selected by Oxford Dictionaries (India) with the help of an advisory panel of language experts, including Namita Gokhale, Randhir Thakur, Kritika Agrawal and Saurabh Dwivedi. “Nari Shakti encapsulates the spirit of our times, with all its struggles, challenges and triumphs,” Gokhale, who is also the director of JLF, said. Oxford had named ‘Aadhaar’ its Hindi word for the year 2017.