Samvidhaan is Oxford Hindi Word of the Year 2019

Last year saw a lot of dust being brushed off antique copies of the Indian Constitution. Orders for fresh prints were galore. And even the layman started referring with ease to the 117,369-word framework on which the Indian democracy thrives.

The word ‘Constitution’ and its Hindi counterpart ‘Samvidhaan’ echoed across the country—from Parliament to paan shops.

Thus, Samvidhaan seems to be a befitting choice as the Oxford Hindi Word of the Year 2019 on Tuesday (28). The honour usually goes to a word or expression that attracts a great deal of attention and reflects the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the past year.

In simple words, Samvidhaan means “a body of fundamental principles or established precedents” based on which states or organisations are to be governed.

Samvidhaan reflects “the mood of the [Indian] masses as also the focus of the decision makers”, said Kritika Agarwal, Hindi Language Champion for Oxford Languages. “In 2019, the Constitution moved from being an academic concept to a movement in real time,” she noted.

India has been a land of debates. And 2019 saw Samvidhaan being the crux of several historic decisions, debates and diatribes.

The passing of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, which criminalised triple talaq, drew mixed reactions.

The abrogation of two key constitutional provisions—Articles 370 and Article 35(A) —that ended the longstanding special status granted to Jammu & Kashmir saw pundits delve into Samvidhaan.

Some crucial decisions by the Supreme Court of India also significantly contributed to Samvidhaan’s prominence. The Sabarimala verdict, which allowed women of menstruating age to enter the revered shrine of Lord Ayyappa in Kerala, sent tremors through the socio-religious fabric of India.

Similarly, the apex ordered a floor test in the Maharashtra assembly for ensuring timely government formation and smooth functioning of democracy. It also passed a landmark ruling, upholding the Karnataka Assembly Speaker’s decision to disqualify 17 legislators under the anti-defection law.

While Samvidhaan became part of common desi diction, it did not mean the “word will automatically go into any Oxford dictionaries”, clarified an Oxford University Press statement.

For instance, the Word of the Year 2018, Naari Shakti (feminine power) did not enter the dictionary even as words and usages such as Aadhaar, auntieji-uncleji, chawl, dabba, hartal and shaadi and tube light made the cut.

Whether it enters the dictionary or not, Samvidhaan will stay in limelight in 2020, too, with the politico-legal system having its plate full with hot potatoes such as the new citizenship law, National Population Register, National Register of Citizens, execution of death penalties in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case and the Sabarimala verdict review. And answers to all these issues lie somewhere in the Samvidhaan.