New "Intellectual Froglegs" Episode Now Showing -- May 13, 2021

Link here. 

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The Word Page

This is so cool.

A reader writes me that the word of the day is "baradari" or Bara Dari. The wiki entry is here.

Baradari. Rolls off the tip of one's tongue. Baradari. "Bar the doors." Baradari.

When I got the note, I didn't pay a lot of attention to the word (I was preoccupied with Sophia) but now that I have had some to explore this is so cool.

As long time readers know, Sophia's closest friend is Anika, an American of subcontinent Indian descent. We've learned a lot about Indian history and the Indian language through her mom and because of Anika.

So, it was with great pleasure that I learned that baradari is a square shaped structure three doors on each side. 

Bara in Urdu/Hindi means "twelve" and the word dar means "door." 

Is that not cool? On top of that, to make it even move "exciting" for me is the the fact that when I was with the Air Intelligence Agency in the USAF we had a very robust corps of Urdu / Hindi speakers. Having said that,  I've learned more about Urdu after I left the Air Force than when I was on active duty, mostly because I have more free time, and because of Sophia's friends in the apartment complex. 

So, baridari, square-shaped structures with three doors on each side, yielding twelve doors. Twelve in many cultures is a magic number. Certainly in our world, twelve is a very "magic" number. Look at the clock. Look at the calendar. Look at the number of disciples. Look at the number of inches in a foot. It is the number of years required for a full cycle of Jupiter, historically considered the brightest "wandering star." The number of cylinders in an Aston Martin DB11. (James Bond's 1963 Aston Martin D86 was a straight six.) Twelve is the number of signs in the western and the Chinese zodiac. The twelve Olympians are the principal gods of the pantheon; they were preceded by the twelve Titans; Hercules carries out twelve labors. Nancy Pelosi requires twelve "spaces" if one includes the space. Same with Donald Trump.  And, of course, there are twelve rainbow colors in Unicorn-land.

Wow, that's a digression.

From wiki: 

Because of their outstanding acoustic features, these buildings were particularly well-suited for mujra dance or courtesan dance performances by the noble courtesans. They were also well-suited for live performances and private concerts by various musicians and poets in front of the ruling kings of the time. They were also valued for their fresh air during hot summers of India.

So, the word for the day:baradari.