It was a deep passion for Urdu poetry that motivated Delhi-based entrepreneur Sanjiv Saraf to learn the language, and launch the non-profit, Rekhta Foundation, in 2012. Today, boasting of one of the largest archives of Urdu poetry and literature, Rekhta.org offers a wide array of e-books, that hold the works of legendary prose and poetry writers, and a treasure of sher and shayari. The jewel in this crown is their trilingual dictionary, which offers a comprehensive collection of Urdu words, and one which this writer often turns to when curious about an interesting word that we’ve overheard, or to learn a new turn of phrase. Like yaum-e-aazaadii that popped up this week on the Rekhta dictionary, and which means independence day, or day of liberation from slavery.

Rekhta’s latest initiative is Anjas, which hopes to ignite the “revival and rejuvenation of Rajasthani language and tradition by Rajasthani people”. “Owing to its exclusion from the Eight Schedule of the Constitution [which lists the official languages of India], Rajasthani has been absent from schools, universities and public life, in general. While there are more than six crore Rajasthani speakers [as per the Census of 2011], the only way to learn Rajasthani is as a mother tongue,” says Saraf, Rekhta’s founder.