The cot evolved from Sanskrit to Ikea

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A cot has always been a tangible sign of your early years.

Something you could visualise being white in colour and with high railings for added safety.

You could see pastel walls in the room it was placed in and small toys safe enough for your first few years on the planet too.

This image definitely gives an Ikea vibe when the arrows on the floor have taken you around the kitchen section, lighting, computer desks, and now it’s led you to the kids section and you suddenly feel like a giant.

But in India, I associated the cot to the one that looks more like a hammock.

You see the mother either push the hammock lightly, or pull a small rope tied to the hammock to rock the baby to sleep.

I’ve associated a few names for this type of cot.

One is the Hindi word ‘jhula’, which I’ve also seen being used to place the infant Krishna idol in.

During festivals like Janmashtami, the jhula is decorated with colourful flowers and devotees would take it in turn to rock it aided by a long rope (or string depending on the size of the idol and the jhula), which would also be colourfully decorated.

Another name given to this type of cot in Gujarati is ‘ghodiyu’.

This is the word I’m most familiar with.

The ghodiyu in India has a rustic feel with a more terracotta and bronze aesthetic.

The cloth for the hammock is in different colours as well.

I remember seeing my cousins using bits of their old cotton sarees which they would shape to size and change regularly.

I have even seen the ghodiyu structure (made of wood) that my Mum and all her sisters had been rocked to sleep in.

My aunts in India used this ghodiyu for their own children, and my cousins have used it for theirs too.

It was bronze with a black design, and gold lines too.

This week, I decided to look into the etymology of the word ‘cot’ because it was fascinating to learn that it was another immigrant word with its origins from India.

You see, the word ‘cot’ comes from the Sanskrit word “खट्वा" (khaṭvā) meaning ‘bedsted’ or ‘light bedstead’.

This evolved into the Hindi word "खाट" (khāṭ), meaning ‘couch’ or ‘hammock’.

It was around 1630, during the period of Colonial rule, that khāt was amended into the vocabulary of English speakers and gave rise to the word ‘cot’.

The semantic shift in English also resulted in its meaning narrowing further to mean ‘a small, light bed’, and ‘a small bed or crib for a child’ by around 1818.

The next time you’re at your local Ikea, (and yes, I know Ikea itself has Swedish roots) and you see the cots on sale, remember that not only do they have Sanskrit origins, but through the evolution of the word into English, there have been multiple shifts in the vocabulary and meaning too.

Just like with the words I’ve looked at before, it feels a shame that they were amended when they reached these shores.

They are not difficult words to say, and could have been kept as they were.

But I suppose I also understand that it gives a distinction to creating its own identity that is more assimilated to here too.

We all have to give up parts of ourselves to fit into any environment.

These words have had to go through similar situations.