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Sunday, July 25, 2010

The Power of Symbols... The Indian Rupee...!!!

Oh yeah... the Indian Rupee finally has a symbol... and the minute I saw the first few images of the newly-minted Rupee symbol last week, I loved it!

Strong, neat, international and assertive, it was just what India needed to give its currency the much required boost. And it’s stupid to ask whether the creation of a mere symbol will pump up our economy or image internationally. Symbols are not instant coffee – they take time to register and evolve. But a good symbol has the power to change perceptions and act as a catalyst. Tell me, which Indian won’t experience a sense of pride seeing the rupee symbol on the keyboard? Or walking into a money changer’s office while traveling abroad, and seeing it up there with the hand picked other currency symbols currently accepted and recognized the world over?Let us greet our new symbol with some respect rather than quibbling over the selection process.

D Udaya Kumar who created this inspired and inspiring image holds both a Master’s degree and has a Doctorate in industrial design from the prestigious IIT ( Bombay). He is a fierce environmentalist who has planted five fruit bearing trees in the small patch of land outside his hostel and prefers to spend his limited leisure hours playing football with colleagues. Before submitting his design to the national panel for selection, he had field tested it by getting the common man to write it. This was to establish how easy it was to execute and recall. He submitted these video clips to the jury – and won! Why can’t those who lost the race accept his win with grace and give him credit for creating a superior design? Why start questioning the selection process which involved a committee of seven studying 3,331 submissions over 17 hours, at this stage? It’s a done deal, guys. Deal with it…!!!

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