Of all people rejoicing, Indian cartoon makers must be mighty pleased. What could, after all be a better alternative to the ubiquitous dollar sign, the only option they had when to show a furry rabbit’s greed filled eyes? Our very own Indian rupee, which just acquired its very own symbol becoming only the fifth currency in the world to do so.
The symbol for Indian rupee was chosen through an open competition and the winning design was made by an IIT graduate D. Udaya Kumar, who reportedly worked on it for several months.
As the symbol, a combination of the Devnagri letter ‘ra’ and the Roman numeral R was revealed, a wave of excitement swept all across. Artist Hemi Bawa feels the symbol looks appropriate and uncluttered. “I like the new symbol, it’s minimalist and not over the top,” she says adding that it will definitely be prestigious internationally.
Creative director in an advertising agency Udayan Chakratvarty feels it blends both scripts beautifully and makes the symbol more inclusive. “It’s a phenomenal design and moves beyond a particular language, making it possible for everyone to recognise it.”
However, his art partner and Associate Creative Director Rohit Dhamija feels there is still time to see how will it visualise. “It needs to appear aesthetic on bank notes, coins and posters and since it’s a big design element,” he says.
However, this is a mere symbol and does not denote any growth. Prof. BL Pandit, the HOD for Economics in Delhi University says a symbol has nothing to do with an economy’s progress. “It depends on our potential to grow as a nation. And we talk of symbols, the Chinese Yuan has no symbol but it’s doing a lot of progress.”
With the Euro’s inception being no easy process (we still don’t have a symbol on our keyboards), the absorption of rupee will be no mean feat either. Sanjeev Bhikhchandani, CEO of naukri.com feels the process will be a long drawn one. “While Indian manufacturers might include it in the keyboards, it’s going to be difficult to get it done globally. And more so, they might have to decide which key to remove to add this one.”
He says that though the rupee symbol will certainly distinguish it from other similar currencies in the subcontinent.