a new symbol

Here comes the hot-stepper!

Into a not-so-crowded world of currency symbols - one dominated by behemoths with a face-recall that borders on the hard-wired comes a new kid on the block.

The Indian rupee has unveiled its official symbol.

The brotherhood (or is it a sisterhood?) of $ ₤ ¥ and of course € now has a new friend. The sleek rupee symbol seen on the left.

A good year or so ago a contest was announced.

A contest to design the new official international symbol of the Indian Rupee. A way of putting identifying the financial power that India is - and is becoming. A pictoral image that captures some of our culture and presents it in an enduring way.

Here are some of the suggestions given:

Pretty awful most of them. I particularly wonder about the second from the lower left. How in the world can that be seen as an international symbol?

I must admit that I spent more than a few minutes daydreaming about participating in the contest. Turns out that other things (rightly) crowded their way in and put my opportunity for glory on hold.

Today's announcement says that the symbol chosen to be the new Rupee sign was designed by a D. Udaya Kumar - a freshly minted PhD in industrial design from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai.

Dr. Kumar is set to join the faculty at the new IIT in Guwahati.

Looking at the elegance of his design - you just want to say - 'I could have done that!' fit together so perfectly. The double bars – a sign of stability – are not put down in the middle like the Yen and the Pound – but lifted up. Dr. Kumar says it is to remind of the Indian flag – but it also allows for the incorporation of the line that the Devanagri script uses on top.

Bravo! May this symbol last long. Hooray for good design!