The Power of Symbols....

This appeared yesterday in Bombay times...



The minute I saw the first few images of the newly-minted Rupee symbol, 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…
We make poor losers in this country, unfortunately. We are always looking for excuses and alibis to justify failure. Whether it’s in cricket , Bollywood or politics, we cannot concede defeat with a shrug and a smile, or tell ourselves to try harder. I have my fingers crossed and am holding my breath well in advance of the Commonwealth Games. We should learn from South Africa and FIFA . Even South Africa’s harshest critics will agree that the rainbow nation pulled off a major, glitch free coup in the face of countless odds. But here in Delhi, we are readying ourselves for disasters big and small. We think by pre-empting any such unfortunate eventuality, we will be lessening our responsibility. Finger pointing being our favourite national sport, right now, there are a lot of really weary fingers! Everybody is at it – and it’s not just about the games alone. Of course, when asli biggies are involved ( Kamal Nath – Montek Singh Ahluwalia), the nation is treated to a cerebral show down. But even lesser beings provide cheap thrills to the aam janata with name calling replacing name dropping. As of now, I am waiting to hear the next salvo from Akshay Kumar who was most miffed about the fuss made over his R.K.Laxman hospital visit. Perhaps, it’s time for the Common Man to have the last laugh!
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Guys, I tried hard to upload fresh images from Sri Lanka, but there is something weird happening on the internet today. Perhaps servers have crashed after people read about Sachin Tendulkar's 'Bloody' book. In case you don't know what I am talking about, it's titled 'Tendulkar's Opus', and will be published next February. Priced at a 'modest' $75,000, this 852-page book weighing 37kg is unique in more ways than one - it claims it has the iconic cricketer's blood and saliva on the signature page. Are you going - "Ugggggh!" ?????
Please do post candid comments to that googly....