In an exclusive interview with India Today, Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam, the designer of the rupee symbol, talked about how he designed the rupee symbol, the message he wanted to send and the politics over the symbol.
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00:00In a short while ago, we spoke to Udaya Dharmalinga, the designer of the rupee symbol, ironically
00:06someone from Tamil Nadu.
00:08Sir, the rupee symbol, tell us how you designed this rupee symbol in the first instance.
00:15Is it Hindi?
00:20So this was actually a competition floated by the government of India in 2009.
00:25So I was working on my thesis and I did a lot of research on the scripts.
00:39So based on that, the competition had certain guidelines.
00:44One of them was that the symbol should reflect our Indian culture and tradition.
00:48So I tried to focus on that and based my design on the script itself.
00:52So I chose the Devanagari script and also the Latin scripts and tried to kind of amalgamate
00:57together to create something which is universal.
01:00Like it is R for rupees, R for rupiah, so both kind of denote the Indian currency.
01:05So that was the fundamental concept in the rupee symbol.
01:11And like I said, it was in 2009 and the government announced it in 2010.
01:18So just let me get this clear.
01:20What was the message you wanted to send with the rupee symbol as you designed it, to highlight
01:25one language or to see this language as a unifier?
01:28When I see that rupee symbol, you believe it's a unifier, am I correct?
01:33Yes, so I wanted to create a universal symbol so that people all over the world should be
01:37able to understand what the symbol is.
01:40So I tried to kind of blend, like I said, the Latin script and also Devanagari script
01:44together to create the sign.
01:46So it's kind of an abbreviated version of rupees and rupiah.
01:51Tell us about the reception you received in Tamil Nadu when your design was chosen.
01:55There are images of you at that time with Kalaignar Karunanidhi also.
02:00Yes, so I met Dr. Kalaignar there and then I got his blessings with all my families.
02:10So that was probably in 2011 because the competition was announced in 2009 and the results were
02:15announced in 2010.
02:16So then I think probably in 2011, if I remember correctly, or early 2012.
02:22So I kind of visited his residence and took his blessings.
02:26Away from who's saying what, what would your message be to anyone today who's politicizing
02:32this symbol?
02:34Well, see, I mean, it was a competition, I participated and I won.
02:41So if something happens after that, post the design and also after 15 years.
02:46So I do not have much to say because probably, yeah, of course, any design is bound for criticism
02:52at any point of time.
02:54But yeah, it's a learning experience.
02:55I would like to take this as an understanding and just probably keep this in mind in the
03:00future designs.
03:01Uday Kumar Dharmalingam, the person who, in a way, designed the rupee symbol, joining
03:09us earlier today.