It was a process which ran behind the screens for more than 16 months that included series of meeting at various levels starting from RBI to the cabinet meetings of the Indian government to launching of a nationwide contest. Here in this article I would take you through the various process which finally led to the origin of Indian Rupee symbol.

It all began on 5 March 2009 when the Indian government announced a contest to create a sign for the Indian rupee. Indian government had announced a nationwide contest for new rupee symbol. More than 3000 entries were received in this national competition. It was truly a tough challenge to select one design because of quality of several other designs. It was decided that such a symbol would be selected which not only conveys the message as mere Indian Rupees but it should also reflect the country’s unity and diversities. To do this Government had formed a jury headed by the RBI Deputy Governor. Five signs created by Nondita Correa-Mehrotra from Mumbai, Hitesh Padmashali from JWT Mumbai,, Shibin KK from Kerala, Shahrukh J Irani from Mumbai , and D Udaya Kumar Industrial Design Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai had been short listed from around 3331 responses received and one of them was to be finalized at the Union Cabinet meeting held on 24 June 2010. The decision was deferred by a request of the Finance Minister, and it was decided when they met again on 15 July 2010, and selected the symbol created by Mr. Udaya Kumar.

The new symbol is a wonderful blend of the Devanigiri ‘Ra' "र" and roman ‘R'. It has two parallel lines crossing this ‘Ra’ or ‘R’ which actually denotes that the symbol “is equal to” one Indian rupee. A closer look at the symbol also indicates robustness of the Indian economy. The design is said to be inspired from the tricolour, with two lines at the top and white space in between.

Twenty Something Twenty Everything !

Young , single, with money to blow and your whole life ahead of you. That's the terrific twenties when one can go from gym to party to boardroom (or bedroom).

It’s like this. You’re 25, but feel 45. You should be having the time of your life. But all you do is stress about your future-free job, scary debts often from educational loans of college education, alleged friends and non-existent partner. If your life was a movie it would go straight to video. And nobody would rent it.

You’re not alone. Ask any twentysomething how they’re doing and they will bravely say, “fine”. They might well be. But scratch the surface and you’ll see that for many of us all is not fine. Not really. Far from roaring, your twenties are an extended mourning period. Wave goodbye to the metabolism which lets you eat anything and stay thin. Cry for the constitution which gets you over hangovers in hours not days. Watch in horror as your eyebrows turn to topiary. We stop growing and start ageing. And the freedom-responsibility balance tips as we are faced with the three Ms — mortgage, monogamy and marriage.

Feeling you should be having, doing or being more is the core of the “quarterlife crisis”. Suddenly, 30 is so close you can smell it and everyone is doing better than you (or seems to be). The excitement of graduation fades. Real life sets in. And it’s expensive, ugly and competitive. We feel stressed, inadequate and somehow not quite as good as our peers. We feel poorer, less successful and less together. We feel, even though we’re only twentysomething, that our lives are in crisis.

The malaise, which strikes way before the classic midlife crisis, has even started afflicting Bollywood heroes. Why else did the college-going Sid (played by Ranbir Kapoor) need a three-hour film to wake up?

Anxiety, confusion, loneliness and short lifespan of relationships are telltale symptoms and they're showing up everywhere: the frequency with which jobs are changed and the number of youngsters seeking solace in spirituality is all part of this phenomenon.

The expectation hangover
Christine Hassler, life coach and author of '20 Something, 20 Everything' who first identified and trademarked the 'expectation hangover epidemic' , says the crisis crops up when there are no clear answers to the 'Twenties Triangle' . ''Who am I, what do I want and how do I get it? Not knowing the answers to those questions leads to feelings of panic, confusion, or lack of motivation,'' she says.

Spoilt for choice
But is it angst or the availability of too many options? After all in a world of too many choices – when even choosing a mobile ring tone is a difficult decision – working out what you want can be tough. Ishan Bakshi, a 26-year-old who lives in Delhi, admits he's spoilt for choice. An MBA, he quit his job in the investment advisory division of a bank because "I didn't see myself doing that kind of work for the next 20 years. It was too limiting." Now he's contemplating a PhD in economics. '' I have been trying to understand where I want to go and what I want to do." That's what many others are grappling with too. Ronesh Puri, MD of Executive Access, a headhunting firm, says that it is becoming increasingly common for young people to make drastic career switches. ''The problem is expectations. They get disappointed easily as everybody wants more.'' While the quarterlife crisis is almost becoming an epidemic in urban India, the young don't know who to turn to for help. Shaima Gupta, 25, often starts an instant messaging conversation with her friends with - "I'm depressed. I'm so broke, it's killing me. I wanted to buy something today and it killed me that I couldn't. Usually, I just swipe my card and buy it. I have no idea where my life is heading! I wish I had never turned 25." She abruptly ends the conversation with ''you probably don't need this now'' even before the friend on the other side of the screen has a chance to respond.

Dating dance
If the young are fickle in spiritual matters so are they in matters of the heart. While most 20-somethings are serial daters, they are just as lonely despite changing partners. Sara M, a self-confessed serial dater, says there's nothing wrong with trial and error.'' It's just a matter of who you would like to end up with, and sometimes you're not sure about that in your head,'' she says. She often finds herself depressed and lonely because there's just no one who really gets her. ''I have more than 300 friends on Facebook, but how many are really friends?'' she asks.

Psychotherapist and relationship counsellor Minnu Bhonsle says it's not commitment phobia so much as the realisation that the relationship "does not have the potential to last" that makes many 20-somethings break up.

A quarterlife crisis though is not the end of the world. Regular counselling which increases self-worth can help, says C R Chandrashekhar, senior psychiatrist, NIMHANS. ''We tell people to look at their achievements and feel good about them rather than comparing themselves with others.'' He also says there can be physical manifestations like headaches, body aches and depression. Life coach Hassler says that a quarterlife crisis is something to walk through with patience and compassion. ''The best thing is not to look at yourself as broken or failing in anyway and then begin an internal investigation meaning personal growth work.''

She admits that when she was 25, she woke up one day in a cold sweat and found herself in the midst of her own quarterlife crisis. ''The good news is that I survived it and can honestly say it was one of the best experiences of my life.''

Don’t panic: you’ve got 30 years to sort things out
Try not to measure how successful you are by what your friends are earning. Set your own personal benchmarks for success Avoid stumbling in and out of jobs in rapid succession. It looks bad on the CV. If you really hate the job, consider a sabbatical or work on a voluntary project. If you haven't met the man or woman of your dreams, what's the big hurry? If you are still unhappy, remember, you probably have more than 30 years to sort it out. And worrying will give you wrinkle lines!

With inputs from Insiya Amir in Delhi and Jayashree Nandi in Bangalore, and The Times of India, Deccan Chronicle

The Cut Motion

It was a cool breezy evening on the 27^th April, 2010 when all my family members were home early to have some quality family time on the occasion of my birthday that around 5pm that I called everyone to round up at the Television to watch perhaps the not so likely events on air. It was the Live broadcast of Lok Sabha in session on the “Cut motion”. Which was featured almost on all the news channels in the country.

Little did I realise that my family too was unaware of what this fuzz was all about until my brother asked me a very simple and basic question, “What is cut motion?” which even took me by surprise that my mother second the question. It was only later that I discovered that most of my friends too where unaware of the tension in the air, in Delhi on that day, as the UPA tried to survive a cut motion on the Finance Bill in Parliament.

So here I thought of giving a brief insight on “Cut Motion” in common man’s terms.

What is a cut motion?

For all practical purposes, Cut motion is a veto power given to the members of the Lok Sabha to oppose a demand in the financial bill discussed by the government. This can turn into an effective tool to test the strength of the government. If a cut motion is adopted by the House and the government does not have the numbers, it is obliged to resign.

A motion may be moved to reduce the amount of a demand in any of the following ways:-

(a) Disapproval of Policy Cut: That the amount of the demand be reduced to Re.1/-' representing disapproval of the policy underlying the demand. A member giving notice of such a motion shall indicate in precise terms the particulars of the policy which he proposes to discuss. The discussion shall be confined to the specific point or points mentioned in the notice and it shall be open to members to advocate an alternative policy;

(b) Economy Cut: That the amount of the demand be reduced by a specified amount' representing the economy that can be effected. Such specified amount may be either a lump sum reduction in the demand or omission or reduction of an item in the demand. The notice shall indicate briefly and precisely the particular matter on which discussion is sought to be raised and speeches shall be confined to the discussion as to how economy can be effected

(c) Token Cut: That the amount of the demand be reduced by a token cut, say of Rs.100/- in order to ventilate a specific grievance which is within the sphere of the responsibility of the Government of India. The discussion thereon shall be confined to the particular grievance specified in the motion.

Tuesday's cut motion being moved to seek reduction in excise and customs duties on fuel prices.

The rule of the admitting a cut motion is available on the Parliament of India website: (http://parliamentofindia.nic.in) hence I wouldn’t be discussing it here, as it just complicates things for the people who don’t understand it.

Why was it so important all of sudden?

In a show of strength where a win for the government was assured, the division in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday was still a landmark. UPA-2 passed its first major test with a 289-201 scoreline. It thus demonstrated that it had enough support in the House to take on any challengers.

The outcome underscored the government's ability to poach support from the opposition's column, dealing a blow to the efforts for opposition unity on the strength of revived anti-Congressism, and helped abate doubts about the government's stability.

The "UP parties" turned out to be the main props for the government. If it was Samajwadi Party in the 2008 trust vote on the India-US nuclear deal, this time, BSP's 21 members provided the comfort factor as the government defeated two cut motions moved by BJP and Left when demands related to the Budget were guillotined on Tuesday evening. SP along with RJD helped indirectly by not participating in voting.

What’s the Big Catch?

Rahul Gandhi shouting filmy dialogues against Mayawati in UP, his mother sharing candies with the same Mayawati to stay afloat in power, a nation reeling and stooping more and more under inflation, increasing poverty, IPL scam, phone tapping. It’s all a part of our dance of democracy.

Conclusion

In conclusion, All’s well that ends well! 27 April indeed was not just a lucky and happy day for me because it was my birthday but even to Mr. Prime Minister, as he survived the cut motion and to all Indians who survived from having all of sudden re-election if the government had fall down.