Indian Rupee finally gets its symbol

I will start with this news excerpt from News channel and it says it all. Following this is a set of instructions that shows a way to use the symbol in our PC.

Indian Rupee finally gets its symbol
NDTV Correspondent, 15 July, 2010

Finally, the Rupee will have a symbol like the Dollar ($) or the Euro (€) or the Pound (£). The Cabinet today finalised the design for the Rupee.
IIT post-graduate Uday kumar's entry has been selected out of five shortlisted designs as the new symbol for the Indian Rupee.
The government had organised a symbol design competition with a prize money of Rs 2.5 lakh. Five designs were shortlisted from a competition and all new notes will bear the design finally approved.
The growing influence of the Indian economy in the global space is said to have prompted this move that will result in the Indian rupee joining the select club of global currencies like the US dollar, the British Pound, European Euro and Japanese Yen that have unique symbols.
The abbreviation for the Indian Rupee, 'Re' or 'Rs' is also used by India's neighbours Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

 
You can start using the font straight away in your PC. Thanks to Foradian Technologies. Following are the steps.

Go to  http://blog.foradian.com/font-with-indian-rupee-symbol-download-and-us
Down load the font file. It is by the name “Rupee.ttf”
Copy it to your computer's font folder. This is C: /Windows/Fonts
Open a word file. Type the first character left of 1 (the key just above "tab" button in your keyboard) Just select "Rupee" font from the drop down list of your fonts in your application It will display our new rupee symbol.

Try it. It will have its limitations, but it’s definitely a very good starting. Lets celebrate another entry to another very exclusive club.

Information obtained with thanks from NDTV and Foradian Technologies websites.

A thought for Collectors

People say that every good action of a man comes back to him multiplied several times more. Something similar happened to me last week. I used to collect postage stamps as a hobby when I was a kid. When time came to leave home for college, I somewhat detached myself form my worldly possessions and handed them over the stamp album to my kid brother. Soon it was his turn to leave home he handed them over to one of his juniors and thus the collection left our home.

Old habits die hard- that’s what they say! A decade later I restarted my hobby of stamp collection. Not as actively as before but as passionately as ever. One close friend of mine recently decided to hang up his gloves and give up hobby as well as his collection. This doesn’t interest my son and daughter, he said. So he asked me if I would take it over. I was overwhelmed and more than eager to give his collection a new home. Last week I received the first batch of his lovely collection and it made me smile to say the least. I put all my work and papers aside as I gazed through those lovely pieces of paper like a kid!

I belong to a generation where there were many things to collect. We had the craving to collect stuff partly because the abundance of today was not to be seen during those days and nor were everything for sale in the mart. Alongside postage stamps, I also collected currency notes, coins and calling cards.

I wonder what will the new generation collect. What will be their hobbies and what will they exchange. How can they learn that there are certain things that one cannot buy form the super market? They have to trade something they have extra to get something that they want to add to his collection.

As it stands today, even emails are considered backdated with the popularity of social networking rising with each passing moment. So getting a letter by general post is nothing less than a dream come true. I will not blame my friend’s children if they stamp collection does not interest them. With everyone having a mobile in his hand, even calling cards are now rare and invisible. Currency notes and coins are still an option even though European Union had a big dent in the number.

But what will the new generation collect? Digital imageries and programs! or to create some postage stamps of your own like I did....

If you are a collector of Artworks, Antiques & Collectibles, a collection of vintage cars would be a great idea  if one could afford!

What about The Common Man!

A Time pass post

These are very hot this summer days here in Doha. The mercury has been soaring very high. I have recorded 50 degrees twice during the last two months or so.

Since my Mitsubishi is carrying me without any complaint in this rough weather, I thought she was due for some well deserved therapeutic treatment this morning.

This morning I took my mate for a bath. There are not many places around here where you have this facility. Not many that we am aware of. I am probably right as even on the unholy hour of 7:30 am in a weekend morning I had to queue up behind 2 cars to have my turn. Even after reaching my turn, it is a considerable amount of time to wait as it is quite a task to get her cleaned inside out.

It reminded me of my days as a regular smoker when we used to light a cigarette on every occasion. When I had nothing else to do I would light one. I would have smoked 4 - 5 cigarettes this morning. I should have had brought something along to read even though it was quite difficult to sit in the heat and read a book. Instead I am pounding or rather pinching on my phone keyboard typing this nonsensical blog post and clicking some pictures keep me engaged while some guys are working so hard on my car. A rather unproductive timepass!

But I am not convinced that I was missing those smoking days .............. anyways!