The following post is courtesy of proud Educational Travel Week sponsor, Jet Airways.
Quick quiz. Which one of these symbols is the odd one out? $, £, €, ¥,or 
. If you guessed that the first five are the only internationally recognized currencies in the world bearing a unique symbol and that the last is an internationally recognized pop star, you’d be right. Of course, the first five symbols also have names: dollar, pound, euro, yen and rupee. The last is the unpronounceable “Love Symbol” claimed by the artist formally known as Prince. But enough about our odd man out. Let’s focus on the new kid on the block – the (pronounced roo-pee), which was introduced to the very exclusive Currency Symbol Club as recently as July 2010.
Although the rupee is the currency used by a number of countries around the world such as Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia and the Seychelles, the symbol for the rupee is exclusive to India. It was designed by artful Udaya Kumar, an assistant professor at India’s Institute of Technology, following a competition launched by the Indian government to find a unique symbol reflecting India’s culture and character. Kumar explained that his design was influenced by the three color bars of the Indian flag and blends the Roman letter ‘R’ with the Indian ‘ra’ to appeal to both Indian and international audiences. Expect to see Kumar’s winning symbol on global currency exchanges and computer keyboards around the world by the end of 2012.
Despite the newness of the symbol, the rupee as a currency dates all the way back to the 16th century when it was introduced to India by its then ruler, Sher Shah Suri from Afghanistan. Back then, the rupee was a silver coin whose value was based on its weight in troy grains (a precious metal weighing system that originated in medieval France and is still used today). Today, you’ll find circulating coin rupees made from ferritic stainless steel. You’ll also encounter paper rupees, the first of which entered circulation in 1861 when India was under the rule of the British government and, until its independence from Britain in 1947, carried the head of the British monarchy. Notes in circulation today are called the Mahatma Gandhi series—named after the non-violent leader of the Indian independence movement.
Take Jet Airways to India’s capital, New Delhi, a hub of vibrancy and modernity, and put your rupees to work. (Or see how they’ll work for you.) Constructed by two British architects in 1911 and inaugurated in 1931, New Delhi functions as the seat of Indian government and the financial center of the city. Visit the Janpath Market (meaning people’s path) in the heart of New Delhi that teems with hundreds of sidewalk stores selling jewelry, antiques, handcrafts, essential oils, perfumes and clothes. Splurge on delicious Indian fast food such as dosas (Indian-style pancakes), papri chaat (fried wafers topped with potatoes, chickpeas, yogurt and chutney) or panipuri (fried hollow dough filled with chickpeas and spicy potatoes small enough to fit in your mouth). Explore Connaught Place, home to an underground shopping complex as well as restaurants, bars, bookshops and movie theaters showing Bollywood’s latest and Hollywood‘s greatest. And because Connaught Place is a popular movie-set location, if you show up at the right time you might even see the filming of an Indian movie.
If spending isn’t your thing, check out how the other half lives—and spends their rupees—by visiting historic Delhi. Explorica’s Delhi guided sightseeing tour will take you through the city’s more complicated streets to the vast palaces and mansions of India’s royalty and nobility past. One of which is Lal Quila, otherwise known as the Red Fort due to its sandstone color, and whose commissioner, Emperor Shah Jahan, definitely did not believe in frugality. The Fort, which took 10 years to build and was completed in 1648, extends for over a mile and is filled with luxurious marble halls and walls decorated with ornate flowers and gilded paint. Its design was a clear symbol of Mughal power and Emperor Shah Jahan’s pomposity. (He also liked to parade around the Fort on an elephant.) Today you’ll find some of the richest and most stylish locals living (and shopping) in South Delhi, boasting the best hotels, stores, nightspots and restaurants in the city. Incidentally, South Delhi is close to Humayan’s Tomb, a UNESCO world heritage site and resting place of Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun who was displaced in 1540 by the very same Sher Shah Suri who introduced the rupee to India!