India will miss auspicious 25 p coin

For decades, it has been ural symbol of all things he cultural symbol of all things uspicious in India. It is the ource of numberless Indian okes and phrases, and children nce survived on it for pocket money.

When the 25 paise coin goes ut of circulation from July 1, a hole generation of Indians will ave to say goodbye to the iconc chavanni.

"When I was growing up in he late1960s, getting one chaanni a day would give us a feelng of empowerment," said riter and social activist Tushar Gandhi, who flooded Twitter with nostalgic memories of the 25 paise coin on Tuesday.

With the chavanni, says Gandhi, people could buy everything from a vada pav to snack of boiled peanuts, sugarcane and berries.

The `four annas' also made their way idiomatically into language. "To call someone an idiot, we would use the phrase chavanni kam or pavli kam, and `teri chavanni gir gayi' meant `you've lost your marbles'," said Gandhi.

For several communities, the chavanni also has auspicious significance. While making offerings to a deity or gifting money on weddings, Gujaratis and Maharashtrians always offer sava rupaya (Rs1.25), considered an auspicious amount because it is more than the round-figure `one'.

"Consequently, the Gujarati phrase savayu is used for anything that has the potential to grow," said Nalinee Madgavkar, 61, a singing teacher from Dadar.

"Now at the temple, we will have no choice but to offer amounts such as Rs11 or 21," said Shashikala Kamle, 50, a Worli resident.