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Zerodha, India’s leading technology-driven brokerage firm, announced the launch of the Sinhala version of its successful book for children – The Rupee Tales.
Zerodha last year took a momentous step to nurture young minds with the Rupee Tales: a set of five story books which attempts to familiarise children above seven years to basic financial concepts. Zerodha has used storytelling with vibrant illustrations as a medium to convey these concepts..
Speaking more on the occasion, Zerodha Founder and CEO Nithin Kamath said, “Zerodha is taking the forefront in improving financial literacy in India and we are taking this commitment further with the launch of the local version of our book the Rupee Tales. It is our earnest attempt to creatively inculcate basic financial awareness among children. The concepts covered in the Rupee Tales pertain to financial inclusion and a large part of the ‘financial inclusion for all’ dream is dependent on how the younger generation adapts to it.”
For the Sinhala version of the book, Zerodha has associated with Darshana publications, who has the official translation and distribution rights of the book.
Each book deals with a specific topic, peppered with lively characters, and vibrant illustrations. The concepts covered include; Savings, Banking & Inflation, Taxes, Insurance, and Stock Markets.
Karthik Rangappa, author of The Rupee Tales further adds, “The idea to write Rupee Tales came to me when my seven-year-old daughter kept asking me where I work and what I do. I realized it was not easy to explain what the stock market is, or, for that matter, basics of finance. During a casual chat at work, we realized there was no material available to familiarize kids with basic financial concepts in India or for that matter across SE Asia. Being India’s leading financial services firm, we felt it was our responsibility to change this, and thus, The Rupee Tales was born.”
The books will be officially available for sale during Kandy Book Fair which is scheduled to take place between 27 June and 1 July. It will also be available during the upcoming Colombo Book Fair to be held in September.
“Knowledge at a critical age to change perception and for the formation of habits are even more critical. These simple yet powerful books from Zerodha introduce some very important principles to young children. Saving should be a habit. A habit which has to be cultivated from a very young age. One book in this series tackles savings and the need for saving in a simple yet powerful manner. These deeply rooted habits will continue in the lives of these children even when they grow up to be adults. Likewise, all five books convey stories which are important to forming good habits in our lives,” said Darshana Ralapanawe from Darshana publications.
The stories were conceptualised in-house by Zerodha and all the five books are strategically priced at Rs. 300 only.
A brief description of the five books:
Book 1: Anu learns to save: This simple story explains the importance of saving money regularly, from a very early age in life.
Book 2: Mani›s Money: This story discusses the concept of inflation, banking, and the need to deposit money in a savings account. The understanding of these concepts could lay a foundation to the idea of saving money in a financial instrument.
Book 3: Vishrambu›s Bus Journey: A responsible citizen pays his share of taxes to the government. Taxes are an important part of our financial lives. In line with this thought, this story explains the concept of tax, and why one needs to pay them.
Book 4: One and a half stories: This story introduces the concept of insurance and explains why it makes sense to get one.
Book 5: The Cake Shop: The story is about the stock market. It explains how a company can raise money from the stock market to expand its business. The story also explains how an investor can benefit by investing his money in a business via the stock market.
Zerodha is an Indian financial service company (member of NSE, BSE, MCX, MCX-SX) that offers brokerage-free equity investments, retail and institutional broking, currencies and commodities trading, and mutual funds.
Founded in 2010, Zerodha is known for its discount pricing model and innovative use of technology. It is headquartered in Bangalore and has a physical presence in all major Indian cities. As of 2018, it is the largest discount broker in India with a loyal client base of over nine clients and contributes up to 10% of retail trading volumes on Indian stock exchanges.