HANDWRITING

How many of us remember when  exactly our scrawls became readable handwriting ( can't be said about all, I 'm sure). One of my abiding memories associated with 'learning' is filling up blank Cursive handwriting workbooks my mother  bought for me- and  laboured to assist. She didn't have to try very hard since I picked up quite fast- and probably it was on account of  my good handwriting that I could clear the admission test to KG II, Mount Carmel, Dhanbad . I had goofed up by writing 'Right Cat' when asked to write cat ( because my Mummy would always dictate in Hindi saying 'cat likho'). I liked my handwriting, and got fairly good marks in English Handwriting, a paper which carried equal marks as Recitation in the early years.

By and large, the guys who were at the top of my class had good handwriting. Bad handwriting, while writing mushy epistles,  was almost like bad mouth odour- and not everyone is a Clarke Gabel to be allowed to kiss, despite  halitosis, the  Darjeeling born Vivien Leigh and a string of beauties. and no one wanted a crush to be still born on this account.

Getting pens as presents during birthdays was quite common and a good one was  treasured. My father even allowed me to use his Sheaffer pen which was otherwise as precious to him as his Omega Seamaster.  In my hand, it glided on  paper- like a ballerina on the dance floor. As one grew up, one heard  about graphology-  the science of analysing handwriting with a view to know about skills and personality traits from one's handwriting. Forensic Science has a section devoted to Questioned Documents which was primarily about forged handwritings and various penal codes had elaborate offences drawn up relating to forgery. One doesn't quite know how the earliest humans took to writing from chalk to pencils to pens, but it does appear to be  primeval skill and in the evolution of human civilisation, it is said that the pen became even mightier than the sword. A written document was the final destination of one's thoughts, and one would put ink on paper as a final confirmation.

Handwriting , doodling, scribbling, sketching and probably painting have been shown to have deep and seamless  connections- all artisanal impulses. For Tagore, it was a craft- and his paintings basically emanate from his manuscript corrections and deletions. Ray's interest in typography did not actually start with metallic letters used for printing but with calligraphy done with a thick brush. He created many new Bengali typefaces which have refreshingly innovative yet perfectly legible form. He  created  four Roman fonts (Ray Roman, Ray Bizarre, Daphnis and Holiday Script)and numerous new fonts in Bengali.Ray is the first and possibly the only designer of typefaces in Bengal who inspired an entire community to love the beauty of the letters of their mother tongue. One of the reasons for the Bengali's love of reading is their ability to appreciate the beauty of  Ray's typography. The United States even celebrates National Handwriting Day every January 23 -- John Hancock's birthday on account of his very stylish signature.

But slowly, and more steadily, technology started to take a heavy toll of handwriting. Computers, tablets,  cellphones took away the pen from our fingers which found their way to the qwerty keypads. This trend is indicated by a 2012 study that found 33% of people had difficulty reading their own handwriting. And recently I realised how much I had slipped. Today, I  am almost ashamed to write a simple Best Wishes note on a Birthday card or a book to be gifted  to friends( who despite being women have uncharacteristically not been uncharitable :)), or  make entries in the Visitors' Register at the various units I visit in the course of my official visits. 

As schools bring in new technologies into instruction, handwriting itself is becoming a redundant skill. Teaching cursive in  not required in Common Core curriculum standard in the US, now being followed in 45 of its 50 states. This has sparked a debate among the English educators across the English speaking world. There is a fear that in the age of emails and texts,handwriting finesse will take a beating and ams shorthand will find its way in term papers.With the arrival of chip and pin, even a person's signature has become obsolete as a means of identification.It is not just children's over-reliance on computers and mobile phones for communication that is the problem, it is the way technology encroaches on leisure time too -  children generally have far less physical play these days. 

Despite the fact that the toppers of my class had lovely handwriting in addition to being intelligent, I am sure that there is no co relation between good handwriting and intelligence. But that is not the point I want to make- handwriting, good or bad, should continue to be a prescribed skill because unlike when one is writing and using both the cerebral hemispheres, in typing or texting, one does very little little thinking because one is not allowing the brain to form neural processes.While technology does allow communication portability, we must remember that one day our children will need to function in business environments - and hence, I am not in agreement with a view that why depend on a skill like handwriting which is a just a part in the evolutionary chain of technology designed to record our thoughts when we have faster technology available. 

Regardless of the method chosen by schools and parents, spending minimal daily time on handwriting with your children helps to ensure that they will be better able to express themselves competently and creatively in whatever method they choose. If a child’s writing is a painful and laborious process, his or her expressive efforts will be stifled.Children who are fluent with a pen can use language and writing skills to escape the limits of their circumstances, and those who do have access to computers will not be restricted in their communication and creativity if there isn’t an electronic device within their grasp 24/7.Infact, technology itself offers wonderful apps to learn handwriting.

The pen is almost a part of our anatomy- its becoming obsolete is , however, not as frightening as the likely demise of another part of anatomy  if these technologywalas perfected the science  ( and art, though I doubt very much on that)  of parthenogenesis;)