Hyderabad :  In these times of computer age who cares for Handwriting? It is said, people are forgetting handwriting as they use it less and less…  Even schools are also not encouraging. Instead of making students write, they are giving printouts. Hand Writing is a stress buster. It is stress reliever. It gives pleasure, makes you feel you have shared something. It is an expression of your inner thoughts. Handwriting is important. It can’t be replaced. Even in Digital World, we still care for handwriting. Writing was a legendary thing. And let us keep it that way opined Sharanya, tenth standard student of St Anns High School, Bollaram who is a winner of Handwriting Skills and Competition organised by The Hindu in association with Roots International School of Business and Management in association with some other organizations held here in Hyderabad city on Tuesday at FAPCCI Hall, Red Hills.

Sharanya stood first in the competition and was awarded Rupees Four Thousand Cash Prize. The competition was participated by 600 students from various schools in twin cities such as DAV Public School; Little Flower High School, Abids and Uppal; Geetha High School, Alwal; Jhonson Grammer School, Nacharam; Holy Family High School; Kendriya Vidyalaya Airforce, Begumpet and many other schools. Nearly 7000 students from 40 schools competed in initial rounds and 600 were selected for the finals.

The Competition was judged on parameters such as Easy to read, spacing, words, lines, etc by expert Murali Goshika. Speaking on the sidelines of the competition, he said handwriting skills are deteriorating among the children. The reasons he attributed are lack interest due to their exposure to electronic mode of communication.  Students’ life has become hectic, fast and competitive. As a result they have less time. They prefer oral communication rather than written communication. Also teachers too are not encouraging. They are giving printed materials to students so that they don’t have to take notes in the

class. All they need to do is download. But, one thing is certain that they can’t escape from writing in exams. They need to write well, they need to impress the examiner. They need to get good marks. Hence, they must focus on handwriting, said Murali Goshika.

P. Bhanu Sree who stood third in Senior Category said Handwriting is a way to express. Though we write with hand, it is actually is a brain writing, she said. And added students are doing less and less handwriting. The skill is dying. I feel bad about it. To revive this skill, we must encourage competitions and events like the ones organized. We must cultivate the habit of letter writing among the students. Training classes must be conducted, she opined.

Another winner K. Thanmay in Junior category said it was his first ever cash prize won in life and cherish it the most.  Handwriting is very important because it reflects what is there in your mind. Off late we don’t get sufficient writing practice in our school life.  We are addicted to modern electronic gadgets and gizmos he said.

The competition was organised in two categories for students from 7th to 9th as Juniors and 10th to 12th as Seniors. Three winners and three consolation prize winners were picked from each category and they were given away Rs 4000/-, 3000/- 2000/- respectively in each category for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners. Each consolation prizes of Cash Prize of Rs 500/ and participation certificates were given away by Ayyadevara Srinivas, President of FAPCCI, Mr. Rangareddy, Regional General Manager Circulation of The Hindu and Prof. B.P. Padala, Chairman of Roots International School.

The other winners include Junior Category: 1st Prize: A Saraf Angel from Kendriya Vidyalaya Begumpet; 2nd Prize V. Gayatri from Holy Family High School and 3rd Prize K. Thanmay from St. Joseph Public School. The winners of the Senior Category include: 1st Prize: N.Sharanya from St. Anns Bollaram, 2nd Prize: Zuri Zaneta from Little Flower High School Abids and 3rd Prize: P. Bhanu Sree from DAV Public School, Safilguda.