Can you write with both your hands on the right and left side simultaneously, that too in mirror image (reverse writing) on the left side in Kannada? Can you write upside down in Hindi and English again with both your hands on right and left sides, again with a mirror image on the left side, simultaneously? Both are extremely complicated tasks.
But Veena M. Aithal, a resident of Karangalapady from Mangalore, is a person with this rare talent who can do it all. What's more, she can even write with both her hands on right and left side blindfolded. Her talents were on full display at the Mirror Writing Demonstration held at the Madhwa Mantapa in the Sri Krishna Math/Temple premises here on Saturday, much to the amazement of the audience. Her only regret was that she forgot to write blindfolded. In mirror writing or reverse writing, when a mirror is held, the script appears normal.
Speaking to The Hindu after the demonstration, Ms. Aithal said that she came to know about this art when a person Raviraj Tantri had performed it in Udupi in 1994-95. Her neighbour Ashok Baliga encouraged her in this art when she was just 10 years old. “It came naturally to me. I did not practice. Even now I do not practice. If I practiced, then my speed of writing on both the sides will surely improve,” she said.
While writing on both sides is difficult, what made her try writing upside down? “Oh, a professor at Kasturba Medical College (KMC) Prabha Adhikari had asked me if I could write upside down on both the sides. I took it up as a challenge. That is how I can write upside down,” Ms. Aithal said. Ms. Aithal gave her first public performance at the Corporation Bank Recreation Club in Mangalore, in 2001. Her second public performance was at the KMC Hospital in Attavar in Mangalore on April 29. Her two sons Sharan and Varun too know this art. Her husband Manjunath Aithal works at the Corporation Bank in Mangalore.
What are the benefits of writing with both the hands on right and left sides? “Besides improving concentration and memory, it makes us mentally strong” she said. “I want to get into the Limca Book of Records,” she says with a smile.
