: The Hindu In School Cello Handwriting Wizard Contest Thiruvananthapuram regional-level finals, held at Christ Nagar ICSE School on Saturday, drew enthusiastic response with 444 students from 131 schools competing for top honours.
The handwriting competition was held with the aim of encouraging and recognising good handwriting skills.
The competition was held in two categories — junior and senior.
Junior category
In the junior category, the winner was Aarcha A., a Class VI student of Raja Ravi Varma Higher Secondary School in Kilimanoor. Devika.S, Class VI student of Infant Jesus School in Thankasssery, won the second place and Dasrath.S, Class V student of Loyola School won the third prize.
In the senior category, Dyna Jayakumar, a Class X student of School of Good Shepherd won the first prize. Bhagya T.K., of Class X of NSS Public School and Kaveri.S. Giri, Class IX student of Sarvodaya Vidyalaya won the second and third place respectively.
A total of 722 students from different schools in the Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Pathanamthitta districts took part in the preliminary round, of which 444 were selected for the final round. The three winners from each category will participate in the national finals.
After the competition, the School Handwriting wizards shared their thoughts on the changes they wanted in the country, written on sticky notes which they pasted on the Cello wall.
From eradication of corruption to solution to issues of garbage and pollution, the wall displayed fresh ideas from the young minds.
Particularly notable were the wishes for more open-mindedness in Indian society.
Chief Post-Master General Sumathi Ravichandran was the chief guest on the occasion and gave away the prizes.
Heartening
“It is heartening to see this kind of response from the students to a handwriting competition at a time when people have stopped using pen and paper and have shifted to tablets and mobiles. Our department also conducts such competitions to encourage people to write more,” said Ms. Sumathi.
V. Jayachandran, senior faculty of the Government Fine Arts College, who judged the show, said the students who were not formally trained in calligraphy produced some commendable work, which displayed understanding of the techniques involved in the art.
