A contest of handwriting wizards of the south

As many as 484 students from schools across the southern districts put their pens to paper and gave their best shot at the regional round of The Hindu in School Cello Handwriting Wizards contest organised at the Mahatma CBSE School here on Friday.

The school-level rounds of the competition were held in 138 institutions across Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Nagercoil with 46,800 participants out of whom three each in the junior and senior categories from each school were selected to compete in the regional round.

As many as 251 participants in the junior category and 233 students in the senior category participated in the regional round in celebration of the National Handwriting Day.

After the competition, the eager participants wrote about their vision for the country on colourful Post-It notes and pasted them on the ‘Cello Wall.’

From an end to violence to a cleaner and greener environment, the students came up with a host of ideas.

For confidence

Speaking about the importance of good handwriting, K. Sridharan, Managing Director of Smart Write, who was one of the judges for the competition, said that having neat and clear handwriting would directly impact the confidence level of the student.

“We will rate the entries in the competition on the parameters of whether they put the reader to strain in trying to decipher it and the level of neatness,” he said. Mr. Sridhar judged the competition along with S. Murugan, Centre Manager, and N. B. Naganandhini, Centre in-charge, of Smart Write.

Winners

In the junior category, S. B. Lakshana Mamathi of Class VII from Katie Wilcox Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Madurai, bagged the first place. S. Pooja of Class VII from Good Shepherd Model School, Tuticorin, and S. R. Keerthana of Class VII from Vikaasa School, Tuticorin, won the second and third places respectively.

S. Sankari of Class VIII from Vikaasa School, Tuticorin, emerged winner in the senior category. M. Sindhuja of Class VIII from T.V.S. Higher Secondary School, Madurai, and D. Rupshya of Class VIII from Queen Mira International School, Madurai, bagged the second and third places respectively.

K. Srikanth, Chief Divisional Retail Sales Manager, Indian Oil Corporation, distributed certificates and trophies to the winners and spoke about how handwriting played a vital role in the past when people used to communicate through letters.

Overwhelming response

"We are overwhelmed by the response and amazed at the sheer energy of the schools and students. They have literally made The Hindu in School Cello Handwriting Wizards contest a powerful mass movement. We are now looking at expanding this across the country. We are committed to supporting this initiative in line with Cello’s philosophy of recognizing talent in the education sector,” said Permendra Singh, Director-Marketing, Cello.