With pens as wands, they spin some magic

Rajiv C. Lochan, Managing Director & CEO Kasturi and Sons Limited; Vikas Gupta, CEO, Cello; Permendra Singh, Director-Marketing, Cello; S.M. Saleem, Deputy Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Chennai Region, and C. Sylendra Babu, ADGP Coastal Security Group, Tamil Nadu, with the winners of The Hindu In School Cello HandwritingWizards Contest. Photo : K. Pichumani

 While some of the writing looked uniformly windswept with all letters slanted to the right, some others with their precision looked almost sculpted. But it was two students from Thiruvananthapuram who spun their pens like wands and took home the top prizes at the finale of The Hindu In School Cello Handwriting Wizards Contest held here on Monday.

After two intense rounds of writing at the school and city levels in ten cities, 60 students qualified for the finale of the contest that reinforced the importance of good handwriting in the digital age. Of these, 57 students participated on Monday.

Six students — three each from the junior and senior categories — went home with

The Hindu In School Cello Handwriting Wizard title. Close to 9,000 students from over 1,500 schools in south India had participated in the city rounds of the contest.

Dasaradh S., Class V, Loyola School, Thiruvananthapuram, bagged the first place in the junior category for students from classes V – VII. In the senior category for students from classes VIII – X, Bhagya T.K, Class X, NSS Public School, Thiruvananthapuram, won the top prize.

C. Rohith Sai, Class VIII, Don Bosco Matriculation, Chennai, and Manasa Shankar, Class VIII, Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Bengaluru, won the second and third places respectively in the senior category.

In the junior category, Keerthana S.R., Class VII, The Vikasa School, Tuticorin, took home the second prize and, Meenakshi B.S., Class VI, Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir, Kochi, the third prize.   

Chief Guest S.M. Saleem, Deputy Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Chennai Region observed how handwriting was a neglected aspect of student development and urged teachers, parents and students to make a conscious effort towards improving it.

Vikas Gupta, CEO, Cello, said that the students’ handwriting was “practically like calligraphy.” Terming education a sunrise sector, he said that it was the fulcrum around which the development of the country rested on.

Guest of Honour C. Sylendra Babu, ADGP Coastal Security Group, Tamil Nadu, noted how good handwriting was an important skill, especially if one was appearing for civil services examinations. Artists Gopinath and Shailesh Bo from the Cholamandal Artists’ Village judged the entries.