For S. Kamatshi, a Class VIII student of Sri Gopal Naidu Matriculation Higher Secondary School here, a valuable lesson was learnt on Friday. The girl, who bagged the top honours in the seniors category of the regional Cello Handwriting Wizards contest, learnt that scoring marks in examinations was not all about formulas and equations, but presentation was also vital.
The Handwriting Wizards contest is an endeavour presented by The Hindu in School to encourage and recognise good handwriting skills. It is open to schools in Chennai, Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Madurai, Tiruchi, Coimbatore, Tirupur, The Nilgiris and Salem. It is held under two categories - Juniors (Classes V to VII) and Seniors (VIII to X).
While nearly 60,000 students from hundreds of schools in Coimbatore, Tirupur and The Nilgiris took part in the preliminaries of this contest, a total of 253 in juniors category and 223 in seniors category were short-listed at the school-level. These students took part in the regional round held on Friday at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textiles and Management. Of these, three students in each category will now advance to the final round, which will be held in Chennai at a later date.
While Kamatshi won the first prize in the senior category, N. Keerthana, a Class X student in Nava Bharath National School, Annur, and R. Sowndharya, a Class VIII student from Vidyaa Vikas International School, Karamadai, stood second and third respectively. Both these student said that this proved to be an exciting opportunity for them.
In the juniors category, V.S. Divya Dharshini, a Class V student from Premier Vidya Vikas MHSS, Onapalayam, stood first, followed by G. Thrisha, a Class VII student from Lourde Matha Convent MHSS, Udumalpet and M. Pavithra, Class VI student from Kongu Vellalar MHSS, Tirupur.
There was an air of confidence among the students as they came out of the contest. Jheel.H Jain of the Indian Public School says this is his maiden attempt in taking part in a contest of this kind. Sameeksha S. Mehta, also from the same school, says it is an enjoyable experience.
The judges, RM. Murugappan, director of Handwriting Labs, and K. Chellappan, handwriting consultant, Green Garden Centre for Handwriting, had a tough job in selecting just three. In general, they observed that the seniors were more conscious of their writing styles. However, they focussed too much on style and many were a tad slow and hence, unable to complete the passages.
The city round was held on January 23 in cities of Coimbatore, Vizag and Hyderabad to mark the National Handwriting Day. The handwriting wizards also wrote down in ‘Cello Wall’ the changes that they want in the country. Students in all centres of this contest are creating similar walls.
K. Ramasamy, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, presented the awards to the winners. C. Ramesh Kumar, director of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textiles and Management, spoke.
Permendra Singh, director (Marketing) of Cello, says, “Cello Handwriting Wizards contest is in line with our fundamental belief in encouraging the joy of writing and ensuring that students are the key enablers. The activation aims at mass participation and recognition of talent.”
