KOCHI: It is a boon to have an attractive penmanship. The joy doubles when your handwriting is widely appreciated and honoured by the world. Thiruvananthapuram-based Mohanan Nair K G, who works as a superintendent in KSEB has made Kerala proud by winning the top honour at the World Handwriting Competition 2020 conducted by New York-based organisation ‘Handwriting For Humanity’. Mohanan won the honour in the ‘adults’ section (ages 20 to 64) of the ‘Artistic Handwriting’ category.
Every year, the jury receives entries from January 1 to June 30. Participants belonging to all age groups can submit a sample of their scrawl to cursive, manuscript, or artistic handwriting categories by writing a quote of author and calligrapher Michael R Sull. “I feel ecstatic. I sent in the entry while my right hand was fractured. I started trying different fonts after joining KSEB. I’m thankful to the organisation,” said Mohanan.
Mohanan had participated in the competition a few years ago in 2014 by sending multiple entries but they were rejected. “Only a single entry is allowed and it needs to be sent to Healthy Handwriting, an organisation based in Chandigarh. They choose the best ones and send for the final competition,” adds Mohanan. The category of submission is decided by a team depending on the style of handwriting. Mohanan says that the adults’ category is very competitive and receives lakhs of entries yearly.
Mohanan who lives with his mother at Mannanthala, Thiruvananthapuram has a huge collection of pens, books and inks. He attributes this success to his father who was instrumental in bettering his handwriting.
“I was left-handed when I joined school. My classmates used to make fun of me so I stopped attending classes. But my father encouraged me to write using my right hand. I practised the same for almost six months. Soon, my writing improved I was also able to write copies swiftly.”
The certificate and momento of the contest will reach Mohanan by December. “The winners’ list will be put up at the organisation’s office till November. Experts and other people researching on handwriting visit ‘Handwriting For Humanity’ and come forward to present the winners with a gift. Usually the winners in the artistic handwriting category receive expensive calligraphy pens,” adds Mohanan.