Is cursive writing going the way of hieroglyphs? I’m not sure, but I’m certainly doing my part to make it happen.
When I was 12, my father gave me a copy of Isaac Asimov’s Robots and Empire. I was to sit down every afternoon (on pain of death) and copy out two pages from it into one of those handwriting notebooks - the ones with the infuriating little red and blue lines. Needless to say, I faked it till he went to sleep and then read science fiction instead. Which is why, to date, I can only turn out a childish block print; I can be neat, but I could never make my ‘q’ a curly work of art.
If this was the case seventy years ago, I would have risked my correspondents thinking me lazy and uncultured. As you can imagine, handwriting was a respected skill before the keyboard came along. All those elaborate curly letters served as a testament to ones diligence and artistry. Today, it’s a vanishing art.
Many schools don’t emphasise the teaching of cursive writing anymore – and they certainly don’t insist on an hour of daily practice. Thankfully, once you’re through kindergarten, you needn’t fear handwriting tests, instead grammar, math and science make up your curriculum. Still, does it affect how well you do in your exams?
Nishan Mahaarachchi will say yes. Growing up, his handwriting was “a major problem for everyone,” he says. When he shows me a sample, I can see why – his letters are likely to give the unprepared a migraine. “Everyone tried to give me tips,” says Nishan. Laughing, he adds, “When I was sitting my O Levels, I had to practice writing cursive in those double rule books every day.” People were even more brutal with Sitara Perera. “I was told to become a doctor because my handwriting is so bad,” says the twenty year old. She too is more comfortable working on the computer.
Schools in the U.S do allow students with exceptionally bad handwriting to attempt their examinations on a computer. I can’t help but envy them a little. Of course, such concessions pave the way for a time where no one need be held responsible for bad handwriting. Is that something to mourn? It certainly seems inevitable that writing changes over time, one need only compare a the complexities of medieval script with present day versions to accept that one day only specialists will be able to decipher our handwriting.
Nelum Fernando says she’s seen her handwriting transform over time. She’s in her thirties now, and insists that her handwriting has gradually grown to resemble that of her mothers. Her 10 year old daughter on the other hand has her father’s handwriting. Her daughter hasn’t had to study handwriting in the sixth grade like she remembers doing - “she’s the proverbial doctor’s child,” says Nelum. (But pause for a moment: what do people have against doctors? A study in the British Medical Journal confirmed our worst opinions when it found medics’ writing was considerably worse than other healthcare workers or administrative staff.) “People are so busy these days that writing in cursive has become an art form,” says Nelum, lamenting the lack of a personal touch.
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And it’s true – your handwriting is unique, and perhaps it reveals more than you know. Tolkien’s script had a distinctive elvishness. Mother Theresa’s was round and generous. Stalin’s was scattered and nearly illegible, and Jack the Ripper’s was plain creepy. Shanthini Sangam’s handwriting on the other hand is pretty and girly. She says she used to have several styles that were appropriate to various situations. Shanthini is an artist, and often plays around with different fonts in her work. For Sitara, it’s less a matter of choice than of circumstance.
“Depending on the functional aspect, my handwriting changes,” she says, explaining that the faster she writes the less legible her scrawl (she describes it as a “strange hybrid” of block printing and cursive) becomes. It also can be physically painful. Despite being told to relax my hold on my pen, I always leave any examination hall with my fingers curled into agonised claws. Such poor “graphomotor skills” are a problem Shanthini believes can only be overcome with consistent practice – “my handwriting used to be absolutely impeccable,” she says.
Practice? I’ll pass. Despite my best efforts, I’m guessing cursive will survive, at least as long as theres a Mac around. (It was Apple co-founder Steve Jobs who originally incorporated multiple typefaces into his products because he was so taken with a calligraphy course he wandered into in college.) I might even use something like the ultra curly ‘vivaldi’ font to print out an epic love letter or two, but I’m resigned to a really curly ‘q’ being forever out of my reach.
*names changed to protect privacy.
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