Reviving the forgotten art of calligraphy

Shriniwas Joshi

Recently, when I entered the Gaiety complex and found Virendra Kumar, a teacher of Senior Secondary School, Dharogra in Sunni, teaching the nuances of how to improve one’s handwriting to a student, I went nostalgic. 

We were to carry to school a writing-board (takhti) well-polished with writing-board chalk called gajani and a qalam (pen), made of bamboo stick and ticked at the front to make it two-tongued. A two-tongue pen helps in drawing thick and thin lines as G-nib used to do later. That was the time when much attention was paid to one’s handwriting. I remember sulekh — writing a page in good handwriting — was given to us as home-task. The G-nib relieved the qalam and then the ball point relieved the G-nib and the good handwriting became a thing of the past. Virendra Kumar told me that when he joined the Senior Secondary School at Dharogra, he was disappointed to see the shabby writing of students. He decided to improve their handwriting and did it by starting extra classes. He could see the results, too, when the percentage of marks earned by students had increased in the board examinations conducted by the Board of School Education.

Virendra Kumar was born at Sandoa village of Sunni Tehsil on March 24, 1977, to Krishandas Verma and Kamala Verma. He has been teaching for the past 20 years and recently joined the Senior Secondary School at Dharogra as arts teacher. He has written four books and arranged an exhibition of his paintings at the Gaiety complex earlier. His interest in calligraphy came from within and recently, he had arranged an exhibition of calligraphic works of his own and his students. Among his students, Divya Verma, Ankita and Priyanka excel in the art. Priyanka of Class IX had ornamented the famous words of Robert Frost in an exhibit: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference”. 

Do you know that the original Constitution of India was handwritten by Prem Behari Narain Raizada? He wrote the entire Constitution in a flowing italic style in the best calligraphic tradition of our country. There is art work, too, in the copy of the Constitution and that has been done by artist Nand Lal Bose. The original copies of the Indian Constitution, written in Hindi and English, are kept in special helium-filled cases in the library of the Parliament of India. Jawaharlal Nehru congratulated Prem Behari on his selection for doing this honourable job and asked him what his charges would be. Prem Behari replied: “Not a single penny I need. By the grace of God, I have all things and quite happy with my life. But my request is that on every page of the Constitution I will write my name and on the last page write mine along with my grandfather’s name.” The request was granted. His grandfather’s along with his name exists in the original copies of the Constitution of India. His grandfather Ram Parshad of Delhi was a great calligraphist himself. Prem Behari learnt calligraphy from him, who brought him up along with his four brothers after the death of their parents. The writing of the Constitution was completed in six months, for which 254 pen-holder nibs number 303 were used. When I asked Virendra Kumar about the nibs that he uses for calligraphy, he told me that for Hindi he buys a pen with nib and gives it a slight cut, but for English, he uses a Parker pen.

I have seen old files of the British times in the state archives and the calligraphic handwriting, in which the British officers used to write, was attention-grabbing. The best of handwritten note by any Indian officer is no comparison to what the British officers wrote.

The word calligraphy comes from the Greek ‘kallos’ meaning beauty and ‘graphe’, which translates as writing. The art of calligraphy, therefore, is beautiful, neat and elegant manner of writing. Sanskrit texts written on palm leaves could be the early works of calligraphy in India. Then emperor Humayun brought Persian calligraphers here and they worked with native artists to add to its betterment. The result is that some of the manuscripts and chronicles of the Mughal period are exemplary calligraphic works. Guru Granth Sahib, too, is filled with examples of excellent calligraphy. Where will you place the edicts carved on Ashoka pillar?

Why it is that today, a school pays no heed to good handwriting of students? “We are not bothered about the flaws in handwriting; contents should be flawless,” say teachers, when I talk to them. But believe me, good handwriting is the platform for achievement in workplace and a self-assurance in life. It is, and will remain, the key to progress and success. You are doing a good job, Virendra Kumar. Keep it up.

Tailpiece

Chinese wisdom says: 
“The five excellences include: calligraphy, 
painting, poetry, medicine and t’ai chi chuan 
(Chinese martial art).”