Shiksha Opinion: Are we losing the art of writing?

So, I thought of stopping and taking a break, which got me thinking – when was the last time I actually penned down a note. When I couldn’t remember fast enough, I started wondering whether the problem was with me or are we actually losing touch with the art of writing?

Well, if you go by what a research commissioned by an online stationer Docmail suggests, then adults were found to have written by hand in an average gap of 41 days. This study also revealed that every one individual among three “has not had cause to write anything ‘properly’ for more than six months”.

So, yes it is true that in a world where we can tap our thoughts, reminders and messages on a touch screen phone/tab or a keyboard, writing a note by hand or perhaps pouring our thoughts in a letter is fast becoming redundant.

And don’t be surprised if our next generation almost forgets what it’s like to write. With six month olds knowing how to operate a tab/touchscreen phone, trust me when I say anything and everything is possible.

Also, our education system is fast evolving. I still remember a time when at school we had special classes to teach us cursive writing but now-a-days the regular blackboard teaching is itself getting replaced with smart classes wherein students are taught new topics through the audio-visual medium. Thus, the day is not far when the regular notebooks will be replaced with tablets at schools.

But is this actually bad or good? Well, I am no one to judge this. So, I started making a list of things which we may miss out if we were to stop writing. The list I prepared is as follows:

Pros of Writing

• Writing reflects an individual’s personality. In fact, some people can do handwriting analysis to offer insights into your nature and personality traits.
• People tend to feel more creative when they write things down. Some authors reveal that they can think out-of-the-box if they create the first drafts on paper.
• People share that they can concentrate on the topic at hand better when writing on paper. Doing the same on a computer makes them fidgety and they tend to get distracted by the numerous buttons, fonts and display options they have at hand.

Cons of Writing

• People feel that they will be judged if their writing is bad. Am sure, many people have faced this in school and college. Typing offers a neutral option.
• Written exams have a tedious and longer process leading up to the declaration of results. This happens primarily because the answer copies need to be physically transported to professors and they have to personally check the answer papers. However, on the other hand, if an exam has MCQs, an algorithm can do the evaluation for you but this can only be done for examinations which have objective type questions.
• We have a higher chance of losing the paper/book/diary in which we have written things. On the other hand, if we type and save things on the web then there is a chance that the information will be stored permanently.
• Duplication of information is a little difficult if we write things down in say, a book. However, in the age of icloud we have a better chance to access the same information anywhere and everywhere whether it is on our phone, laptop, tablet and even on our alarm clock or digital photo frame.

So, writing has its pros and cons, but of course, the choice lies with us. However, if you ask me whether the art of writing is dying then my answer for that would be a big YES. I feel that this art is slowly losing its sheen but people with a creative flair continue to be passionate about writing.

We cannot deny that in this hi-tech age, the keyboards and touchpads have taken over ink and paper. So much so that most of the national entrance exams are also moving online from the traditional pen and paper mode. So, those of you who scored a 4/10 because of bad handwriting, will finally have a reason to smile!