A 28-year-old teacher from Baramulla has created a storm on social media with his unique writing skills and had setup calligraphy institute to improve handwriting of his students
Malik Mukhtar hailing from Mamoosa village of Pattan in north Kashmir was inspired by his father who was an employee at Kashmir University.
As per Malik, his father wrote that his colleagues would request him to write names on appreciation certificates of the varsity.
“It was 2009, I asked my father to write my name on my identity card for the school. I still remember the way he designed it. That was the turning point in my life. From that period, I started working to improve my handwriting,” he said.
Malik has completed post graduation in Urdu and B.Ed from University of Kashmir and has now set up his institute. Apart from spending time with his students, he has been conducting workshops across colleges in Kashmir for the same.
He said his initiative is getting a good response from students and parents. “I am very happy that I am contributing to our society and want to revive handwriting art, encourage more creativity in it.”
Malik says students these days mostly rely on the internet. Due to this dependency their handwriting is getting poor. I want to give them creative handwriting and make them realize that the internet cannot be an alternative to handwriting as it has its own value.
He says following the excessive use of mobile phones, tabs, laptops, computers and internet directly or indirectly the handwriting of students has got affected as most of them submit their assignments in digital format rather than writing it down.
“To counter these things, I have set-up a calligraphy institute in my locality to improve the handwriting of those who are looking for it. At present there are around 35 students enrolled in my institute who are learning calligraphy,” he said.
The consecutive lockdowns forced Malik to switch over to online mode of reaching his students. The switch only boosted his confidence as most of his videos went viral on social media. And lots of students afterwards showed interest in learning the skill from him.
“Students were mostly interested in learning the art of Arabic and Urdu calligraphy, it was the great beginning,” he said.
“From the social media, I also got appreciation from people across the world. Handwriting is a gift of God. We all should thank Almighty for this unique gift,” he said
Recalling his school days, Malik says when he was in 11th standard, he was asked by the teacher to submit the weekly assignment of EVS in digital format, but he wrote that and submitted it before everyone.
“Then next day my assignment was shown in the morning assembly and I was appreciated by the Principal and my teachers for my handwriting, '' he said.
Malik said after that time people began to know him by his handwriting. From ID cards to wedding cards, Malik was writing them all. “At both college and University level, I was assigned to write names on certificates, documents,” he said.
‘When students write something with their own handwriting, it gives them confidence and pleasure. There is no age for learning from my institute and it is open for all," Malik said.
Malik says he wants to serve his society and train the students in every corner. “It is my aim to improve the handwriting of my students. Whenever my students write their names in the same way I train them, it gives me a unique feeling that cannot be described in words, Malik added.
