Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

There is more to it than just letters and white spaces

S. Aishwarya

Headmistress breathes life into the dying art of letter writing in her school

THOSE WERE THE DAYS: A student posting her letter in the post box set up at her school in Tiruchi. Headmistress R. Visalakshi looks on. — Photo: M. Moorthy

TIRUCHI: When was the last time you sat down to write a letter? Memories of writing personal letters would have faded for most.

With the advent of telephones, e-mails, blogs and compact discs, the paperless society is upon us, says R. Visalakshi, Headmistress, Seva Sangam Thangammal Memorial Primary School here.

To bring back the good old times of letter writing, she has set up post boxes from Standards II to IV. Thirteen brightly coloured post boxes are hung at reachable heights of the children. As a start, the letters, written in rough sheets, are forwarded to the headmistress.

While a letter starts with a sober tone for not able to attend a relative's wedding, others on holiday plans brings the fun while reading.

Filing the tattered sheets of papers, Ms. Visalakshi says letter writing has improved the handwriting of the children.

Other benefits

"Handwriting is on its way out. It needs to be cultivated right at the young age. Though the system was initiated to encourage letter writing, we are reaping other benefits too," she says.

Introvert students find letter writing a way to express their feelings. Apparently, the legible handwriting of students seems to testify their enthusiasm in writing letters. Interested students stay after the classes, on alternate days, and queue up to post their letters. Some of the sample letters have been sent to President A. P. J. Adbul Kalam, who had sent a letter of appreciation for the school's free breakfast scheme.

With the overwhelming response within days, Ms. Visalakshi has decided to introduce them to the procedure of sending letters. "Hostel students are woefully unaware of letter writing. Since calling their relatives through public telephones becomes unaffordable, they avoid contacting anyone."

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

No sign of upgradation of corporation schools
There is more to it than just letters and white spaces
Portion of Srirangam temple rampart crumbles
VC search panel meet inconclusive
Mugs, knives and so on
More than 700 AIADMK cadres arrested in Tiruchi
Railway plans Rs. 52 cr. works
Two-day fete at school
Shops raided
In Tiruchi Today

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu