A School for Ambidextrous Children

Nazeer Waris

When you read the above title of the story, it is quite natural for you to ask what does the word ‘ambidextrous’ means.

Ambidextrous are those people who can write from both hands. Most people use the right hand to write. But there are exceptions and some people use their left hand to write.

They are known as ‘lefties’. But there is a class of people who can very ably write from both the hands. Such individuals are known as ‘ambidextrous’.

But it is also used to describe someone who can use either hand to write, swing a bat or catch a ball. You will be surprised to know that a school in Madhya Pradesh trains the students to write with both hands which means it produces ambidextrous people.

Veena Vadini Public School in Budhela village of Singrauli district has 150 students and they learn five languages viz, Hindi, English, Urdu, Sanskrit and Spanish.

The children here can write two different languages simultaneously. Till last year 480 students had graduated out of the school. The school was founded by Virangat Prasad Sharma in 1999.

He is an ex army man. According to him, scholars from South Korea and the United Kingdom have visited the school to do a research study on ambidexterity.

Sharma says, the children are encouraged to use both hands to write within 15 minutes of their arrival after enrolment at the school. “The children can write two different subjects or languages, for example, Geography from the right hand and Science from the left hand, at the same time”, he als are known as ‘ambidextrous’.

But it is also used to describe someone who can use either hand to write, swing a bat or catch a ball. You will be surprised to know that a school in Madhya Pradesh trains the students to write with both hands which means it produces ambidextrous people.

Veena Vadini Public School in Budhela village of Singrauli district has 150 students and they learn five languages viz, Hindi, English, Urdu, Sanskrit and Spanish.

The children here can write two different languages simultaneously. Till last year 480 students had graduated out of the school. The school was founded by Virangat Prasad Sharma in 1999. He is an ex army man.

According to him, scholars from South Korea and the United Kingdom have visited the school to do a research study on ambidexterity. Sharma says, the children are encouraged to use both hands to write within 15 minutes of their arrival after enrolment at the school.

“The children can write two different subjects or languages, for example, Geography from the right hand and Science from the left hand, at the same time”, he informs. Shar ma says India’s first President Dr. Rajendra Prasad was ambidextrous person and he had read about this and got inspired from his life. He says the children can easily be trained to simultaneously write from both hands. They can finish a three hour exam paper in just one hour. “About one per cent of the world’s population is said to be ambidextrous”, he adds.

Perhaps the Veena Vadini Public School is the only school that trains children to get adept in writing from both hands. Curiously, the children sit under the shade of trees in this school.