In a digital world, is there merit in being a Graphologist?

By N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe

New Delhi, Sep 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) Did you know that, regardless of how much time and effort it takes to compose a handwritten message, the writer's handwriting reveals a lot about a person's personality and current position, whether it is for a personal journal, test, professional objectives, or other practices? If you are a great observer and can keep track of minute facts in writing, this is a vocation you could pursue.

Sudhir Kove, the author of 'Million Dollar Logo' and a graphologist with over 15 years of expertise, speaks to IANSlife about Graphologist as a career option.

What is graphology and how did you get interested in it?

Kove: Graphology is the science of understanding the human subconscious mind through handwriting. When I learned about how graphology can help one decode their subconscious mind by understanding their personality, strengths, weaknesses, etc., it got me more excited. It intrigued me to understand it better and deeper.

What are the skills necessary to become an expert graphologist?

Kove: To be an expert graphologist, the foremost skill that one needs to have is observation. The ability to observe small details wherein a person is able to draw inferences on the basis of small curves, dots, variation in the ink pattern, etc., of one's writing style is important. To be able to understand formations is crucial. Secondly, empathy is a key trait one must have while pursuing graphology. One must be empathetic towards the person that they are observing to understand their life from their perspective which will in turn aid in providing good solutions to the person.

Last but not the least, fast calculation is required in graphology as it involves plenty of things and a lot of parameters to be calculated. Speed in calculation can slowly be gained while practicing graphology more frequently. People who are good in maths and technical subjects find it easy. Pupils quick with problem-solving ability are also ideal to pursue graphology.

How does one go about becoming a graphologist? Do you believe that graphology should be taught at colleges?

Kove: As a professional graphologist, one has immense potential to apply science prospectively in their business. The first profession that one can pursue is being a graphology teacher. Teaching people about the science of understanding anybody's mindset through their handwriting, is a lesser-known career path, and not many are trained to do so. So, one can capitalize by giving the right advice using the science of graphology. Parent counselling is yet another service that one can take up with the knowledge of graphology. One can help parents train their kids to become better human beings by helping them introspect their way of writing.

Thirdly, one can be a marriage counsellor. They can help people to get hitched by checking whether each of the two is compatible with each other or not. One can also use graphology in the recruitment space wherein they can suggest which talent to choose by analyzing a candidate's behaviour through their handwriting. One can also give a detailed analysis of the performance of employees, basis inference of their handwriting.

Like any other science, graphology too has the scope to go a long way in application. But, like other awkward sciences, there is a notion that exists around such concepts. There are no certain rules in this science due to which every other graphology has its own interpretation, each interpreter has their own way of judging things, etc. Unless and until there will be fixed ways of doing and saying things, it will be difficult to include it as a subject of study. Before we do it, there has to be a credible body formed and standard ways of analysis need to be documented.

Do you believe in today's digitally evolved society, when there is less and less writing, graphology still has potential?

Kove: As far as a career is concerned, graphology will give you introspection in understanding your personality, hence it gives a huge boost to your self-awareness. With that, you can change your behaviour which will shape your career better.

Graphology is not only about writing but about your own behaviour from your writing. It has a huge potential to change it. Graphology gives you awareness of your personality. If you don't engage in writing quite often, your commitment level drops in everything. To state as an example, software industry professionals don't engage in writing frequently which is the reason they have little interest in getting married, settling down, other commitments, etc.

Writing will never go out of fashion. People fascinate hand-crafted artefacts. Handwritten letters are craved in the modern-day like never before. Autographs also never go out of fashion. It is not just about the ink but about the pressure that one exerts while putting their initials, it says a lot about their personality. The memory remains etched for years and decades to follow. Even though people are not writing as much, it will always remain in fashion.

What are the practical or real-life applications of this science? Where is graphology mainly used?

Kove: As aforementioned, graphology holds great scope if one wants to use science from a business angle. In the professional sphere, graphology has good application in criminology wherein the handwriting is inferred for a particular style of writing, pressure applied while writing, the ink used, font size, etc., in cases of forgery, and fraud. It is also used during the hiring of candidates by some companies who want reliable long-term staying employees. These are the mainly used cases of graphology.

(N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe can be contacted at lothungbeni.h@ians.in)

Source: IANS