By Bharati Sarkar

A good actor can hide behind his role but his handwriting will give away his secrets. Your handwriting can reveal a personality flaw or an illness for which an expert like Dr Anand Minocha can recommend handwriting therapy and writing exercises

When Dr Anand Swaroop Minocha was a medical student, a chance encounter with a book on graphology introduced him to a vocation that would overtake his life and become his Holy Grail. Even though he went on to become a neurosurgeon, what Minocha tested were claims made about graphology as a tool for diagnosis and treatment of personality and pathological disorders, as a bio-feedback technique and as a remedial measure for psychological problems. In short, handwriting therapy. He began with his own handwriting and later crosschecked with real patients to authenticate his findings.

The connection between a person's handwriting and the brain seems simple but Minocha quickly points out: "The connection holds even if the foot or the mouth is used for writing."

There is an empirical basis to graphology that was revealed only through recent research, although references to it are found as far back as the third century BC in Aristotle's perceptions about the importance of handwriting. A Frenchman, Abbe Michon, coined the term 'graphology' in 1872 from the Greek grapho or 'to write' and later, a child psychologist, Wilhelm Preyer, philosopher, Ludwig Klages, and another psychiatrist, George Meyer approached it from the perspective of the 'total individual'.

But what do you look for when you analyze someone's handwriting? Minocha says there are many aspects that need scrutiny and study. "One would evaluate features such as the size and shape of letter forms, the slant, the margins used, spacing between letters, words and lines, connective forms, rhythm, evenness, beginning and end strokes and the regular signature of the person."

The most amazing aspect of graphology is that it can be used as a scientific tool to detect, diagnose and eventually treat diseases. Unfortunately, it has not yet been taken seriously enough for extensive R&D. "I look forward to the day when patients will leave for pathological tests a sample of their handwriting and signature," says Minocha. But he is a lone crusader in India where graphology remains mainly a fad and a party icebreaker.

To popularize graphology, Minocha holds classes and workshops and teaches it by correspondence also. In 1995, he established the Graphological Research Organisation for aWareness (GROW), with a team of professionals who offer expertise in their own fields.

Graphology can certainly play a crucial role in child development so that a great deal of future sorrow is nipped in the bud. Think of the remedial measures that can be taken with a child just beginning to form his personality! Aggression, timidity, health problems that are germinating due to unknown reasons can be detected, corrected or pre-empted.

There are four main motivational symbols that determine the uniqueness of our temperament and disposition:

THE CIRCLE
The circle is the symbol of love. It signifies all rounded forms, including the semi-circular and loop variations. Round objects satisfy and soothe. Fruits, the wheel, planets and their courses are all circular or elliptical.

There are two aspects of love. The first includes pleasurable feelings like playfulness, companionship, affection and devotion, acceptance and compassion. The other aspect is negative and induces self-indulgence, resentment, jealousy, envy, possessiveness and greed. Playfulness can be replaced by manipulation, threats and other corrupt practices.

A circular handwriting indicates the need for relating to people as a basis for living. The motivation here is to share feelings, togetherness and playfulness.

A predominantly circular form in your handwriting reveals a person who shuns violence and arguments and would rather play than fight. When this natural instinct is unfulfilled or distorted, it leads to hatred, sorrow, sadism, narcissism and other negative reactions. The rounded form is comparable to the nature of water.

THE SQUARE
To preserve our natural need for love, sharing and playfulness, we also need a safe shape. This is the square. The house you live in, the child's cot, building blocks, a plot of land, boxes and cupboards are all squares. In fact, a square is a modified circle.

People who use square forms in their handwriting need or have the ability to ensure safety, regularity and maintenance. They start with a strong foundation and build up relationships, positions, and bank balances. They are also able to safeguard against harm or from interfering poachers.

Squares also indicate a need to plan, organize, be methodical and follow through each step of a project until a desired objective is achieved. On the one hand, 'square' people are dependable and constructive but they can also become defensive, artificial, dominating and at times lose touch with their feelings, thereby defeating their goal of comfort and preservation.

The square also denotes the need to cover up and stick to conventions. Such people are practical, self-sufficient, independent, reserved, non-spontaneous and embarrassed when asked personal questions.

The triangle is the most powerful generator of excitement. The sexual instinct is the primordial form of the triangle, so it is also a phallic symbol.

People who favor this shape in their handwriting are always probing, exploring, releasing energy. Depicted by the knife, gun, elevator, airplane and stairs, these people are instinctive leaders, take up challenges, generate ideas and want to solve problems. They have a natural sharpness of thought, resent wasting time and cannot suffer laggards. They are action-oriented, avoid unnecessary details and are impatient. Their overall attitude is defined by aggressiveness and if properly channelized, achieve excellent results. Sporting or competitive activities work in their favor.

Negatively charged, such people can be violent, neurotic and destructive, with strong criminal tendencies.

THE SQUIGGLE
It is the symbol of imagination. The squiggle is an unfamiliar form created by a unique combination of the circle, the square and the triangle. People who use this form in their handwriting appear to be saying that they would like to know more about 'reality', to probe the unknown. They wish to create and are able to expand, observe and contribute their own vision and insight.

Such people spend time on lofty thoughts beyond and above mundane existence. They tend to romanticize, spiritualize, philosophize and create a new dimension to find fullness in life. Their deepest satisfaction lies in the creative use of their imagination in ideals, abstract art and writing. Musicians, philosophers, dramatists, poets and writers belong to this category.

Such people reject protocol and superficialities. They evaluate people and things by their intrinsic value rather than by social standards, creating their own yardsticks. These people can 'see' beyond their immediate confines.