In WhatsApp Era, 11-Year-Old Odisha Student Loves Penning Handwritten Letters

Bhubaneswar: In the age of WhatsApp and instant messaging, handwritten letters may have become obsolete but 11-year-old Rishita Samantray believes the art is still relevant to contemporary times.

For her, handwritten letters comprise phrases that affirm stronger bonds than the short messages typed on gadgets. No wonder, she won the recently-concluded state-level letter writing competition organised by India Posts to commemorate 75 years of Independence through ‘Azadi ka Amrit Utsav.’

For the contest—which witnessed hundreds of participants from across the state—she wrote a letter on India’s rich heritage. “I focused on every aspect of India’s heritage. I read books on general knowledge. This helped me to write about our country,” she said.

Daughter of an Army officer, Rishita feels she expresses herself best through writing. “I love writing letters as I can express my feelings in the process,” said this student of KIIT International School here.

It took around two to three hours for Rishita to pen the letter that fetched her laurel.  “Such is her love for handwritten letters that she writes letters to her father, who is posted outside the state for his job, regularly,” said her mother, Rohini Singh Deo.

Her mother tells how Rishita is a multi-talented student. She is the youngest magician of the state. She is also the merit list holder of ISRO’s national-level project making competition.

She is also the youngest volunteer for AudioBook project Hear2Read, which provides accessible audio textbooks for the visually challenged. The girl aspires to become a scientist and thus utilized the lockdown period to make her own DIY robot that she named as Rish-Robo.