Urdu Roots, English Script: A Hidden Handwriting Struggle

The Familiar School Memory

You probably remember moments in school when a teacher would say, “Write neatly.” It often happened during exams or class tests. Some students write smoothly, while others struggle to make their English handwriting look clear and presentable. 

But for many of us in Pakistan, the experience felt different. We knew the English words. We understood the grammar. Yet when it came to writing them down, our handwriting looked uncertain, letters uneven, spacing awkward, and strokes that didn’t quite feel natural. It wasn’t because we didn’t know English.