"Mummy, I am unable to sharpen my pencil, whereas all the other kids easily do that," complained Shweta Singh’s 4-year-old daughter.
Ten percent of the world's population is made of people who are left-handed. While left-handers may not be a majority, their numbers still run into millions and millions. However, the world is more than a little biased towards right-handed people.
So products are usually designed in a way so that right-handers find it easy to use them. Ever noticed the flap over the zip on your jeans? Or video game controllers? Or the common kind of scissors?
Buzzfeed even has a list of The 18 Worst Things For Left-Handed People.
Over time, some companies are making an effort to also manufacture products for left-handers. But many a times, they could be more expensive than the 'regular' ones.
Shweta Singh, mother of a 4-year-old daughter, got to know of this recently.
Her left-handed daughter one day returned home from school upset. When asked what the problem was, she said, "Mummy I am unable to sharpen my pencil, whereas all the other kids easily do that."
"I thought for the reason and realized that the sharpeners available in market are manufactured for the right handed people. It is very difficult for a 4 year old left handed skilled kid to use it (sic)," Shweta wrote in a Facebook post which has gone viral.
When she researched pencil sharpeners for left handers online, she found they were steeply priced, ranging from Rs 700(10$) to Rs 1,200 (20 $)
So Shweta wrote a letter to Hindustan Pencils Pvt. Ltd., one of India's largest pencil manufacturers and owners of the Nataraj and Apsara brands.
What the organisation did next is winning the hearts of many on the Internet.
Hindustan Pencils acknowledged the problem and sent five units of sharpeners that were custom made for children, who use their left hands to write.
In her post, Shweta said, "They were very helpful. I got a call from a person at a respectable position from the company. He tried to understand my concern and promised to help."
"Within a week's time I received a sharpener specially designed for left hand writing skills. They didn't have that available as a normal product. They took efforts and designed the sharpener specially for my kid," she added.
Sanjay Tiwari, Group Marketing Manager of Hindustan Pencils, in a letter to Shweta (a photograph of which she has published along with her post), said that the company was also working on regular production of these sharpeners.
This was the post she posted in facebook few days back!
I am a mother of a 4 and half year old daughter. She is a lovely and intelligent kid. She has left hand writing skills.
I thought that being a lefty is not a big deal. But I was wrong. I saw my daughter struggle for every small thing in this right handed people dominant world.
I will share a small incident. Once she was very upset as she returned from school. I asked her for the reason. She replied " Mummy I am unable to sharpen my pencil where as all the other kids easily do that. " I thought for the reason and realized that the sharpeners available in market are manufactured for the right handed people. It is very difficult for a 4 year old left handed skilled kid to use it.
I found stationeries for left hand writing skilled kids online however they were very expensive. A sharpener was costing around INR 700 to INR 1200.
I wrote about this problem to one of the leading manufacturers of stationeries Hindustan pencils Pvt Ltd( manufacturers of Natraj and apsara pencils). They were very helpful. I got a call from a person at a respectable position from the company. He tried to understand my concern and promised to help.
Within a week's time I received a sharpener specially designed for left hand writing skills. They didn't have that available as a normal product. They took efforts and designed the sharpener specially for my kid.
I am really thankful to the company. Lovely customer service.
Hindustan pencils Pvt Ltd you Rock !!#apsarapencils
A report from India :)
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