the striking beauty of jewellike alphabets and designs inscribed on a sheet of paper grabs the immediate attention of the eyes as syed azeem haider jafri wielding two modest tools a reed pen and ink begins to write alphabets transform into gems jafri is the master of calligraphy or khattati the islamic art of fancy handwriting this unique and decorative style has been admired for centuries for its beauty and skill and creativity of the artist rajput princess jodha bai is believed to have mastered it to perfection but now this exquisite handwriting style is on the verge of extinction reason it could not withstand the onslaught of modern inventions like computers and printers jafri who has scripted wonders on papers and stones leads a nondescript life in the bylanes of muftiganj in old lucknow he in fact excels as a tughra artist considered a notch above calligraphers tughra are calligraphic logos or designs depicting the names of the almighty the prophet or the imams revered by the muslims this talented penman knows that calligraphys demise is imminent but that has not diminished his passion for the craft he carries his treasure trove in a bag that dangles on his bicycle and unzips it to reveal a rare collection of calligraphic and tughra designs the impressions of jafris crafty hands are visible on various imambaras and mosques in the city prominent among them being the zainul abidin imambara in thakurganj shahnajaf imambara and rauza hazrat muslim in raees manzil when goaded jafri shares having gifted tughra to former pakistani president pervez musharraf and film stars farooque shaikh and raza murad among others it may take a week to three months to complete a single specimen of calligraphy or tughra given the toil and artists skills a single masterpiece is priced between rs 2000 and rs 5000 though these penmen still have many admirers the number of buyers has plummeted historian saiyed anwar abbas says there are more than 180 styles in calligraphy lucknow delhi and hyderabad were the three prominent centres of calligraphy in india this style of writing flourished in the mughal courts and was used in the farmaans coins and other documents says abbas in lucknow there was a tradition of putting up wasli on the walls of drawing rooms these were like decorative wall hangings wherein calligraphers would inscribe the couplets and sayings of famous poets and writers he adds calligraphy has lost out to economics and technology moans agha mohammed hasan one of the last surviving calligraphers in lucknow till computers came into vogue several urdu dailies and magazines used the services of kitabis calligraphers penmen like us were also sought after to write on the wedding cards since computers are timesaving and can produce calligraphylike designs at much lower rates the handwriting business drifted away from us he says but hasan quickly adds computers are of no match for the lively and stylish words that flow from the qalam of calligraphers seeing the