From a young age, Aditi Surana could identify people’s behavioural traits from their writing strokes. Honing this special ability, she has emerged as a “graphologist” — with testimonials from the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Naseeruddin Shah and former President Pratibha Patil. And she has learnt to use her talent to help people with their relationships, anxiety disorders and health issues.

Handwriting is nothing but brain writing, she contends.

“I believe people may lie, but bodies are honest. Handwriting, after a point, becomes brain writing, making it one of the most honest tools to read what is happening within the human mind,” Mumbai-based Surana told IANS in an email interview about the art of graphology.

At 14, she realised that her dyslexia allowed her to look deeper into people’s writing strokes, which she began to work on through intensive study and international certifications in graphology.

The study she does is based entirely on permutations and combinations of strokes, she said.

Although across the world, graphology is only considered a “pseudoscience”, Surana contended she has taken graphology a step ahead to help people with insomnia, anxiety disorders and other health issues.

“Every single disorder and disease occurs when the mind or body is out of ease. The human mind is very powerful and, in my experience, reintroducing the rhythm and ease into one’s body and mind is much more effective than fighting illness,” 33-year-old Surana explained.

“Through permutations and combinations of 800 distinctively different strokes I’m able to get a fairly accurate picture of a person’s psyche. Like psychology, graphology is an empirical study,” she maintained.

She puts her observations of a subject’s handwriting into a form of therapy called grapho-therapy that aims to bring conscious changes in one’s handwriting as a means of achieving a change in one’s personality.

“I have spent almost 15 years identifying and researching this exact correlation between specific strokes and probable shifts it can create. We have found that 30 mind blocks/concern areas can be improved through the use of grapho-therapy,” Surana added.

The graphologist said she also helps couples with their relationships. “We dwell deeper into every single aspect of a relationship and look at methods that can change the way you look at others in the space of a relationship.”

She has also helped over 45 companies equip themselves with the “right” logos.

“A logo is the signature of a company. The science of selection of the font, colour, symbol and spacing play an important role.”

She has managed to overwhelm many celebrities from Tendulkar, M.S. Dhoni, Naseeruddin Shah, John Abraham to former President Pratibha Patil and many others with her study of their personalities.

“It was a great honour to analyse the signature of the former President of the country. However, after the initial greetings, every person becomes a person I am assessing. We all are similar in that sense,” she recalled.

“Learning graphology is a great tool to read personalities and maximise the effect of our interactions with each other,” Surana shared.

Being able to read people’s minds is like having a special gadget in hand, she admitted.