Leave the Kids Alone!!!!

Its been some time that i have been moved by a Hindi Movie. But "Taare Zameen Par" exactly did the same. It tells the story of Ishaan Awasthi, a nine-year-old boy who suffers from undetected dyslexia The film potrays beautifully Ishaan's frustration of his disability to do things which a normal kid would have done and his lone struggle against the world (people around him). This movie is the directorial debut of Aamir Khan and he does justice to the story in true Aamir style.

Coming to the film - the direction has been exceptional. We have seen many Hindi movies (and many Indian Movies) where child artists looks quite horrible, Not in this movie. This is indeed a child's movie, Aamir Khan (who is one hindi superstar) come toward the interval. Actually he is just having a supporting role in this movie, so do all the grown ups. The hero of the story Ishaan Awasthi ( quite wonderfully potrayed by Darsheel Safary) is a easy go kid, who reminds all of us (atleast myself) of our childhood. Tisca Chopra and Vipin Sharma as Ishaan's parents were good. All the child artists in the film played their part perfectly. Ishaan has a reading problem and he cannot understand words. The first half of the film details the failure of the people surrounding Ishaan ( his parents and teachers) to understand his problem. Ishaan is made to look like an idiot by the system around him and he fights the system by some reactions which others term as by a spoiled naughty kid. Ishaan is shifted to a boarding school (obviously against his will as a punitive measure) where he meets a part time art teacher (Ram Shankar Nikumbh played by Aamir) who notices the child's problem. Nikumbh himself was a dyslexia person and could identify himself with Ishaan Awasthi. The rest of the film is how Ishaan with the help of Nikumbh overcomes his difficulty and suceed in life.

The film also describes the Indian middle class hangover with academic achievements. Ishaan's older brother Yohaan is quite opposite to himself. He is the type of child who cares of each lost marks and has been breeded to fight the great middle class struggle for existence. In contrast Ishaan lives in his dreams, he is fond of his paintings and has a mind which take notice of the simplest things he see.

The film came at a time when the rush for getting into IIM's and IIT's is at the worst. I work in a service industry and had my formal training in Hyderabad. There the above mentioned rush is at the worst. Children gets up at three in the morning and reaches their tution centres by four in the morning and from there they will go to their schools or colleges, they will be back in home by late 10pm or maybe further late. The next day the same schedule continues. In my childhood this rush for success I thought was at the worst, but seeing today's children I realised how fortunate was myself. Me and my parents never knew about IIT's and IIM's till I joined college for 11th and 12th, and it should be one instance were lack of awareness comes as blessing. Maybe in the future children in India will know their teachers and books more than their parents. Indian Government has passed a law which makes not taking care of your parents a punishable offence. Is the children to be blamed here, they hardly get to know their parents and bond with them, they are mostly attending tutions and classes. Without that emotional bond, a parent-child relationship is just another relationship.

There is a very destructive trend in India, children are trained and breeded to suceed in things the parents have failed. They are made to fight their parent's battle not their own. In the film the art teacher shows his frustration by saying "If they are looking for breeding horses for race ahead, then get a breed horse not a child". I have seen many instances where parents try to fulfil their dreams (which they could not achieve) through their kids. We train their mind for this and call this as discipline, we never let their mind fly free so that they fulfil your dreams. In the course of these, we create a generation with no dreams of their won.

Every parent wants their children to be Albert Enstein, but anybody wants them to be themselves? Albert Einstein once said "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." But in todays world we term the children's curiosity as stupidity and discourage them from expressing it. In National geopgraphic Channel a new show has started "My Brilliant Brain", if somebody can destroy whatever hope the future children have, Nat Geo just did that. One episode was about Albert Einstein, the Genius - that was good. Another was about a kid who can play Beethoven and Mozart at a age of eight. He has been trained from a very young age and "My Brilliant Brain" gives scientific justification in training kids at an young age. The kids mother complains that he gets frustrated in the company of other children beacuase they can't understand music, Mozart etc. Excuse Me!!!! Whose mistake is that. She has breeded her child like a grown up and now she expect other kids to behave like him? I never heard stories of Einsten, Edison, Newton, Hawking studying 10th standard science at age of 6 or 7. Their brains could have easily coped with that, indeed they could have exelled in that. What this program will instill in parents is another rush to train their children as young as possible, this feature could and will do more damage than good.

Angela Schwindt once said "While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." Are we listening.

NB: "There are two ways to live your life - one is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein.
"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself." - Galileo.