Taare Zameen Par

Catch Phrase : Every Child is Special.

Movie is focused on the finer aspects of upbringing a child. Shows that when parents themselves are unaware of the problems of their own children, how can outsiders / society be expected to understand the individual !? Lets discuss the matter under 2 sub headings – Agreeable Points, Disagreeable Points.

Agreeable Points :

1. The initial reaction of Ishaan’s father upon hearing that his son is a dyslexic. Firstly he was blissfully unaware of the fact that there is such a disease ! And secondly upon hearing that his son is suffering from such an abnormality, he reacted vehemently- to the extent of even abusing the school authorities right in front of the child. This is a very common reaction seen among parents – they are not very involved in their child’s progress and are more bothered about their personal egos. Since Ishaan’s elder brother was always ranking first in his class, so it was taken for granted that Ishaan should also be good in studies. This is another problem in many families – sibling comparison.

Thus the point to note here is the fact that parents should be more involved and spend more quality time with their children and at least identify the basic problem areas and needs of their children and try to solve it within home premises lest it becomes public and causes humiliation to the child.

2. Hostel is never a solution. The most touching song of the movie ‘Maa’ – every child - be it a son or daughter, needs to know that they are ‘loved’ and ‘needed’. This feeling can only be given at the home front. The term ‘Home’ itself should exude the feeling that he/she is heading to an abode where he/she will be loved and adored unconditionally. Being sent away from ‘Home’ can itself cause enough disturbances to a sensitive heart. This is very well depicted by Ishaan’s change in attitude and mannerisms once he is left alone in the hostel.

3. Some of the teachers were shown as sarcastic and ruthless with a non-caring attitude. It is also shown that school education is given only to pass the exams and so the clever students do and say exactly what the teacher teaches! For example the Hindi teacher expected the students to recite his explanation verbatim. Also the Drawing teacher actually had the audacity to hit the child because he was inattentive!

Disagreeable Points:

1. Once it was identified that Ishaan was suffering from dyslexia, he should have been sent to another school or maybe a provision should be kept in a school with different sections – the brighter ones in Section A and the academically below average ones in latter sections. It cannot be expected from a teacher to stop proceeding with the syllabus just because a single student is failing to understand the topic! The entire class cannot be expected to bear with a single ‘dyslexic’ child’s difficulty in understanding a simple thing.

In fact children of same IQ, when segregated, can do better because the pressure of unnecessary academic competition is lesser. If below average students are made to compete with children having a higher IQ, they tend to grow up into frustrated and depressed individuals since after they pass out of school and get mediocre jobs in the professional world, they are more likely to become rebels with zero work attitude. The fact that they studied till late night and somehow managed to get a good result does not necessarily guarantee a good job because the professional world seeks real talent and will not recruit someone with just mugged up bookish knowledge. This can cause enough frustration to an individual. Therefore its better that the tendencies of the child is deciphered by the time he /she is 12 to 14 years of age and handled accordingly. This needs a close parent-teacher association that is totally lacking in Indian schools.