Reflection of Taare Zameen Par Story Introduction ‘Taare Zameen Par’ (Little Stars on Earth) is about education and learning. Unlike the others Bollywood film that consists of romance, comedy and fight scenes. It is not an entertainer, but rather an eye opener. It is an absolutely beautifully made film, an extremely moving portrayal of the struggles of a young dyslexic child. He is Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safari), eight-years old, who is suffers from DYSLEXIA (It is a learning disorder characterized by difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words). He is misunderstood and mistreated by everyone, including his own parents. This film will make you cry each time you see. It is a story of hope, where Ishaan finally overcomes his obstacles, with the help of a teacher (Amir Khan) who is himself has been through the same problem. Ishaan’s world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate colours, fish, dogs and kites. They are just not important in the world of adults, who are much more interest in things like homework and marks. Difficulties Ishaan As I was watching this movie, I was thinking of how hard it is for an eightyear old kid to deal with the suffering not only in academics, but also how he is treated and seen by other people as lazy, idiot, fool and even disobedient, while in fact, Ishaan is suffering from dyslexia. Due to it, there many more situations which lower his self-esteem like his comparison with other students, praise others and stating him stupid without knowing his feeling. In fact, although he is “stupid”, he has the intelligence to get his absence letter by requesting from his elder brother to write his absence letter. He hates school and studies. He fails miserably in his tests and exams and continues failed in completing tasks given because he cannot get anything right in his class. Ishaan cannot read or write properly. His writing contains several spelling mistakes because he have difficulty in reading and writing and it is hard for him to recognize the letters. The letters that he write are inverted because he confuse the similar letters. He will see the letters in the mirror imaging. He is also lacks of motor skills as he cannot knot his tie or his tie shoelaces properly and cannot even catch a ball coming from a distance and he was beaten by naughty boys because he cannot catch a ball. He is frustrated and this evident through his behaviour at times when he kicking flower pots after he was beaten by the child.
Family His father keep punish him because of society and as many which may be one of the reason for his disturbance. His mother love and care their children but not ready to except the situation of Ishaan .The bonding between Yohan Awasthi with his younger brother is strong, loving and caring. His parents didn’t understand him and didn’t give him moral support. They always blame him because they don’t know that each child has their own ability and dream. Like Ishaan, he has their own abilities which he is very good in painting compared to others. He is more interested in things like colours, fish, dogs, and kites that are least concern by adults. But, his parents keep taunting him about his inability rather than helping him. They fails to realize his problem of dyslexia. One day, Ishaan bunks school for getting low grades. He humiliated lonely around the city. When his parents discovering about this, his parents decide to send him to a boarding school because they wants Ishaan to be more disciplined and from the context of getting punishment. Things are no different at his new school because it doesn’t exist special class. He has to cope with the trauma of separation from his family. Ishaan become more fear and depress, with the teachers who are very strict because they are not understand that Ishaan is a special student. School At school, he always described with stupid and rude by his teachers. The teachers are can’t understand or recognize him, but he always be punished by his teachers. The life of Ishaan changed to a better life when the entry of a new temporary art teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh act by Amir Khan at the boarding school. Nikumbh give a different way of learning which his goals and objective is to give more understanding to the students. His technique of teaching students using thoughts, dreams and imaginations becomes successful with all students. He replaced the traditional teaching methods by giving pupils real examples and creating chances for students to approach everything in real life. He soon realizes that one of the students, Ishaan, does not paint, just keep silent and very unhappy. He try to approach Ishaan that looks like frightened. Hence, he sets out to discover why, by observing and investigating Ishaan. He start asking Rajan (Ishaan’s friend who is one of the best students in his class) all about Ishaan. He reviews all past works of Ishaan and notices that all Ishaan’s writing are inverted and having difficulties with accurate word recognition, decoding and spelling.
With time, patience and care, he ultimately helps Ishaan find himself, he discover that Ishaan was dyslexic. He got the ideas on how to encourage and light up Ishaan’s dream when all the people can’t recognize it. Conclusion He meets Ishaan’s parents and informs them that Ishaan is a bright child different from other students in the class. His family finally accepts him. Back to school, Nikumbh meet the school principal and tell all about Ishaan and ask the permission to teach Ishaan. With the permission of school principal, Nikumbh sets to tutor Ishaan. Using specific methods and techniques, Ishaan starts developing interest in language and mathematical skills. Eventually, grades start to improve. Nikumbh able to create a special bonding with Ishaan by his loving and caring nature. He show his childhood in Ishaan. An art fair is organized by Nikumbh at the end of the year for students and teachers. As expected, Ishaan wins the contest while his teacher, Nikumbh is declared the runner-up. Ishaan’s parents are surprised at the drastic improvement their child’s grades and realize their shortcomings. The film of Taare Zameen Par end with the happy ending and making such a heart-warming movie with full of noble values.
Inclusive Education The film could make a case for inclusive education and have Special Educators and Counselors. It could perhaps become a useful tool for children with dyslexia to cope with their learning difficulty. Inclusive education means that all students attend and are welcomed by their neighbourhood schools in age-appropriate, regular classes and are supported to learn, contribute and participate in all aspects of the life of the school. It is about how we develop and design our schools, classrooms, programs and activities so that all students learn and participate together. Inclusive education is necessary for the society. By this children, teachers and coming society learn to respect each and every person. And the special child who become the part of school feels equal and able to know this strengths with the help of teachers, peers, parents and society. Some of the benefits of the Inclusive education in our society are:
Develop individual strengths and gifts, with high and appropriate expectations for each child.
Work on individual goals while participating in the life of the classroom with other students their own age.
Involve their parents in their education and in the activities of their local schools.
Foster a school culture of respect and belonging. Inclusive education provides opportunities to learn about and accept individual differences, lessening the impact of harassment and bullying.
Develop friendships with a wide variety of other children, each with their own individual needs and abilities.
Positively affect both their school and community to appreciate diversity and inclusion on a broader level.
In Taare Zameen Par, when there was a painting competition everyone participated and knows about Ishaan’s creative mind. At last, everyone appreciate him and his parents too become so proud of him. So, from my point of view Inclusive Education should be there in schools. Concept of the Movie The concept of this movie is so real. When people do not understand you, or what you are going through, they just follow the traditional path, saying that “you are just being stubborn, you cannot do anything, you can do anything if you really put your mind to it, you are nothing.” This has been perfectly captured in this movie where the father of the dyslexic child (Ishaan’s father) just thinks that the Ishaan is acting up or is just being stubborn and with this, is not being good at school-work. That is the problem with the close-minded educated people, they “think” they know everything, but a very few realise that there is always something that we do not know, something that might be true and real if we just try to understand. The Movie’s Message Director and Producer Amir Khan does a super job in working with the good script to direct the movie in a way that is effective in its messages. One underlying message is that parents in Indian society may sometimes be influenced in the competition created in the school system on children and put too much pressure on their children (likes Ishaan’s parents). We must know that a child is a gift of God, a blessing from above, a picture of purity and innocence. Every child is a star on earth, is special, who are enrich and clean the soul. They are waiting to be painted with love. The other underlying message in the movie is about disability. The movie beautifully illustrates the various of disability and how children with
disabilities be different. In this movie, there is one child with a physical disability who is in a mainstream school and excellent in school without his disability even mentioned. Then, there is a child with dyslexia who is also in a mainstream school who eventually excellent in school with extra help and time offered by teachers. Finally, the movie shows audiences a school with children who have mental slowness. In this school, the teachers give one by one attention to the children, which is necessary for children with mental slowness. These show there are children with different disabilities who some can do well in a mainstream school and some need extra help in schools that are provided with special teachers and facilities focusing on their needs. This moves away from the mindset that all children with disabilities should be placed in special schools and isolation from other children without disabilities. So, as a teachers, the best ways of the teaching and solving the problems in children like Ishaan are:
Recognize the student’s problem and update it to the parents in order they understand him.
Should use new methods in teaching and understanding what student really want to
Should know how to encourage students when students feels disappointed, because almost person with disabilities, they are sensitive and they need special cares.
With the proper support, almost all people with dyslexia can become good readers and writers.
