Last night was special apart from the fact that it was Valentine’s Day, there was something else that made an impact on me and someone who’s special in my life. I am not a major movie buff and I don’t understand the technicalities of it. But, I am good enough to appreciate a film that was remarkably one of the best or may be I will go one step ahead and say “The Best” thought provoking movie that I have ever seen in recent times. No I did not go out to watch a mushy mushy love story, I am talking about a movie with a tag line that says “Every Child Is Special” Yes, I am talking about Tare Zameen Par.
I am just going to give you a quick snap shot of this movie. It revolves around an 8 year old kid who endures a lot of pain because no one around him recognizes that he is a slow learner. He found it hard to cope up with his studies and always felt pressured by his parents. He was packed off to a boarding school by his parents hoping that he would become a bit more disciplined but this just added to the kid’s trauma. The separation from his family made the child feel neglected, rejected, unloved and uncared for. He felt that he was given the worst punishment of separation just because he wasn’t excelling at school. His parents and teachers compared him to his brother who was an ace student in all fields. They failed to realize that this child needs help and love.
Alright, now why am I writing an article based on this? I have my reasons and I am penning them down. I know for a fact that this movie will make me cry but what I didn’t realize that it would have such a big impact on me. Every kid is special, and different. They all need to be treated correctly. I know a girl who had a similar problem when she was 10 years old. No she wasn’t suffering from dyslexia (like the actor in the movie) but, she did feel left out and rejected all her life. She was an average student, was ok at sports and sings well. So, then, what’s the similarity between the kid in the movie and her?
People in her life failed to realize that she felt unloved and uncared for. Most of her life she didn’t have her father by her side. She faced a lot of verbal and physical abuse right from when she was 10 years old. People didn’t know or rather failed to realize the impact it can have on a child. She went through hell, from her parent who didn’t want to believe that she was suffering from an eye problem right from grade 2. Oh, she voiced out the problem but her mother dismissed the whole thing by saying that you don’t have a problem you just want to “show off”. I mean why would a girl who’s in grade 2 want to show off with glasses. She suffered because of this, as she sat in the last row she couldn’t see the black board and always had to look into her neighbor’s book to copy notes. This was a huge problem because she got caught by her teachers during exams for trying to copy when all she did was trying to copy the questions written on the board. Because her mother failed to realize this, her grades dropped. She finally got her lens when she reached grade 7. There has been so many such instances in her life She longed to tell someone about how she felt, but everybody dismissed everything she had to say. She felt the separation right there and spent hours together in her room crying and longing for someone to hold her tight and hear all that she had to say. For any child family is something that’s permanent, something that will always remain to be a part of their lives. But, what happens when they fail to listen to that child like in this girl’s case or when they over look a certain disability like in the case of Ishann (the actor)
The child starts to develop fear, a mental block rather. This stops the child from letting people (parents, teachers) know that he/she is having a problem and that it needs attention and help. Every parent, teacher, friends and siblings needs to communicate and listen to what each other have to say. Every child needs to be heard, they need to know that they can go up to their parents for anything and everything. A child will only know this if parents make them feel that they are there to help them at all times. In the case of Ishaan there was Ram (arts teacher - aamir khan).In the case of the girl there was no one. She is all grown up now. But she stills carries the hurt of wanting to tell someone how she felt and that she needs help. Till date she knows nothing about her father, except may be for his name and designation. She doesn’t know what it’s like to have a papa or dada as she would say. She has achieved a lot of things in school and in college but she never had her dad calling her up to tell her that she’s made him happy or congrats on your achievement. Only she knows how much she wanted it.
It was this movie that made her realize that she has achieved all that Ishaan did and that is something to be proud of. She didn’t know that she was good at something because no one in her family recognized her talent and no one appreciated her for her work (till date). Nobody (family) even knows that she writes even though she has shown her work. She didn’t have a Ram in her life to make her realize that she’s a winner. But, through the movie she understood that she has done it. She also realized that she’s all grown up and that she is not that little kid any more. She has been waiting for nearly a decade hoping that things will change for her but nothing did, she realized that she is old enough to be there for the other kids who are like her, but, she is still longing for a family that will appreciate her every work. And with all her heart she waits, waits patiently.
I would like to conclude by saying that, please do not neglect any child. Listen to what they have to say. Make them know that as parents we re always here for you. Yelling, beating or any other kind of abuse is not the way to correct a child. It’s only through love. At all times let your kids know that they are loved. This girl still waits for the void created by her family to be filled. Don’t ever make your kid feel alone because once this gets registered in the kid’s mind and heart, the trauma the child faces only I know and it HURTS. The child is yours LOVE HIM/HER abundantly.
