Taare Zameen Par Reflection

Taare Zameen Par is a touching film about a young boy living in India who has dyslexia, but no one could diagnose it. He struggles through grade three multiple times, until his parents send him to boarding school where he makes new friends and recevies special attention from the art teacher who sees a lot of potential in Ishaan artisitically. The art teacher can relate to this young boy, because like Ishaan he is dyslexic and makes the boy his project and helps him overcome his learning disability.

Watching the children in the film and the vairous parents, we see the close relationship between success in school and success in a family. Parents place an abundant amount of pressure upon their children for them to excel not only academically but athletically as well. These children must be the best in their class and receive high test scores, otherwise their parents are displeased. Their is a great contrast between the Indian school system and the United States school system. Unlike India, they go to school for a longer of period of time than American children do. The success of a child in school within India is vital, because if they fail to make it past a certain point in the educational system they will live a very simple and poor life, most likely on the streets. Children are competing against one another for an important place in the business world when they have completeed all of their required schooling.

While I do not have a learning disability like Ishaan, I can share his severe feeling of fustration when something in school does not make sense. When I was in elementary school I struggled with math and it was upsetting and frustrating to try so hard and still remain confused in the class. It feels overwhelming because you are unable to complete the homework and it feels as if you are all alone in the situation. It was empowering to see how Ishaan worked extra hard in order to overcome his obstacle.

The translation of the title of the film is: a star among us. This title accurately reflects the unrecognized talents of Ishaan. He is a powerful artist who uses his disability in a way that helps him. He views the world in a different light than most people and has a different perception of everyday sights than the average person. He takes his observations and transforms them into his paitnings and creatings that reveals insights into his mind and his feelings that he is unable to express to his parents and teachers. All kids can relate to Ishaan's problem's of parents that expect you to be perfect and the pressure. However, it is important to devise a method that will help you cope with the stress like Ishaan's gift of painting.