'To Children, Childhood and Learning'

"I am ready to learn, but please don't teach me!" - Sandeep Raj Sharma

We all are learners by nature. We all have immense curiosity within which itself is a sign of intelligence. It is sad that children are subjected to rote learning in many parts of the world even today.

We need to realize three very important things.

1. Every child learns by his/her method and at his/her pace. We need to stop imposing obsolete methods and treat every child uniquely.

2. If a child doesn't understand or learn something then the fault lies with the system of education NOT the child.

These thoughts were stimulated while I watched 'Taare Zameen Par' - the movie, today. It has to be one of the best performances by a child actor in mainstream bollywood till date. I just can't recollect any other performance - as natural and brilliant, by a child. Hat's off to the Genius called Aamir Khan, and great work done by - Deepa Bhatia The conceptulizer, Amol Gupte The writer and much more, Prasoon Joshi The lyricist and Shankar Ehsaan and Loy The musicians.

The movie deals with sensitive issues in education and childhood. Its a story of a 8 year old boy - Ishaan N. Awasthi [Darsheel Safary] who just can't get the reading and writing right. His parents send him off to a boarding school. This breaks his heart and he almost kills the real genius inside him - the painter. Enters Ram Shankar Nikumbh [Aamir Khan] who understands the child's problem and helps him overcome it.



Brilliant performances, beautiful direction and colourful imagination - a great movie indeed.