This movie is about Ishaan Avasti, an eight-year-old boy who constantly gets in trouble. He would much rather play with dogs than any other kids. Most of the times, he miss the bus because of sleeping and having a limitless dreams. He is different from his peers. He is lack of social skills and scores below average. His parents always get mad in him because he is a child misunderstood. His parents always notice his bad behavior and his laziness and lack of discipline. Therefore, they send him in a boarding school expecting that he would change and have a better attitude.
In that school, there is a substitute art teacher who had an experience in catering to children with disabilities. The Mumbai-based Awasthi family consists of Nandkishore, his wife, Maya, and two sons, Yohan and Ishaan. Both sons attend St. Anthony’s High School where Yohan excels in his studies, but Ishaan does the opposite, having failed in his 3rd standard twice already. His parents continue to be disappointed with his performance, and as a result he hides his report cards from them, often misses school, and keeps to himself all the time.
Things get worse when he gets into disagreements and fisticuffs with other children, prompting his father to have him admitted in the New Era Boarding School in distant Panchgani. Even this re-location does not improve Ishaan performance, and the Principal decides to rusticate him. Then a temporary teacher, Ram Shankar Nikumbh is recruited. The art teacher has a different style of teaching one who infects his students with joy and optimism. He breaks all the rules of how things are done by asking them to think, dream and imagine, and all the children respond with enthusiasm, all except Ishaan.
Nikumbh soon realizes that Ishaan is very unhappy, and he sets out to discover why. He also went to the house of the family of Ishaan and talked to his parent what is the problem of the child. Ram Shankar Nikumbh also talked to their principal that Ishaan needed time to learn because he has dyslexia. Ram meets with Ishaan and believes he has a solution that will improve the child’s life – little realizing that Ishaan does not have much of a future as neither his teachers, his friends, and even his parents believe that there is any hope for him.
He gives him his time, patience, care and he ultimately helps Ishaan find himself. As time goes by, Ishaan had a great improvement and he even won in the painting contest. In that time, at the end of the school, his parent went there and has a great evaluation about their child. We all have individual differences, as well as Ishaan in the movie that has dyslexia. He is a person that just cannot seem to get anything right in class but are more interested in his surrounding like in the arts, animals and playing games.
Though he cannot cope up easily with his class, he has a talent that anybody can’t have. As a future teacher, do not dismiss a person because they are not performing at the same level as everyone else. As we all know, every child has individual differences. Look for the underlying cause and work for it. Dismissal of Ishaan could have caused him to become much worse and he might have ended up being a drop-out. However, with a little dedication and some individual attention, he was able to strive hard and his above average intelligence showed.
He also was able to express himself through his paintings which were very mature for his age. Sometimes what a person can offer to the world is not mainstream or one of the major interest areas such as science or mathematics. Encouragement should be given where children excel, though it may be art or another. Like I said earlier we should always remember that every child is unique and they have their own way to coup-up with the subject, lesson, program and we as a facilitator should guide them and help them.
Not make their lives miserable or hurt them emotionally. As the movie continues, I see how Ram Shankar Nikumbh, made a way on how he will be able to help Ishaan find himself. We can also use that method to be make our learner improves, and put our whole heart to take care to them, to give them the attention they needed and let them find their selves. As a future teacher, we should also know the strategy and technique to make our students to become independent. We should also get the support and extra guidance that they need.
