The Film, “Every Child is Special” and titled “Like Stars on Earth” internationally is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language drama film produced and directed by Aamir Khan. This film is about the life and imagination of a young boy named Ishaan Nandkishore Awasthi. He is a child with a learning disorder called Dyslexia. It causes him to see the words, letters, and numbers backward that result from his poor academic performance. He was often called an ‘idiot,’ ‘duffer,’ ‘lazy’ and ‘crazy’ because of that. But Ishaan has pure artistic talent, he loves painting and drawing. His parents didn’t understand him so they send him to boarding school where he met his art teacher named Ram Shankar Nikumbh. Ram found out the problem in his student and helps to overcome his disabilities.
Through the movie, I think that overcoming one’s weakness becomes one’s strength. Each of us has differences that make us stand out from the other. Imagine a lot of well-known personalities that being mentioned like Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein, and Leonardo da Vinci also facing what Ishaan experiencing, difficulty in reading and writing, and demonstrate certain skills, but despite these disabilities, they overcome it. They are incredibly intelligent on their own and largely contributed to the world. The only problem I see in the film and this real life, it is was very hard for children to express his intelligence because everyone thinks he is different. In this society, if you are different it’s hard to accept what you're capable of.
I also found out that teachers have an important role in the life of their students. A teacher who does not only teach but also inspiring, encouraging his/her student and have the heart to help in their a difficult time. As I can see in the film, teachers greatly affect their student's perspectives in life, how they behave ad, built their self-image. The teacher served as the light in the child’s life where he gave color to the path of his student taking, he let him stand and walk to the world with self-confidence. What he does is incredibly amazing, imagine there’s a lot of teacher of Ishaan but he is the only one who has the the the the the the the the the the courage to help the child, it is heart-melting. I think that If every teacher is like Ram there are no children that will be left behind.
It is remarkable how arts affects everyone especially the student in their learning. Teacher Ram is wise to used art to help Ishaan build his self-esteem and learn to overcome his disabilities. Art becomes an instrument to lessen the stress of students in school. In the film, every time the art class starts you can see the happiness and enjoyment of children that twinkling in their eyes. In the last part of the movie where teacher Ram suggests having a painting competition in the school, everyone seems to be happy, confident, and participating, even the terror teachers that said they're not going to participate but afterward they happily paint in the side together with their student. It somehow changes my perspective on the art subject, before I thought art subject is only focused on art in the past and the different movements of art. I never thought that it helps us to be ourselves and a powerful tool in a foreseeable future.
In conclusion, taking an art subject in elementary until college is not bad at all. Aside from it cultivates everyone's imagination, art is an important tool for children growing life and accepting one's differences . Being different from others doesn't mean you do not belong to this world, but rather you have a unique personality that only a few have and it is above the level of world expectation. In the process of discovering the unique personality of the student, the teacher has a major role in the student's life. They are one of the guiding stars that brings light to the dark path taking by every child.
