Taare Zameen Par is a heart wrenching story, gracefully told. It signifies the struggle of a troubled, although gifted individual against a society for which genius and beauty have become mere stereotypes, a society that wants kids no less in capability and genius than an Einstein or a Sachin. This is one such story.
Ishaan Nand Kishore Awasthi is a dyslexic 8-9 year old, academically struggling in the third grade. He is blessed with an artistic brain, painting is his forte. Glimpses of his artistic flair are strewn across the movie, Youhan (Ishaan's elder brother, a topper in each class, very focused and determined, but nevertheless caring) is actually surprised that Ishaan could put together that jigsaw puzzle and gasps in amazement "..arre yeh to ban raha hai !" (this is coming together); his flip book is another great example, not only signifies his capability but beautifully portrays the stigma of his separation from his family, the mini ordeal that he is going through; the working boat that he makes is just another manifestation of his undisputed brilliance as an artist. He also correctly deciphers the meaning of the Hindi poem, as Rajan admits later, but the system was such that only rote answers were acceptable to the teacher. It just shows that he does have the grasping power but is a victim of unforgiving society that expects nothing but "rankers and toppers".
Being a dyslexic does not make anything easier for him, he tries to hide his shortcomings as Ram (Aamir Khan) points out later, and instead gives them the guise of pure inobedience and rebellion, "gadar machata hoga, gadar !!" (he revolts, rebellion!!), an instance of which can be seen when his mother (Tisca) tries to correct his spellings but he runs away shouting "NO..NO", his mother is a very understanding lady and we come to know later that she has left her job and her career for Ishaan and now she personally teaches her, she bears everything with a great deal of fortitude, waking up early at 5am for her husband and elder son, making them breakfast, then the hard part of taking care of Ishaan's dressing and readying him up for his school, exemplifies the struggle that a mother puts in and the sacrifices involved on her part.
Not that his father does not care for him, but his father's attitude is representative of the cut-throat soceity that prevails in today's world, his concern translates into strict measures, and to a certain extent Ishaan is afraid of him "jab bhi papa mujhe zor se jhula jhulaate hai, main saham jaata hun ma" (whenever father swings me hard on the swing, i get afraid mother). His father's attitude can be best summed up when Youhan loses the tennis final, his father reacts as if it was his utter disgrace, contrasting sharply with his mother's reaction who is much more supportive.
The parents unmindful of Ishaan's dyslexic condition send him off to a boarding school, where as Ram points out later that "..aur to aur, wahan par uska gadar bhi kuchaldiya gaya hai (on top of that, even his rebellion has been crushed over there), resulting in a glum 9 year old that hardly talks to anyone except Rajan, remains perpetually punished, is almost a social recluse, so much so that he even stops talking to his mother on the phone when she explains to him that they can't come over due to Youhan's tennis final, not only that he stops painting altogether, shelving the 24 colour watercolour set that Youhan gifts him! His self esteem is shattered to the point that his plea comes out beautifully in the song "kya itna bura hoon main maa" (am I so bad mother ?).
Here is an individual battered and bruised by the unforgiving society, a misfit rather as termed by his father. His talent goes away unnoticed and unappreciated, he probably can't understand why the letters don't stop dancing and why people seem to be having a problem with his dreaming. Pride shattered, separated from his family, with no one to understand him, Ishaan lives a life of a loner, often bursting into tears and crying irrevocably.
It finally takes another dyslexic in Ram to gauge his problem and take corrective measures. Might be Ram sees himself in Ishaan, as he points out to Jabeen "aaj apne aap se pala pada, apne aap ko aaine mein dekh liya" (I had a tryst with myself, today I saw myself in the mirror), he concedes to her that Ishaan desperately needs help, otherwise "woh doob jaayega" (he will sink).
Ram himself was a victim of those circumstances as he points out to Ishaan :dyslexic, turned away by his father (whom he still has in his heart, as shown by the photo he keeps of his mother and father on a table in his home, besides which he keeps the little boat Ishaan made), likes drawing and painting himself, in short he just sees himself in Ishaan. Ram encourages lateral thinking, breaking away from the rigid system, he encourages the kids to open the doors of their imagination, and see things in a different light "dekho dekho, kya woh pedh hai ?, ya chaadar oodhe khada hai koi ?, baarish hai ya nul khule rakhe hai kahin" (Look, is that a tree? Or a man covered with a shawl. Is it raining ? Or has someone left open the taps ?).
The minds have been bent so much that when Ram asks the kids to "draw whatever they want to ...." a kid questions him what to draw, as the table is empty !!, the redundancy of the question signifies that they are just so used to the system and that, the system has killed their creative thought process.
With the care given by Ram, and his arrangement with the Principal that Ishaan's exams be conducted orally, Ram gives him special care and works on the kid to telling effects. He awakens his artistic spirit once again, the genius is reborn, a life is saved, Ishaan surpasses Ram in the painting competition, shows marked improvement in his lexical abilities, and in other subjects as well and is now just as able as any other fellow in his age group. Infact the principal says "I am proud to have him in my school !"
The bond between Ram and Ishaan goes deeper than just a student/teacher relationship. Ram's portrait of Ishaan says it all. He literally breathes life into Ishaan giving him his childhood back.
Dealing with dyslexia can be tricky, it needs patience above all. I speak from personal experience being mildly dyslexic myself ( I still confuse between "b" and "d" sometimes !).
It is yet another story of the triumph of an individual's spirit, in the face of resistance from the soceity, the will to perform ( as seen by the girl's Hockey team in "Chak De", and their coach Kabir Khan, who comes with a vengeance against those who disgraced him), Taare Zameen Par is a similar story, with a subtle difference, that Ram has no such alterior motives, and his sole aim is to help the kid. Both succeed in their respective aims.
In the words of Hemingway “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
