Like Stars on Earth (2007)

[bunniefuu]

The three pillars of success.

Foundation of a complete education.

Mr. Tiwari, time to learn German.

What happened?

Okay... it's okay.

Slowly, children...

Hey listen... where's your friend?

I don't know... he suddenly

disappeared.

Must've seen his new

boring art teacher.

No sir, he must've gone to

the dining hall for lunch.

What's your name?

- Rajan Damodaran.

Rajan, what's up with Ishaan?

Something troubling him? He

always looks so frightened.

He wants to go home.

Why?

- He has just joined.

Mid year?

He has problems. Try as he might,

he just can't read or write.

He's always punished. His books

are full of red marks.

What to do?

Getting emotional, are we?

Man is... - A cruel, insensitive

animal. I know.

And blind. Blind to beauty,

blind to feelings.

Who did you run into there?

Myself.

It's like seeing myself

in the mirror.

That's shouldn't upset you.

You're not too bad to look at.

Jabeen, he's in danger.

Who?

Who is it, Ram?

A boy in that school,

of eight or nine years.

Doesn't say a word. Always

depressed... frightened.

His eyes, screaming for help.

I'm afraid, he'll sink.

Dada...

Yes, Pradyumna?

Come on, it's rehearsal time.

Hey Sahil, how many

days to the show?

Two.

Yeah. Let's go for it.

Today, let us open the windows of

our hearts and peep outside...

to see the little-little raindrops

meet the glorious Sun...

a rainbow forming, sheer

joy and great fun.

Look at them...

like fresh drops of dew...

...nestled in the palms of leaves...

...gifts of the heavens.

Stretching and turning...

...slipping and sliding...

...like delicate pearls...

...glinting with laughter.

Let us not lose these...

...little stars on earth.

Like sunshine on a winter's day...

...bathes the courtyard in gold...

...they banish darkness

from our hearts...

...and warm us to the core.

Let us not lose these...

...little stars on earth.

Like sleep trapped behind eyelids,

where sweet dreams abound...

...and in the dream an angel rises...

Like fountains of colour...

...like butterflies upon blossoms...

...like love which is selfless.

They're surging waves of hope...

...they're the dawn of dreams...

...and eternal joy...

Let us not lose these...

...little stars on earth.

On the heavy darkness

of night's bosom...

...they sit like a flame

dispelling gloom.

Like an orchard's fragrance

they fill the air.

Like a kaleidoscope

of a myriad hues...

...like flowers reaching

up to the sun...

...like the notes of a flute

in the quiet of a grove.

They are breaths of fresh air...

...the rhythm and music of life...

Let us not lose these...

...little stars on earth.

Like the pulsing life

of the neighbourhood...

...like buds, determined to bloom...

...like the breeze of the season.

Caught in your palm...

...they're the blessings

of our elders...

Let us not lose these...

...little stars on earth.

Yes?

Hi, my name is Ram Shankar Nikumbh.

I teach at New Era School

in Panchgani.

Come in.

Are these his third grade books?

- Yes.

Who did this?

Ishaan did.

Ishaan paints?

Yes, he loves painting.

Sometimes as wise as old men...

...at others, like a carefree stream.

Or a volley of innocent

questions...

Like laughter breaks silence,

and a smile lights up a face...

...they are like a celestial

light that...

...shines on the fortunate...

Like the moon dancing on a lake...

...like a familiar shoulder

in the midst of a crowd...

...like a gurgling stream,

frothing and giggling...

...like a sweet

little nap at midday...

...like the comfort of

a loving touch...

...like joyous music ringing

in your ears...

...like a fine spray of rain...

Can I have some water, please?

Why did you send him away?

Why?

There was no option.

Last year he failed in the third

grade. Can you believe it?

And no signs of any improvement.

My elder son tops his class in

every subject. And that one...

What do you think is his problem?

- Attitude, what else?

Towards his studies

and everything else...

...Always mischievous, difficult...

...disobedient.

I want to know his problem. You're

giving me the symptoms.

You're saying, the boy has

a fever. I know that.

I want to know why.

What's the cause?

Why don't you tell us? Go on.

Did you notice a pattern

in his mistakes?

Any errors that he repeats?

Pattern? What pattern?

Just mistakes.

Then you didn't recognise it.

Look.

B' for 'd' and 'd' for 'b'.

He confuses similar letters.

S' and 'R' inverted... like

several others. Look...

'h' and 't'. Mirror imaging.

Animal... three different

spellings on the same page.

So, it's not as if he has learnt

any one wrong spelling.

And here...

he mixes up similarly spelt words.

'T-o-p' becomes 'P-o-t'.

'S-o-l-i-d' becomes 'S-o-i-l-e-d'.

Why does he do this? Is

he a fool, is he lazy?

No...

In my opinion, he's finding

it hard to recognise letters.

When you read 'a-p-p-l-e', your

mind conjures up an apple.

Ishaan can't read the word, so he

can't understand what it means.

In order to read and write,

it is essential...

to relate sounds with symbols,

know the meaning of words;

Ishaan is unable to fulfill

this basic requirement.

Rubbish. These are just excuses

to avoid studying.

Please read this.

How can I? It's in Chinese.

Come, concentrate.

What nonsense, how can I read this?

- You're being insolent.

Your attitude is wrong.

You're misbehaving.

Exactly Ishaan's predicament.

Unable to recognise letters.

This difficulty in reading and

writing is called dyslexia.

Sometimes, kids could have

additional problems.

Like, difficulty in following

multiple instructions.

Turn to page 65, chapter 9, para

4, line 2

Or, poor 'fine and gross

motor skills'.

Does Ishaan find it difficult

to button his shirt...

...or tie his shoelaces?

Yes.

If you throw a ball, can he catch

it? - He can never judge a ball.

Because he can't correlate size,

distance and speed.

What size of ball, from what

distance, travelling at what speed...

by the time he works it

out, it's too late.

Just think...

a child, barely eight or nine,

can't read or write.

Can't do regular stuff,

fails to do all the things that

kids his age do, effortlessly.

What must he be going through?

His self-confidence must've

been shattered.

Hiding his inabilities in

disobedience...

...he must have taken on the world.

Must've created a riot here.

Why admit I can't, I'd rather

say, "I don't want to."

No different from adults.

Now, his rebellion too has

been crushed... out there.

I'm sorry to say, he has stopped

painting altogether.

It's very sad

But why Ishaan?

There's no answer to that.

It can happen to anyone.

Sometimes it's genetic.

Simply put, it's like a little wiring

problem in the brain, that's all.

So you're saying my son is

abnormal, mentally Ret*rded?

You're a strange man.

Look here...

this is a sharp mind with

a vivid imagination...

...far more talented than you and me.

What's there to gain?

Why are you looking for gain?

- What else should I look for?

What is to become of him?

How is he going to compete?

Am I to feed him all his life?

I know.

Out there, it's a merciless,

competitive world...

...where everyone wants to breed

toppers and rankers.

Everyone wants top scores.

Medicine, engineering, management...

anything less is intolerable.

95.5... 95.6... 95.7 percent.

Anything less is sacrilege, right?

For Christ's sake, think...

each child has unique skills,

capabilities and dreams.

But no, everyone's hell

bent on pulling...

...and stretching to make

each finger long.

Go ahead. Even if the finger breaks.

No options, he says. No alternative.

If you fancy racing, breed

racehorses not children.

Forcing your children to bear

the burden of your ambitions.

It's worse than child labour

And if the child is unable

to bear this burden?

When will they understand?

Every child is different. Sooner

or later all of them learn.

Each at his own pace.

Five uneven fingers

make up the hand.

And here we have dreams

of settling these...

...little ones into the mainstream.

Look, he's smiling!

There... take that.

No, don't touch that.

Ishaan's first day in school.

His first puddle.

Don't cry, love.

Mama is right here,

she hasn't gone away.

Don't cry son, don't cry.

Friends, today I'll

tell you a story...

about a boy.

Once there was a boy,

don't ask me where...

...who couldn't read or write.

However hard he'd try...

...he couldn't remember

that X came before Y.

Words were his enemies, they

danced before his eyes,

frightening and tormenting him.

Studies exhausted him, but

who would share his woes?

His brain was full,

nothing made sense...

...the alphabet danced in a disco.

One day, the poor boy failed under

the burden of his studies.

Everyone made fun of him, still

he put up a brave face.

Then one day, he struck gold.

The world was amazed when

his theory was told.

Can you guess who he was?

Albert Einstein.

Correct, Rajan. Albert Einstein.

A great scientist.

The man who shook the world with

his theory of relativity.

Brownian motion, the

photoelectric effect.

For which he was awarded

the Nobel Prize in 1921.

Now... what's this?

Helicopter.

Not any ordinary helicopter,

this one.

The great artist-inventor

Leonardo da Vinci...

Who?

- Leonardo da Vinci.

Yes. He came up with this.

A working sketch of a helicopter.

But when? In the 15th century...

...400 years before the first

airplane took flight.

You know, Leonardo da Vinci had great

difficulty reading and writing.

He wrote somewhat like this...

Can you read this?

No.

Now?

Switch on the light please.

Who lit up the world

with electricity?

Thomas Alva Edison.

Absolutely right.

Poor chap couldn't get his

alphabet right either.

Sit down.

Leave the lights on.

Let us bask in Edison's glow.

Everyone knows this guy.

Abhishek Bachchan!

As a child, he found it

hard to read and write.

Now he's rocks!

And there are more.

Pablo Picasso, famous

cubist painter.

He never understood the number 7.

Said, it's my uncle

nose upside down.

Who's Mickey Mouse's dad?

Walt Disney.

Correct. Walt Disney.

Troubled by letters, he infused

life into cartoons.

Neil Diamond, popular singer.

He drowned his shame in songs.

Agatha Christie, famous

mystery-book writer

lmagine a writer who couldn't

read and write as a child?

But why am I suddenly

telling you all this?

To show you that there have

been such gems amongst us...

who changed the course

of the world...

...because they could look

at the world differently.

Their thinking was unique and

not everyone understood them.

They were opposed.

Yet they emerged winners

and the world was amazed.

Let's dedicate today's art class

to these famous misfits.

So let's keep them in mind...

...step outside and create

something different...

out of whatever we find

interesting... stones, sticks, trash.

Let's head to the little pond!

Wait.

Rajan, go on.

You know, there's someone

I didn't name...

maybe because he isn't

all that renowned.

But his problem is the same.

That name is...

Ram Shankar Nikumbh.

As a kid, I too had

a learning problem.

My father never understood me.

He thought I was being naughty,

making excuses for not studying.

He had written me off.

What can a duffer, an idiot achieve?

Well, here I am.

Shall we go?

Did you go to my house?

Look at that!

It's moving.

Is it an airplane? Can it fly?

Will it fly?

Who made it?

Is the principal in?

Yes. - Don't get up.

Yes, Nikumbh. Come in.

Sir, I need to talk to

you about a student.

Ishaan Awasthi. 3rd

D. A new student.

I know.

Other teachers have complained too.

I don't think he'll last the year.

No sir, he's a bright boy.

He just has a little problem

with reading and writing.

You must know about dyslexia?

You've made it easier for me.

I was wondering what

I'd tell his father.

He was referred by a trustee.

Good... good

Then a special school is

the right place for him.

No sir, he's a child with

above-average intelligence

He has every right to

be in a normal school.

All he needs is a little

help from us.

And worldwide, all kids, no matter

what their problem study together.

In fact, my students at "Tulips"...

...have every right

to be in any school.

I'm only saying what the

law of the country says.

The "Education For All" scheme

gives every child this right.

It's another matter that very

few schools follow it.

Tell me how this boy

will manage here.

There's maths, history, geography,

science, languages!

He'll cope. With a little

help from teachers.

Where do teachers have the time?

Attending to one

in a class of forty?

Come on Nikumbh. It's impossible.

Sir, it's not a big deal.

Two or three hours

a week. I'll do it.

Besides,

he has only to pass

in these subjects.

His calling lies elsewhere.

So all the subjects we teach,

except yours, are pointless?

Not at all. But every child

has a native talent.

And as Oscar Wilde says,

who wants a cynic who

knows the price of...

...everything and the

value of nothing?

Sir, please look at

the boy's paintings.

This depiction of battle...

...a soldier digs a trench

and overleaf he escapes.

Wonderful conception.

Confident brush strokes.

Such bold use of colour.

Uninhibited!

And look sir, a unique flip-book.

The story of his separation.

Such creativity, from barely

an eight-year old.

Very few of us can think

out of the box.

Please sir, one chance

is all he needs.

Or he'll be lost.

What do you want from me?

For the time-being,

let his handwriting...

...his spelling be ignored.

Let him be tested orally.

Knowledge is knowledge,

oral or written.

Meanwhile, I'll work on

his reading and writing.

Gradually he'll improve.

I hope we don't cause

permanent damage...

...on advice from a

temporary teacher.

Now add three.

Add five.

Where are you?

- Plus seven.

Now, subtract eleven.

Sir, one question. Have you ever

painted since your school days?

What?

What is this, sir?

A painting competition. For

teachers, students, everyone.

I want all of you to come

No seriously, what's

the purpose of art?

To express your emotions.

You're happy? You automatically

reach for bright colours.

Terrible lunch? Out pour

drab, dull colours.

Excuse me

Guys, I'll be back in a bit.

Come in.

Have a seat.

Sorry, it's a little cramped.

How come?

- On a business trip.

Met Ishaan?

- Not yet. I will.

I wanted to talk to you first.

- Go ahead.

My wife has been surfing the net.

She has read all about dyslexia.

I wanted you to know.

Why?

Just so you don't take us

for parents who don't care.

Caring.

It's very important.

It has the power to cure.

A salve for pain.

The child feels wanted.

A hug, a loving kiss now and then,

to show that I care.

Son, I love you.

If you have any fears come to me.

So what if you slipped, failed.

Don't worry I'm there for you.

Reassurance.

Caring.

That's what caring is, isn't it?

It's nice to hear that

you think you care.

Well, I should get going.

Has your wife read...

about the Solomon Islands

on the internet?

I don't know.

On Solomon Islands,

when the natives want a part of

the forest for cultivation...

...they don't cut the trees.

They simply gather around the tree

and shout abuses...

...at it curse it.

In a matter of days...

...the tree withers and shrivels.

It dies on its own.

There have been

such gems amongst us...

...who changed the course of world...

...because they could look

at the world differently.

Their thinking was unique...

...and not everyone understood them.

They were opposed.

Yet they emerged winners...

...and the world was amazed.

Wow, what a sight!

Welcome, sir - Here I am.

You have finally convinced me

to become a Sunday painter.

Welcome

This way, sir.

Where's your Ishaan?

I've been dying to meet him.

I don't see him.

Where's Ishaan?

I don't know. He left the

dorm before anyone was up.

Really?

Hey Nikumbh, you've got me in a fix.

George-sir give it a try, it'll

be fun. - Painting isn't for me.

I've decided, I'll make

a wordy painting.

I'll fill my painting

with the alphabet.

You seem to be limited by

your language, Sen-sir

I'm here just to show my face to...

...the headmaster. Only

five or ten minutes.

I'm not wasting my Sunday.

- I'm delighted you came anyway.

Where do we sit? - You'll be

shown your place by the kids.

Kids, come here.

Show your teachers their place.

Careful...

Take it easy, I'm coming.

Jolly good, I say.

Bless you.

Our special guest today,

Lalitha Lajmi.

Teacher, painter, my guru.

Greetings

Thank you for coming

Have you seen Ishaan?

No, sir.

- He must be with Rajan.

Where is he?

- I don't know, sir.

He left before anyone woke up.

Where were you?

Come on, sit down.

Do you have colours?

Open the doors, draw the curtains...

...the wind is all tied up,

let's set it free.

Bring your kites,

bring your colours...

...let's decorate the

canopy of the sky.

Why are you so worried?

You're here a guest,

at nature's behest.

The world was made...

...just for you.

Discover yourself, know who you are.

You are the sun, radiate light...

...you are the river...

...don't you know?

Flow on...

...fly high...

You'll find your purpose where

you find your happiness.

Tiwari-sir, you haven't left?

Weren't you leaving in five minutes?

What are you painting?

A frog, a duck and a banana.

This is a frog?

Staleness is sadness,

freshness brings joy...

...like the aroma of freshly-baked

bread.

Life is like candyfloss,

spun of hopes and dreams...

...savour it and hoard it in

the palm of your hand.

If there is thirst in you...

...you'll find a raincloud

round the corner.

Don't let anyone come in your way...

...your potential is endless

like the sky.

You are the sun, radiate light...

...you are the river...

...don't you know?

Flow on...

...fly high...

You'll find your purpose where

you find your happiness.

Boys, how's my painting?

Take a look.

Beautiful, sir!

First prize, sir!

Great, sir!

Look, the path to the

skies is revealed.

And the little lost star

has been found again.

The world is awash in starlight...

...the universe is aglitter.

You are free to soar...

...unfettered.

What a wonderful morning

this has been.

As if past a mosaic

of coloured panes...

...I was transported

into my childhood.

Wonderful. I also got to re-live

the childhood of others.

George-sir has promised me...

...he'll take lessons

from Nikumbh-sir.

Right?

But not me alone.

Sen and Tiwari too. Their

paintings were the worst.

Okay, okay...

While on Nikumbh...

...there's good news. We don't need

to find a new art teacher.

Along with Tulips School, Nikumbh

will teach at our school as well.

Now, I'm going to announce what

everyone's been waiting for.

Let me come to the results

of the Art Fair.

Our special guest, Ms. Lalitha

Lajmi was in a real fix...

...caught in a dilemma between

two paintings.

It was a tie.

She was saying...

...let both be named "Best Painting

of the Art Fair".

But that wasn't possible.

Because the winning

painting is to be...

...the front cover of

our school yearbook.

Now, we can't have two front covers.

So what to do?

Ms. Lajmi was in a real quandary.

But after much contemplation,

she arrived at her conclusion.

She chose...

the disciple over the teacher.

Yes boys, your Nikumbh-sir...

has been defeated.

And the student who

defeated him is...

...the little...

...nine-year old...

Ishaan Nandkishore Awasthi of 3rd D.

Where are you?

Come on my boy. Get up.

Where are you?

A big round of applause!

Come on Rajan, say bye

to your friends.

It's time to go.

Bye Rajan... I'll miss you.

Here's your Ishaan.

And here's his painting.

Just look at it, what a masterpiece

He's a very talented boy and...

...l'm really happy

to have him in my school

Have you met his teachers?

Not yet...

Please go and meet them. They will

give you the progress report.

Thank you so much. Mr. & Mrs. Dave,

enjoy your summer holidays.

Hello... come in.

Mr. & Mrs. Awasthi...

Ishaan's parents.

Oh... Ishaan!

Please sit.

Your lad? Mighty spirited

boy, I must say

What say Mr. Tiwari?

At first we thought that

he won't last here.

But then he showed such improvement.

Great! He has such a

unique perspective.

Well done.

Here's his progress report.

Now, that's progress. Maths,

grammar and what a painter!

A real discovery.

Your son is very bright.

I cannot believe this!

Thank you so much.

No, don't thank us. Thank Nikumbh.

That pied piper... he really

turned the boy around

Lovely boys.

What happened?

I don't know how to thank you.

Come on.

He's a lovely boy. Just

look after him.

Come on.

Mama-Papa are waiting.

Hey champ

I'll miss you.

See you soon, after the holidays.

Off you go.

Bye Yohan.

Bye, sir.