Taare Zameen Par educates teachers

Statesman News Service

MALDA, Feb. 19: If Union minister Mrs Renuka Chowdhury has learnt something from Taare Zameen Par, then the Malda district administration is not far behind. However, far from the lesson of dyslexia, which Mrs Chowdhury found noteworthy, Malda administration feels that the latest Bollywood sensation has a lesson for all teachers and parents.Focusing on the dilemmas children face, Bollywood's latest offering Taare Zameen Par delved into the world of a special child for whom the colours of flowers and kites held more appeal than grades, but only a sensitive teacher understood the child's talent.Malda sub divisional officer Ms Arunima De, like many others, saw the movie last week.She felt many children ~ either dyslexic or suffering from other challenges ~ deserve special care from their teachers. Thus, came her decision to make the teachers watch the movie. "I have asked the teachers to watch the movie and if they find a leaf out of Nikumbh sir's (Aamir Khan) book it would be of immense help to hundreds of Ishaan Awastis of our district," said Ms De. The Malda SDO had approached Mr Shakti Patra, teacher-in-charge Malda Teachers' Training College to watch the film with students of the institution and she booked seats of a local cinema hall where the film is running. A total of 150 students including the teachers watched the film."Practically what we cannot teach in a ten-month syllabus has been conveyed through a three-hour film. I am grateful to Malda SDO," Mr Patra told reporters. Mr Patra has planned to organise a seminar on the subject of the film and problems of such students who suffer from dyslexia.