In terms of psychology, this movie depicts a rather common psychological behaviour when it comes to dealing with problems especially in the education industry. We all know how delicate this industry is as it is the root of all progress not only to our nation but to mankind. However, based on the movie, I duly believe that our way in dealing difficulties in the learning process is vulgar and heathen. If every scene in the movie provides a realistic insight of what the world is practising in educating the younger generations, then there is no doubt that school is a terrible place to acquire knowledge. There are a couple of scenes in the movie that will vouch for my statements.
First and foremost, the most obvious scene that depicts the vulgarity in teaching students is when Ishaan were asked to read a passage to his class. As we all are aware (but to be fair Ishaan’s teacher was not aware) that Ishaan is an unfortunate boy suffering dyslexia. It was no doubt that he won’t be able to do the task given even if he tried as hard as he could. Instead of asking what Ishaan’s problem was, his teacher scolded him and he was thrown out of class until the end of the session. The action done by his teacher is everything but professional. Indeed the rude act pulled off by Ishaan was undoubtedly unacceptable but it does not justify the punishment given to him. What was worse is that in the next session of Ishaan’s class (which was mathematics), he didn’t even dare to attend that session because he did not finish his homework. This can easily be assumed that almost all of his teachers believe punishing students for their mistakes is the best way to make them disciplined. This kind of psychological behaviour among teachers is unhealthy in educating students because it will either demotivate them or will just scare them away. Educators in Malaysia should also be aware with this kind of situation to maintain professionality in this industry.
Another negative psychological behaviour I noticed in the movie is that people (parents and teachers) often compare each and every one of the students according to their grades. Even worse is when parents start comparing to other siblings that is more successful than the other ones. I must say that comparisons may sometimes demoralize people because they will start reflecting all the things they can’t do instead of the things they could. For example, Ishaan was too preoccupied with acknowledging his inferiority towards others to the extent he doesn’t even know the wonders that he could do with his painting abilities. This clearly shows that, contrary to popular beliefs, comparing is not the correct way to boost the psychology of a student to become a better person, instead it is vice versa. So, teachers, especially in Malaysia, should not use the comparison method to try motivating their students as it is not only ineffective, but it is also detrimental to students’ morale.
In spite of having a lot of negative side of educators, this movie also portray a few positive ways to educate students in order for them to reach their full potential. I was fascinated by the way Nikumbh approaches his special student, Ishaan. Instead of scolding him for not painting anything in his first class, he asked a couple of relevant questions and he sorted out the way to help the poor student using his past experience teaching in a special school. This is the way things should be done. Teachers and educators should see the good in people so that they can live up to our expectations. After all, “Education is a shared commitment between dedicated teachers, motivated students and enthusiastic parents with high expectations.”
In the aspect of sociology, I find that the society in the movie tries very hard blending in with the norm. In most part, parents will almost force their child to study hard because in their eyes, having a child that performs in academia is a great achievement. But, what they do not realise is that different people have different passion and skills – not to mention those who have unknown disabilities. For example, Ishaan does not seem to perform in academics but he excels in arts and creativity but even so, his parents does not want to acknowledge his unique abilities because they think that his academic achievement is the only thing that matters. This situation is also known as social conformity. Thus, in order to stay professional, Malaysian teachers should bear in mind that they should not focus on being conform to other teachers or other norms. They should always try new things or new ways to teach people in a much productive way.
All in all, this movie gave me a lot of knowledge from a lot of angles especially in terms of how the society treats those who are special.
A Review 