By Meeta Chatterjee Padmanabhan
As a teacher who has spent more than three and a half decades in schools and universities, I get really excited when popular films take on an aspect of education as its central theme. When Indian films do this, despite their various shortcomings (and the song and dance) I begin to gain faith in films as tools of mass instruction. For example, Aamir Khan’s treatment of dyslexia in Tare Zameen Par was a heart rending exploration of the topic that brought this misunderstood learning disorder to public attention in the most affirming way.
Ragging or bullying in colleges is a silent disease. Three Idiots used a spectacular star cast to tell an entertaining tale of a few boys overthrowing college bullies, among other things. A recent film that unmasks admission anxiety which drives young parents to depths of depression had important messages. Newspapers have carried reports about how admission stress is affecting parents in metropolitan cities in India. (Check out: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110505/jsp/calcutta/story_13941763.jsp). This issue is explored in ‘Ramdhanu’, a Bengali film. ‘Ramdhanu’ is a rough, little gem superbly enacted by the main and supporting stars that raises important questions: What is the ultimate aim of education? What are the ‘best’ resources that help a child learn? In what language should this learning be imparted- mother tongue or English? What is a parent’s role in educating a child?
Based on a real life story written by Suchitra Bhattacharya, the film tells the tale of a Bengali family confronted with these questions. Gogol, a four year old, his worried mother Mitali and her seemingly gormless husband, Laltu Dutta, are the central characters in the film. After many attempts, Mitali fails to secure admission for Gogol into a good English medium school. She is annoyed that four year old Gogol does not speak English and her husband is even worse. There are some hilarious moments. One such moment is at one of the interviews in which Laltu Dutta is asked to speak on the topic of sibling rivalry which he does not really understand. So, he chooses to speak about evening libraries, instead, much to his wife’s consternation. He lists a number of distinguished Bengalis who would strongly approve of evening libraries and stumbles through the wrong topic with valiant, misguided panache. The interview panel find it very easy to reject the child’s application for admission after this.
Having failed to get admission one more time, Laltu works out that bribing might be his only option. He meets a shady character who can make it possible –at a cost. Luckily, before money exchanges hands, the wise and glamourous Malabika Banerjee teaches young couples like the Duttas a few important lessons. But that is not the end of the story. For more details, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramdhanu.
As indicated earlier, a number of important points are raised through the film: How does one get the ‘best’ education? Listening to a grandmother’s stories, a grandfather’s fishing tips, watching kites fly and on a lucky day, spotting a rainbow –are all precious learning experiences for a four year old. These are as valuable as a school with a saint’s name as a pre-fix. The film affirms this.
There are other larger questions as well. Should Indian parents encourage their children to get educated in English medium schools? As pointed out by Gogol’s German aunt, numerous languages die each year and the spread of English is tragically responsible for it. But, in India, English holds a unique position and the desire or the need for English as a medium of education cannot be easily settled. It is one thing for someone who is not going to live in the country to be idealistic about vernacular medium schools, but the realities are different for those who struggle to find jobs (or seek admission to institutions).
Finally, where does all the parental anxiety about educating children finally lead to? In a poignant scene, the hidden poverty of ageing parents, whose highly educated son lives and works in the US, is sensitively presented. The elderly mother does not get to talk to her son who is so busy working for NASA that he hangs up before she can speak to him. The father, in his muddled pride, does not want to trouble the son with the nitty gritty of daily expenses. The mother, meanwhile, is ashamed about having to live on charity from neighbours. The uneasy juxtaposition of the central theme: the anxiety to get children into prestigious schools and the ultimate loneliness and the disappointment of having a negligent son who was raised by parents, who sought the ‘best’ for their son, makes a moving comment.
I would love to hear from you. If you have enjoyed a film on the theme of education and learning or read a book that rehearses these themes, do connect.
Meeta Chatterjee