Like stars on earth

Like Stars on Earth is a 2007 Indian film about Ishaan Awahsti, a child who is persecuted for being academically challenged, and is accused by educators and his own family of being lazy.
However, he is in fact not lazy, but simply challenged and dyslexic. His apparent ADHD and dyslexia account for the majority of his problems. His parents fear he will not be able to conform to the cultural, "rat race" that characterizes the Indian world of adulthood. Consequently, his parents fear the worst and make the decision to send him to boarding school, which his mother is heartbroken over.
He loses his spirit at this school and he is unable to learn until an art teacher Ram Nikumbh notices his dyslexia and takes Ishaan under his wing. He develops an interest in teaching the boy as Ram Nikumbh is also dyslexic and has a mutual passion for painting.


The movie demonstrates how the Indian school system functions. It gives Indian perspective on learning disabilities and education in general. In many ways it is inflexible, as we see with the example of how Ishaan suffers through persecution and criticism for something he can't control. In the American school system learning disabilities such as ADHD and dyslexia, which Ishaan suffers from are generally accepted as legitimate impairment, while in India they can be interpreted as pure laziness.
My personal connection to the film is the condition I shared with
Ishaan, which was ADHD. I had the same kind of distractability, he has and I was not able to learn as easily as other students. While I can't relate to his dyslexia, I sympathize completely with his ADHD and his difficult childhood due to the condition.