16/07/2025
No sooner did the movie ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ hit the screens, than Help & Help Charitable Trust decided to sponsor 2 shows – one in Panjim and the other in Margao for the ‘Sitara’s’ of the special schools – (People's Integrated School for Special Education, and Disha Trust, Panjim) and (Gujarati Samaj Educational Trust & Jyot School, Margao). The response from both the schools was heartening.
The children from the four schools were accompanied by teachers, parents and Help & Help volunteers.
For the children, it was a welcome outing as they alighted from their school buses with joy writ large on their faces. The lift experience and having a theater all to themselves added to their happiness.
Did the movie add value to their lives? Did they see themselves in the character Hargovind, Golu, Sharmaji etc., etc., who when cared for, channeled and directed with TLC bring out the differently able potential to the full? Did the movie convey the message that theirs is also a world wherein they can find meaning and purpose? Would they take a leaf out of the book of the characters who were both gainfully and joyfully engaged in their respective work areas and on the basketball ground? The song in the back ground, Good For .. Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing, Bole Zamaana must have resonated strongly with them.
The movie was replete with Educative, Emotional, Empathy, Entertainment and Spiritual value. For parents and adults present, the overpowering feeling was one of poignance tempered with hope. It drove home the message that there is a world out there of special children who when handled with love, empathy and concerned translated into action, help them discover and realise their differently abled potential. Teachers of the special schools, parents and volunteers surely returned enriched. In a world ridden with cut-throat competition, the finale of bonhomie among the children both winners and losers was nothing short of a soul steering experience.
We at Help & Help could not possibly fathom the thoughts and feelings of the children, but their non-verbal gestures and body language articulate it all. The expression on the faces of theses darlings whom we refuse to call “children of a lesser God” was more than gratifying.
To Inox Panjim and Inox Margao, Help & Help is highly obliged for screening the 2 shows that were exclusively for the children of the 4 special schools. “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.” ― Henry David Thoreau.
