Ram Shankar Nikumbh

Recently I saw the Darsheel/Aamir starred Taare Zameen Par. It is surely a fantastic film. The first impression from the trailers was that it is a children's film. So, I took Kalindi (my daughter) to view it. This is her first movie on the silver screen. The film talks in lengths about the relationship that a mother holds with her son. Aamir has been successful in getting tears in most of the parents’ eyes with his well crafted direction.

There was a something common in this story and what I and my school mates have experienced. Ram Shankar Nikumbh, a drawing teacher goes out of his ways to help Ishaan come out of the worst mental trauma that he is going through. I very much remembered our drawing teacher Mr. A. Golandaz when I was watching Aamir playing that character. Attending Golandaz sir's drawing classes was a treat for us. He had an amazing tact of mixing humor while teaching and thus making the class lively. Personally, for me, drawing was not something that I was good at. Neither did I get much fun in painting or throwing colors on the canvas. It made absolutely no sense to me at times. But that never made me bored of the fun filled lectures. With his inspiration, I have in fact created some good (as per my standards ;) ) still drawings.

We also saw Golandaz Sir helping a lot of students getting out of their childhood fears. He not only taught us to draw but also helped us to be better human beings, one of the most basic aspect that a teacher should teach his/her students. He is around 75 now. We never got to know anything about his personal life. I recently came to know that he never got married and lived his life to serve his mother. Today he spends most of his time in a small temple at Solapur serving the needy.

Are all drawing teachers so good? Or is it just a coincidence?