Full transcript
0:04[music]
0:09[music]
0:17>> Hello everyone. I welcome you to my
0:20course introduction to medical
0:21humanities. And in this particular unit,
0:24we are going to deal with themes around
0:26disability or how we would like to term
0:29it in the context of India
0:31special abilities. In the last unit, we
0:34had dealt with themes around
0:35reproductive justice. And in this
0:38unit with five lectures, we will be
0:40analyzing different aspects around
0:42disability. In today's lecture, I am
0:45going to trace the journey through two
0:49films Taare Zameen Par, which was
0:52released in 2007 and Sitaare Zameen Par,
0:56which came out in 2025
0:58and how the discourse of
1:01disability within the gap of these many
1:05years have shaped up and why uh Taare
1:08Zameen Par was an important film in the
1:11discourse of disability and its
1:13representation in the context of Indian
1:16cinema. Uh on that note, let me quickly
1:19walk you through how I'm going to go
1:21about.
1:22We will have an introduction. I will
1:24situate disability in India. I will uh
1:28discuss briefly the cinematic text that
1:30I am going to deal with and follow it up
1:33with common cinematic threads and uh
1:37discuss how the representation of
1:40disability
1:42and in certain sense the
1:43understandability of it has changed in
1:48uh Indian society. I will discuss very
1:51briefly the pedagogical implications of
1:53it and finally how
1:57narratives, the cinematic narratives,
2:00have the power to
2:03change or add to the discourse of how
2:07law wants to change the perception and
2:11the social model or social construct
2:13around disability. That is what I will
2:15be discussing. Let us straight away jump
2:17into the introduction where I will
2:20discuss what is disability in the first
2:23place.
2:25Now, in the context of disability, there
2:27are two terms that we have to analyze.
2:30One, of course, is disability, but the
2:33other one comes from the word
2:34impairment. So, if you look at what is
2:37impairment, according to WHO
2:40International Classification of
2:42Impairments, Disabilities, and
2:44Handicaps, it's a loss of a body
2:47function. What does this mean? This
2:49means that you can actually
2:52clinically
2:54know that this body doesn't function.
2:56Say, for example, if somebody is deaf,
2:59if somebody is blind, now these are
3:02impairments around body function. Very
3:06much understandable that it is a
3:08physical aspect that we are talking
3:11about. Now, what is disability then?
3:14Now, disability is
3:16according to the International
3:18Classification of Functioning,
3:20Disability, and Health,
3:22functioning at the body, person, or
3:25societal levels. So,
3:28this is the discourse. How does society
3:31respond to
3:33the person's impairment? That is what is
3:36basically disability. In this way, we
3:39can define disability studies as an
3:42interdisciplinary field because the
3:44moment we talk about society and
3:48try to analyze the discourse around
3:51society, there is not dimension we can
3:53really think of. In fact, we have to
3:55think of or multi-disciplinary
3:58intersections in which we can actually
4:00analyze. So, it's a interdisciplinary
4:03field where, you know,
4:05philosophy, anthropology, all these come
4:08together. And therefore, when we see
4:11disability, it is a social, cultural,
4:14and political construction. So, if you
4:17think of a building which has no ramps,
4:21naturally it is not
4:23friendly enough. The infrastructure
4:25doesn't support uh the people who are
4:29specially abled. So, you know, little
4:31things around when we perceive, we will
4:35find that
4:37disability is actually a socio-cultural
4:40and political construct. Now, disability
4:43studies uh
4:45thinks of promoting awareness around the
4:49experiences of disabled people, and in
4:51turn be sensitive. Because when we
4:55idealize something as normal, probably
4:58other scheme of things that do not fall
5:02into the category of that normalcy
5:04becomes problematic. But, like I said
5:07earlier, even
5:10anyone uh in the scheme of
5:14you know, how they operate and exist,
5:17their dignity is crucial to their
5:20identity, to their well-being. And in
5:22health, we do consider that, and
5:24therefore the experiences of disabled
5:26people can also not be marginalized, and
5:29hence disability studies advocates for
5:32social change.
5:34A social change towards inclusion and in
5:38and holistic development of society
5:41where each one contributes
5:44with sensitivity and empathy.
5:48When you think of how law has tried to
5:51back the disability discourse in India,
5:54we come across these four
5:57important interventions, which I will be
5:59discussing and it's on your screen. The
6:02first one is the Rehabilitation Council
6:05of India Act 1992.
6:08Now, what does this say? This says that
6:11you there should be a regulation and
6:13supervision of the rehabilitation
6:17professionals to ensure quality services
6:20for the differently abled people. Now,
6:23this means that the societal
6:25infrastructure
6:27in terms of policy
6:29in terms of practice in terms of
6:33like pedagogy
6:35in terms of real infrastructure, in
6:37terms of perception, all this should be
6:42I mean, friendly
6:44towards differently abled people.
6:46And that is what
6:48law also
6:50discusses.
6:52The second
6:53law or act we can talk about came out in
6:561995.
6:59And if you look at the 3-year gap,
7:01probably you will find that if one was
7:04around
7:05you know, the dignity as a person, the
7:08second was around the fact that was
7:12realized perhaps that there has to be
7:15some kind of
7:17economic identity, some kind of job
7:21security, some kind of positional
7:23security that will lead to that
7:26inclusion. And therefore, if you look at
7:29this particular act, which is called the
7:31Person with Disability Act 1995,
7:35it talks about prevention and early
7:37detection of disabilities,
7:39ensuring rights and 3% reservation in
7:43the field of education and uh
7:46employment. So, you see there is a
7:49participation.
7:50And if you think all these
7:52participations are in certain sense
7:55political because when we hold a
7:58position in a particular organization,
8:00it's an identity that we have gained and
8:03that was ensured through uh this
8:05particular act which came out in 1995.
8:08It also has in between, if you look at
8:11on your screen, equal opportunities,
8:13protection of rights, and full
8:15participation uh within brackets. And
8:18that is something that you must note uh
8:20that these are the characteristics,
8:22these are the basic features of
8:24this particular act. Now, the third uh
8:28act came out again in 2005.
8:31And if you look at this particular act,
8:34it emphasizes on prevention of
8:37disabilities, rehabilitation measures,
8:41and counseling. This act is called
8:43National Policy for Persons with
8:46Disabilities Act. Now,
8:48this act is extremely important because
8:52it emphasized on the fact of counseling.
8:56When we discussed social model of
8:58disability, we did discuss the phenomena
9:01of how individuals start responding to
9:06the social construct of them.
9:09And
9:11there is a kind of an inferiority that
9:15gets into them.
9:16Now, this act ensures that through
9:20counseling measures, if there is any uh
9:23kind of complex or uh inferiority or
9:27struggle, mental health struggle that
9:29they are going through
9:30pertaining particularly to their
9:32physical disability, that uh physical
9:35impairment, uh that should be taken care
9:38of. So, this was a very important act
9:40and the film that we have chosen Taare
9:43Zameen Par just came out after this
9:46and clearly indicates how counseling can
9:49nurture
9:50the people with impairments.
9:53Now, the last of the bills that I want
9:57to discuss came out in 2016
10:00and it's called Rights of Person with
10:02Disability Bill 2016 and it emphasizes
10:05on including intellectual disabilities
10:09like dyslexia. In case some of you have
10:11seen the film Taare Zameen Par, it was
10:13about dyslexia. So, the bill says that
10:17this should also be included along with
10:19other impairments and increase the
10:22reservation from 3% to 5% because three
10:25is a very small number they believed it
10:28should be extended to support and make
10:32the participation of people with
10:34impairments possible in India.
10:38Two films that I have selected for the
10:41purpose of analysis. The first one Taare
10:44Zameen Par, it came out in 2007 and
10:47Sitare Zameen Par which came out in
10:492025.
10:50If you look at
10:52the film, you will find that in the
10:55first one
10:56Taare Zameen Par which is directed by
10:58Aamir Khan,
11:00it focuses on
11:02the
11:03children with dyslexia.
11:07Dyslexia is primarily a learning
11:10disability and how
11:13the education system of India
11:16responds to that kind of an intellectual
11:20disability so to say.
11:22The themes include dyslexia awareness,
11:25inclusive education, uniqueness of
11:28children and supportive mentor. Now,
11:31that trope I have already spoken about
11:34in my earlier slide where when we look
11:38at Indian cinema, we will find that
11:40there is someone able-bodied mentor who
11:44plays the role of
11:46supporting the person who is differently
11:48abled. So, in this film also we find
11:51that particular theme. The second film
11:54is called Sitare Zamin Par and it is
11:58directed by R.S. Prasanna and again in
12:01this particular film you will find
12:02characters with neuro-divergent
12:05variations. So, there are variations in
12:07mental and neurological functioning.
12:10If you look at the film, some of you
12:12must have already seen the film
12:14and if some of you decide to see the
12:16film after this lecture, you will find
12:19that
12:20the film is also unique because
12:24the real-life neuro-divergent people
12:26have been
12:28casted as
12:30uh characters in the film. And in my
12:32opinion, it's a very classical shift of
12:36uh
12:38Uh so, you will find that the themes
12:40uh around this is primarily promoting
12:43social model of disability, community
12:46support, redefining the normal. So, you
12:49know, when we talk about social model of
12:51disability, we talk about the
12:53construction around an impairment much
12:56so to point out the lacuna in society.
12:59But if society starts responding uh
13:02towards impairments positively, probably
13:05the social model of disability which we
13:09have looked at much in terms of uh what
13:12it does not do to the people who are
13:15specially abled, probably we will start
13:18analyzing uh the kind of community
13:21support that it has generated. So,
13:24this will also make a shift in the new
13:27normal is something that this film talks
13:29about.
13:31Let us go one by one. When you look at
13:34the film Taare Zameen Par, which came
13:36out in 2007, you find that it is the
13:40first of its kind
13:42film to
13:44take up a character which deals with
13:47non-corporeal disability, which means
13:49that you cannot see what is the
13:52impairment. So,
13:55the person is having intellectual
13:58disability, so to say, which is
14:00dyslexia. And the people in the school
14:04or the family members, they do not know
14:06about it. So, it is the film is
14:08primarily with an intention to spread
14:11awareness about learning disabilities,
14:14which is dyslexia. So, it it is
14:18you know, you just cannot see, and
14:21therefore you feel that probably
14:24the person is lazy, not ready to learn.
14:27So, in the film also, you will find that
14:29there is a character called Ishaan
14:32Awasthi, and his parents also think that
14:36probably he is not paying attention to
14:38his academics. The school also blames
14:41him for being unattentive in the class
14:44until one day you have a teacher called
14:47Ram Shankar Nikumbh, who comes to uh
14:51his rescue in some way and support in
14:54another. So, you will find that this
14:57when Ram comes into the scene, he
15:00realizes the potential of Ishaan. And
15:03how does this happen that he treats each
15:07child differently. If you look at the
15:09approach of Ram in the film
15:13during the classroom session, it's not
15:15that he is he's treating all children
15:18with the same yardstick. So, in one of
15:21the scenes, what happens is that he
15:23decides to
15:26assign an activity. The activity is that
15:29all children of that particular class
15:32have to go outside and draw whatever
15:35they
15:36see or make whatever they want. And this
15:39boy, Ishaan, comes up with very creative
15:43idea. It is only then he realizes that
15:46probably he may not have been extremely
15:49good with academics due to his dyslexia,
15:53but he has other special abilities.
15:55Clearly, you know, marking a shift in
15:58which the traditional notion of going
16:01for
16:02very strict disciplines of academics was
16:07re-
16:08thought. Because now, if you see, there
16:11are so many multiple, not only for
16:13disabled people, but also in otherwise,
16:15you see that there are so many avenues
16:18in which you can explore your career.
16:20Perhaps that was the film,
16:23in my opinion, that changed the
16:24narrative not only around specially
16:27abled people, but also in general about
16:29the kind of career options people could
16:31choose. But here we are discussing
16:33disability, so I will stick with that.
16:35It was also the first Indian cinema
16:38which was bought by Walt Disney. It's an
16:41international production, if you know,
16:43for global distribution. And uh
16:46the model was medical model of
16:49disability in which dyslexia was to be
16:53taken away from
16:55social model, because in social model,
16:57it meant only laziness and
17:00unattentiveness. But in medical model,
17:02it was actually a problem, and that was
17:04what was identified in this particular
17:06film. And it also criticizes the
17:10conventional education system, which
17:12uh is not inclusive enough for
17:16these kind of children. So, that was
17:19also a case in point which this film
17:21tried to make.
17:23Moving further, we have Taare Zameen
17:26Par. There are three we think we can
17:29talk about. On your screen, celebrating
17:31uniqueness of children, understanding
17:33intellectual disability, and dignity of
17:36children. Something that I also
17:38mentioned in my slide. So, the first
17:40thing that the film talked about or kind
17:43of reflected is that each child is
17:46unique. Just like when you talk about
17:49global health, you
17:52think of global health as each
17:54individual's right.
17:56And each individual may pursue that
17:59right
18:00in a different way. Similarly, when we
18:03talk about children and their abilities,
18:06there is no standardization
18:08that this child is best because it is
18:11this
18:12and that child is not good enough
18:14because they have that. In fact, the
18:18standardization creates a narrative of
18:21the binary and that is what this film
18:24refrains from,
18:26clearly talking about that there is not
18:28one dimension to being intelligent.
18:32There are
18:33different other dimensions and then it
18:36goes on to critique the pressure on
18:39children to follow narrow definitions of
18:43success.
18:44The second trope that we have to pick up
18:48is understanding intellectual
18:50disability. If you look at the initial
18:54construct of how the film goes, you will
18:56find that even the parents of the child
18:59respond to dyslexia
19:02by being ignorant of the child's
19:05condition. There is also, you know, an
19:07elder brother who's very sharp, very
19:10good in academics. So, the parents also
19:13have a comparison point over there. And
19:16that's why probably I do not completely
19:18blame them for being so ignorant.
19:21Sometimes there are other kids in the
19:24family who are uh so wonderful in terms
19:28of catering to the ideal childhood or
19:31ideal manhood that probably others
19:34become invisible in that in that frame.
19:38And therefore, this film
19:41tries to sensitize around intellectual
19:44disability and destigmatizes
19:47dyslexia where they say that no, uh even
19:50this is a condition that people live
19:52with and they have all the right to uh
19:54live with dignity. It also promotes
19:57inclusivity in education, which you will
19:59see that even the school starts
20:01responding to the intellectual
20:04capability within disability of Ishaan.
20:08So, uh that also is something that we
20:11have to take into consideration while we
20:13read this particular film Taare Zameen
20:15Par. Another thing is about the dignity
20:19of children.
20:20Now, that's a very important construct
20:23and if I was just another day reading
20:25around different kind of discourse
20:28uh in human rights and dignity has
20:31almost come up on the front lines that
20:34no matter what, each person's dignity is
20:38important
20:39uh to the identity. And this particular
20:42film discusses that way back, imagine in
20:462005, coming up with a theme in which
20:49you point out the othering discourse as
20:52problematic and say that no, uh
20:55even with dyslexia there is a film that
20:59is made and promoted and highlighted,
21:02acknowledging and appreciating diverse
21:06talent of children. So, uh you know that
21:09film was very iconic in the sense that
21:12it took up themes that were earlier not
21:15discussed in any of the films dealing
21:18with disability. Uh in fact, most of the
21:20films that have dealt with uh disability
21:24before 2005,
21:26either in terms of child or adult, you
21:29will find the narrative of uh either a
21:32survivor or a hero or sometimes to
21:36project them in contrast to this
21:38able-bodied man, able-bodied child, but
21:41this was a clear shift, a clear
21:43demarcation from what was there earlier.
21:46So, it was an important film uh to be
21:49taken into consideration when I thought
21:52that I will discuss the component of uh
21:55childhood and dignity with the reference
21:58to uh disability.
22:02Let us then move on to another film in
22:05consideration today, which is called
22:07Sitare Zameen Par, and it's a sequel to
22:09Taare Zameen Par. So, if you uh look at
22:13the film, uh the film Taare Zameen Par
22:15dealt with uh dyslexia, which is an
22:17intellectual disability, but in this
22:20film, it dealt with neurodiverse adults.
22:24Now, they can have probably autism
22:26spectrum disorder, Down syndrome,
22:28fragile X syndrome, invisible autism, or
22:32cerebral palsy. Any of these uh
22:35are listed. Uh some of the neurodiverse
22:38adults that we can
22:40talk about, and it is
22:42set in the backdrop that there is a kind
22:45of competition, competition, which is
22:48going to happen for the para-athletes.
22:51And this film, like I said earlier,
22:54casted real neurodivergent people for
22:57the role, and that was a very new thing
23:00we had seen in Indian cinema where
23:02people who were actually neurodivergent
23:05were playing the role of neurodivergent.
23:07So, uh this also is based on social
23:10model of disability where the entire
23:13emphasis is on changing the way in which
23:18people perceive and construct meaning
23:22around people who are dealing with
23:25neurodivergent disorders.
23:28Uh
23:30Key themes uh include one dismantling of
23:34the binary normal versus abnormal. So,
23:37uh
23:38everything is normal within the spectrum
23:41of society. That is the first
23:43understanding we have to begin with when
23:46we are dealing with uh any kind of
23:48social change. The moment we create the
23:52barcode for normal,
23:55there are so many anomalies that can
23:57come into picture, and that is what the
24:00film primarily discusses. So, if you
24:03look at
24:04uh the characters, if you look at some
24:06of these images, let us take for example
24:09this image. Now, if you look at this
24:11image, generally what happens, we place
24:15shoes l- left, right, and that is how
24:20you wear your shoes. In this particular
24:22film, this character,
24:24he uh I think his name is Sunil. He
24:27always wears the shoes left in right,
24:30right in left.
24:33So,
24:34the
24:35coach, what he does is that he asks him
24:39to place
24:41the shoes differently, not the foot, but
24:44the shoes. So, instead of the left the
24:47left is put as right, and the right is
24:50put as left. Naturally, when he wears
24:52it, he wears it uh in the correct way.
24:55Uh the left in the left and the right in
24:57the right. So, he says that you don't
24:59have to change your position of the
25:01foot, but you have to change the
25:03position of the shoes. A small change
25:06that reflects that how even sometimes
25:09small little changes in the social
25:12construct of what we have assigned a
25:14particular meaning to a particular
25:16activity can actually respond in a
25:19positive way for people who have some
25:22difficulty in comprehension of certain
25:25things. So, I felt it was a very uh,
25:27impactful scene and that's why I have
25:30taken up that. Uh, there are uh, other
25:32scenes also we will discuss. So, in uh,
25:35Sitare Zamin Par, one of the first
25:37themes that we find is across
25:39dismantling what is normal and what is
25:42abnormal. So, uh, the moment you
25:44dismantle the normal, abnormal
25:46automatically will collapse and
25:48everything then becomes normal is
25:50something that the film tries to talk
25:52about. Uh, a very important uh,
25:56theorist Leonard J. Davis in Enforcing
25:59Normalcy says, "Enforced Normalcy is a
26:01socially constructed idea." So, just uh,
26:05what I kind of explained, when you think
26:08of a particular canon of normal, there
26:10is an abnormal canon that automatically
26:13follows, but
26:14uh, it is all constructed within society
26:17and therefore society has to respond to
26:20uh, disability in a different way and
26:21that is what this film talks about. The
26:23other uh,
26:25scene that these three scenes that you
26:27see on your screen, they are about
26:29people who get into a uh, small debacle
26:33in a bus. Now, when these people get
26:35into the bus, other people who are
26:38traveling in the
26:39bus start criticizing that there should
26:41be another bus for people with
26:44neurodivergent disorders. In this case,
26:47they use uh, certain bad words uh, and
26:51uh, to which they respond in a physical
26:54way. Now, they Why does the director
26:57show something like this? Because the
26:59director perhaps wants to break away
27:02from the trope of tragic lifestyle
27:04where, you know, you corner somebody and
27:06they will be pushed to corner. It is not
27:07like that. So, uh,
27:10there is uh, this trope that you will
27:13see in the film and in totality, uh, you
27:15will find that they cherish the idea of
27:18unique talent and unique bodies. So,
27:21even with neurodivergent,
27:23uh,
27:24I mean, disability, a person is unique
27:27in in
27:28their own way is something that this
27:30film tries to showcase.
27:33The common theme thematic threads in
27:35both the films are
27:37or how others respond to the individual
27:41who is
27:43specially abled, either intellectually
27:46or neurodivergent or any other form. So,
27:50you have to understand the perspective
27:52of what other person is going through is
27:54something that both the films talk
27:56about. The other, uh, aspect that we
27:59think of in this film is it is not about
28:02the defect, but about the difference. In
28:06both these cases,
28:08whether it is Ishaan in Taare Zameen Par
28:11or the group of people with
28:14neurodivergent disorders in Sitaare
28:16Zameen Par, all of them are just
28:19different. And they are not defective.
28:22And there has to be a certain amount of
28:25dignity with which they are to be
28:28treated and there has to be no pity. I
28:30mean, it's not like they are, uh,
28:33I mean, they are doing some brave
28:34activity by, uh,
28:36I mean, by just doing their regular
28:39stuff. A trope which has been identified
28:41as problematic in the social model of
28:44disability as well.
28:46We see a very evolving representation.
28:49Like I said, it's a gap of almost two
28:51decades and you find that in 2007, when
28:55this film came, it was about spreading
28:58awareness. There has to be a
29:00sensitization
29:01around people who are differently abled
29:04was a primary theme. It followed a
29:07medical model of disability. There was a
29:09condition
29:11that was
29:12to be identified because it was not
29:14visible.
29:15And if
29:16an intellectual disability can also be
29:18categorized as medical was something
29:22that was
29:24emphasized in this particular film
29:27following how individual should
29:30respond to the system of society in
29:34which inclusion is a characteristic
29:37which is non-compromising.
29:39And of course, it uses the trope of
29:41tragedy, but in 2025, the emphasis was
29:45not just on awareness. It was
29:48on recreating the normal by dismantling
29:52the canon of normal.
29:54So, the moment you dismantle the canon
29:57of normal, it amalgamates with all those
30:00things that we have in long time created
30:04as a abnormal. So, it was the
30:06redefinition of that following the
30:08social model of disability, which means
30:10that the society had to respond. The
30:13society had to construct a positivist
30:15notion around inclusion.
30:17And how society adopts to the need of
30:20the individual was the third theme in
30:22which
30:24clearly each individual becomes
30:26responsible for building a narrative and
30:30responding to that. And the trope is
30:32that of dignified living.
30:34The pedagogical implications include
30:37three: visual literacy through film
30:39studies. So, what we see is what we
30:42believe and therefore
30:44you have to make meaning out of
30:46multimodal analysis. When we talk about
30:48multimodal analysis, we think of sound,
30:53image, frame, color. So, if you read the
30:57film, you have to read through that lens
30:59and also
31:01when it comes to theme, you have to
31:02understand the disability as a socially
31:06constructed phenomena and not uh just a
31:11medical model. It has to be a
31:12combination and that is where medical
31:14humanities come into picture and follow
31:17it up with the human rights model where
31:21dignity, in fact, a very good book that
31:23I can suggest you at this point is uh
31:26Professor P.K. Nayar's human rights
31:28book. If you happen to read just the
31:29introduction chapter, you will find
31:32quite a lot of threads around human
31:34rights that will be useful for your
31:36reading. Uh especially if you want to
31:39read the component of dignity, I think
31:42that's a very good book to even begin
31:45with. Uh so, uh just a suggestion, you
31:47can go ahead uh with the introduction
31:50part. If If you can read the full book
31:52as well, but just the introduction
31:54should give you enough idea on
31:56what this means uh
31:58in the context of society.
32:01Finally, classroom teaching which is
32:03focusing on nourishing uniqueness of
32:06talent and follow the learner-centric
32:09approach instead of teacher-centric one,
32:11a pedagogical shift that we are also
32:13seeing post-COVID in terms of classroom
32:16teaching. Finally, uh I think before I
32:18end, I will talk about the power of
32:20cinematic narratives in portraying the
32:22differently-abled people. Why we are
32:25taking up films as narrative because
32:27they have a larger appeal.
32:30They are very good way of sensitizing
32:32people.
32:33They facilitate experiential empathy.
32:36What does this mean? That you see and
32:38you believe. So, instead of simulation
32:41which happens in literary text, I'm I'm
32:44I'm just kind of a comparing.
32:47There is an experiential empathy. So,
32:50you see and you place yourself in the
32:52front of the screen and you start
32:56thinking like that character. So, there
32:57is a experiential kind of an empathy
32:59that takes place. And what it does
33:02finally is to build a shared kind of
33:05community in which there is a
33:06coexistence that is happening.
33:09Thank you so much. In the next class, I
33:12will begin with how
33:14masculinity is
33:17reshaped when it comes to the disability
33:19discourse. Thank you so much.