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Hello Bachhon (Hello Children, Hindi; 2025)
Miniseries S1, E1-5
Director: Pratish Mehta
This miniseries holds a special place in my heart. The subject matter was highly relevant, as my siblings and I lived in one of the pigeonholes at Rifle Range Flats, which we called home, from 1970 to 1981.
After facing a particular obstacle in our lives, we were forced to uproot ourselves and step down. We were conditioned to believe that recovering from the fall from grace could only be achieved through education. Amma drummed into us the idea that academic excellence was the cure-all for all our problems. We were guided in that direction. Securing a sound education was our top priority, second to none. Amma used to say, "Get a university degree, and everything will fall into place!" Towards this end, the family made multiple sacrifices, spent miserly on food, and avoided the luxuries of life. Every little bit went into savings. Even though Amma was not the breadwinner, she would stow away savings here and there, under her clothes or in her drawers, which would miraculously emerge when necessity arose.
Long before the general public understood the value of a gold stockpile and its role in the national coffers, Amma knew the value of gold. She would put her savings into gold and buy jewellery. The golden ornaments gave her two advantages. They not only flaunted to the world that we were alright, but they also became a ready source of cash when the need arose.
The miniseries is based on the real-life experiences of a struggling online tuition teacher, Alokh Pandey, who made it his life's mission to motivate students to aim high, perform well in higher school examinations (11th and 12th Standard), and secure a place at an IIT.
His humble online tuition grows into an empire, only to be preyed upon by venture capitalists who are keen only to maximise returns from the endeavours, but care two hoots about the welfare of the students. Within the five episodes, the makers tell the case of a young boy from the slums struggling to pass his 11th class with his lackadaisical teachers, a young girl fighting against the orthodoxy to excel in her exams, a talented cricketer who has to juggle between qualifying for the leagues and fulfilling his father's wish for him to be a graduate, and finally a boy who has to fight against the odds to qualify for the IIT.
Through their journeys, we come to understand that education is not a privilege reserved for a few but a right that can change the course of a life. The ability to get onto the right path is not always in our hands. The role of a teacher who steers students onto the right path is often forgotten.
Farouk Gulsara (asokansham@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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