A day of edutainment

19th January, 2017 was a specially fun day for the students of classes 4 and 5 as they got to watch Dangal together at a nearby cinema. The poignant and inspirational tale is the real life story of erstwhile wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat who trains his young daughters Geeta and Babita to follow in his footsteps and eventually become Olympic medalists. The courage to surpass severe societal prejudice and recrimination and persist in the mission is truly a feat. Not only is the cause of gender equal-ness honoured, the grit and resolve to persevere for a mission is an everlasting value taught. Director Nitesh Tiwari should be complimented for the tongue-in-cheek quality, peppered with humour and several poignant father-daughter emotions through the movie. Of course, a little bit is lost in translation because of the Haryanvi twang. But, messages on our societys obsession with the male child (prevalent from times of yore), the myopic stand on the prescribed manner of bringing up our daughters and the governments callous disposition towards sport, are loud and clear. It is to the films credit that though Geeta and Babitas wins are documented, it still manages to engage the viewer with slick shots of wrestling and pangs of patriotic feeling. Most importantly, Dangal scores with its exemplary performances. All the students were extremely animated and vehemently discussed their view points through the bus ride back to School.