It’s been 14 years since Taare Zameen Par released where we saw the tormented life of a child with dyslexia at home and school. Two years ago, a reputed school in Mumbai refused to let a student with dyslexia appear for his board exam because it would affect the school’s ‘academic record.’ Not letting that come in the way of his son’s academics, his father, Swapneel Zaveri enrolled him at National Open School. The child secured 71 per cent in the board exam. “I was disappointed with the school’s attitude. Can you imagine the trauma it puts the child and the family to have the plug pulled at the last minute?” he asks.

Zaveri admits he and his wife were in denial when they first learnt of their son’s learning disorder through a school counsellor in grade six. “No parent likes to accept that there is a problem with their child,” he says. A year later, when he observed both his children play, he acknowledged there was a challenge with his reading and writing. After attending a session by Dr Pulkit Kaushal at Nair Hospital in the company of several other parents like him, he comprehended that his child was dyslexic. Zaveri’s son was observed for over a year at Nair hospital. An IQ test later, he was recommended remedial classes at New Horizons Child Development Centre.