Life lessons that we can take from 3 Idiots

3 Idiots - a movie that released during Christmas 2009, starring Amir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Madavan, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani, Javed Jaffery to name a few. I wrote a quick short review, when I first saw this movie during the Jan 2010. I even received a comment for that post mentioning that it already has a cult status. Now after 9 years of first seeing this movie, I must have seen it countless times and still haven’t gotten tired of it, those review pointers are still relevant. I even saw the Tamil remake of it in 2012 - Nanban starring Vijay, Ileana D’Curz, Jiva, Satyaraj, Srikanth, S.J. Surya. Personally, I prefer the Hindi version (probably because I saw the Hindi version first, but both are equally good)

Every time I see it, depending on the stage of my maturity I have seen layers in the movie that conveyed a message to every role that I have played till now. You might ask, “How”?. Here is a break down of what I saw and learnt from the movie:

Warning - For those who haven’t yet seen the movie there are a lot of spoilers on the story line and the characters. Maybe this is your chance to see this movie yourself and if you are a parent, please do see it with your children (age 6 and above will surely enjoy this movie)

Phunsuk Wangdu -The main character (protagonist) - called by many other names in a movie (mainly Rancho by his college mates), is a lifetime learner who keeps his creativity alive. His thirst to 'learn it all' (any way you can) along with the aspect of wanting to simplify it for use for the development of the community and make the process of learning enjoyable is very contagious. His character is inspired from a real life role model Sonam Wangchuk. His target is not marks or grades but the quest for information and how to use that information to attain efficiency and effectiveness with limited resources. 

Learning

1. He teaches us the importance of staying a lifetime learner and how that can keep you younger than most and stress free.
2. Every failure can be a learning experience.
3. Always stay calm and stay in your ‘Zen state’ in order to be able to achieve better.
4. Studies is just a means to reach your destination.
5. Encourage out-of-the-box thinking, practical applications of learning, & keep the creative trait alive by using it to enhancing life skills.
6. Learn to question authority when necessary and when they deserved to be questioned.

Virus (Dr. Viru Sahastrabuddhe) - the antagonist - the strict college principal who has a very strong conviction about doctrinal method of teaching and is unyieldingly stubborn in believing that being the first (top) is the most important target in one's life (Winning the rat race). He is also quite miserable most of the time as his target is always to be at the top which naturally creates stress.

Learning 

1. A little bit of flexibility to deviate from norm when needed.
2. To be humane towards the needs of the students.
3. Focus on performing to the best of one’s abilities.
4. Rat race and winning it, is not everything in life.
5. Challenge the monotonous and outdated curriculum and teaching methodology of institutions.

All the above are welcome aspects for one's personal sanity and contentment.

From a parent's perspective, 

1. Mad rush towards the tag of “Engineering” or such professional courses isn't the only career option. 
2. Career / course option should be more by choice than force.
3. Learn to listen to what your child is saying, to identify the strength of your child and support them to explore untried path as well as long as it is not detrimental to their progress. 

Virus’s son (gets mentioned when Pia, his daughter, reveals the real reason why her brother took his own life) and Joy Lobo (the boy who begs Virus for an extension for project submission date which he denies) 

Learning

1. By giving up they might have found a way out of the personal humiliation that failure might bring but in the process they end up giving life long pain and suffering to their family and friends. 
2. It is inhumane to pressurize people by threatening/humiliating them with failure. 

Farhan Qureshi - a student from a middle class background who is torn between the fact of wanting to live his parent’s dream of their child becoming an engineer and wanting to follow his heart and pursue photography as a profession but is unable to muster the courage to speak to his parents. Eventually with Rancho’s support speaks to his parents and convinces them to let him pursue his passion. He then goes on to have a fulfilling career once his internship is completed.

Raju Rastogi - a student from an impoverished background with an ailing father, a older spinster sister, and a retired school teacher mom who keeps reminding him that it is he who needs to shoulder the family’s responsibilities once he finishes his studies in flying colours and gets placed in a white collared job during campus recruitment. He finally manages to break free of the stress (that pushes him to attempt suicide) that this combination of expectations and doctrinal educational methods create and goes on to become a successful executive.

Learning from the above two: 

1. Turn the focus from Fear Of Failure (FOF) to Fun Of Learning (FOL). 
2. Build confidence to speak your mind (to parents and authority figures) with mutual respect & confidence in self. 
3. Be ready to learn and adapt.
4. Attempting to end one’s life is never a solution to escape from stress.

Pia and Mona Sahastrabuddhe - daughters of Virus who in their own individualistic ways play a part in standing up to their father’s wrongful convictions and methods. Eventually, they do nudge their father to accepting the (above) three students that he despises the most due to their antics. 

Learning 

1. Have the courage to stand up to your parents/authority when you know they are wrong.

Chatur Ramalingam (nicknamed Silencer) - A Tamil speaking student who has little knowledge of Hindi (In the Tamil version of the movie, he takes on the character of an Anglo-Indian who doesn’t know literature Tamil). When Rancho changes the speech that he delivers on stage for a college fest, he is publicly humiliated which turns him to despise these three for almost a decade. Eventually, though he is the VP in a USA based firm, he still has to run behind targets and deal closures for his job security. 

Learning

1. Difference between fun and public humiliation (to be avoided). 
2. Being the top in class is not everything.

With exams around the corner, it would be nice if parents and children together watched this movie again to refresh on what is necessary and what is not, re-evaluate priorities, and approach the exams with less stress and more joy as exams are one of the many means of evaluating one’s level of understanding. It is not the end of life and it is surely not a reason to end one's life!