Shanthi said they were not heartbroken or shocked to hear the news. "In fact, it was a relief for us to know what the problem was. Till then we were groping in the dark. Once we came to know the problem, we started looking for a solution. We stopped pushing him. We let him do what he wants, what he is good at."
As expected, the regular school where he studied did not care to understand a problem like dyslexia. It failed him in 9th standard. That was because he didn't get enough marks in the second language. Siddharh's parents and the counsellor from Alpha to Omega requested the school authorities to be a little more lenient with him but the school was adamant. So, they had no other option but pull him from the school. Finally he wrote the 10th standard examination through the National Open School, where a child could choose the subjects he wanted to study.
Like Ishan of Taare Zameen Par, Siddhrath also was an excellent painter even while he was young. Once he got hooked to computers, which started when he was in school itself, his interest moved to designing and desktop publishing.
After school, he made an unsuccessful attempt to study visual communication in the US. Unable to live alone in a foreign country, he discontinued the course and came back home after three weeks.
Soon, at the age of 20, he started Mitra Media, a design house of his own, and ever since, he has been on his own. As movies were a passion for him, he began designing promotional material for films. Priyadarshan's Lesa was the beginning. Today, he is the leading designer in Chennai designing 30 to 40 percent of all Tamil films.
Image: A poster of Anniyan, designed by Siddharth's company.
Also read: India & Shobhaa De: Going strong at sixty
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