Celebrating 15 years of a master storyteller
Fifteen years of storytelling might seem like a long time, but for Jeeva Raghunath, it’s just another day to tell stories. The master storyteller is celebrating the anniversary here in Chennai with a day of storytelling workshops and a public storytelling event at the Alliance Francaise of Madras on November 13, in association with Tulika Books.
With three sessions planned with school children, and a two-hour workshop on performing before the actual event, Jeeva has her hands full. But that doesn’t faze her. “It is a day to celebrate stories. Not myself. That’s what this means to me,” she says.
Jeeva, who grew up listening to folk tales at her grandma’s side, is returning to her roots for this event. Her usual repertoire includes stories with a wide range of Indian, Asian and European folktales, family stories, real-life incidents, cross-cultural and contemporary stories. But for this event, she will be showcasing stories that as she puts it, “have initiated me into the world of storytelling”. The event will have both English and Tamil stories. “Tamil is my strong point, so I love telling stories in Tamil too,” she adds.
After this storytelling event, Jeeva is heading to Patna and then Delhi for the Bookaroo festival with 70 or more authors. After that, it’s Mumbai in December, Thailand in January and then Singapore, for consecutive storytelling festivals and workshops. “It is a revival of the art. It’s happening all over the world and I’m happy to be a part of it,” she says.