BENGALURU: Imagine sitting back and indulging in some mellow time while someone takes you to a different world through their stories. That’s what the folk at Storywallahs brought to listeners through their storytelling session on Sunday. The city-based organisation that conducts storytelling workshops came up with this initiative to raise funds for Child Rights and You (CRY), a non-government organisation working towards restoring child rights.
The funds generated will be used to procure and donate hygiene kits, sanitary napkins for girls, and food rations for 1.76 lakh underprivileged households. “CRY reached out to us to gather a crowd who could donate for a cause. So we are doing our bit,” says Bengaluru-based storyteller Tanya Bhattacharya, adding, “Since everything is under lockdown and we can’t reach out to people who could help these underprivileged families, what better way than to bring people together through stories for a cause.” Apart from Bhattacharya, the hour-long session featured Storywallahs founder Ameen Haque and Nupur Aggarwal, engaging with over 100 participants through various stories and games.
The session, held on Zoom, was kickstarted by CRY CEO Puja Marwaha. The event commenced on a musical note, further venturing into a puzzle story, storigami, and ending with Haque playing the harmonica with participants having to guess the tunes. “Considering it’s a lockdown session for the whole family, we brought different flavours to engage all age groups. There was something for little children, a story for grown-ups and children alike, an engagement game, and a story with a message for these tough times,” says Bhattacharya.
Bhattacharya further pointed out that through the event, they wanted to leverage their corporate and social media contacts to raise funds. “Although people have a good intention to donate, sometimes it’s not an urgency, irrespective of how small or big the amount is. Through an event like this, it becomes easier for people to donate,” she says. Storywallahs are now planning to come up with more online storytelling sessions. “Nupur and I are pumped about coming up with similar sessions, some are already in the pipeline. We are just planning the logistics around and will be updated on our social media page,” adds Bhattacharya.