BENGALURU: The pandemic has brought about a slowdown in the earlier fast-paced life. The sudden change has been difficult for many to accept and adapt to, which Ramya Iyer aims to explore through a storytelling session called ‘Healing Hope Heart Story Circle’. Iyer will conduct a session on Thursday, in collaboration Lahe Lahe, to bring together people from different walks of life to discuss and reflect about their lives. “We start with a warm-up where people usually share a highlight from their day. This usually tends to be a slice from their life,” she says, adding that it is then followed by her narrating a folk tale like A K Ramanujam’s A Flowering Tree.
“From these folk tales, we find something that connects to our life. The story becomes yours. And more often that not, people come out with personal stories, some of which they’ve not shared before. These stories often bring out stirred up emotions,” she says, adding that along with all the stressers, people are also finding reasons to be grateful which give others hope.
While these tend to be larger groups, Iyer also conducts a session, ‘Bonding over our stories and songs’, on Fridays, wherein a response to a story is given the form of a song. “There are many emotional moments as music and songs tend to transport people to different realms, sometimes taking them to their childhood,” she says.
Though she would have loved an in-person meet, Iyer too has had to take this concept online. “There’s a lot more that a face-to-face interaction reveals. In addition to someone speaking, their body movements too add to their story. Even among those who prefer to stay quiet, there’s a lot that is revealed in their silence. Or even their breathing can tell so much,” she says, adding that the online sessions have at least given people otherwise confined to their home a way to connect with each other.
The event on Thursday is being held from 6-7.30pm. Tickets cost `200 and are available on townscript/ insider. For details about ‘Bonding over our stories and songs’, email ramyaponders@gmail.com