Growing up in India always meant a story session with the elders almost every evening where they would enthrall you with stories of bravery, adventure and family values. School seemed dreary in comparison. Story Ghar has ventured to bring back the beauty and excitement into our everyday lives through the art of story telling. Started by Jaishree Sethi when she was volunteering for a library in Los Angeles, she realised the power that lay in capturing an audience’s attention with an art form that has been around for centuries. And using her background in radio, she soon started Story Ghar.
Focusing mainly on children and NGOs, Jaishree and her team have ventured into incorporating story-telling in schools and making learning interactive and fun. With workshops for teachers, corporate employees and anyone who wants to be able to present themselves effectively can use their services. Jaishree’s expertise in writing scripts, radio and television shows and with a trove of knowledge acquired from the many colleges she has worked with, Amity University being one of them, this was but a natural progression, to be able to bring such a tradition into contemporary life.
With over 16 years of experience in the creative field, Sethi has mastered the ability to convert any topic into an interesting story. Giving importance to key issues of today like gender sensitivity and environment conservation, she hopes to bring story telling back into our everyday lives and make us put those lessons into action. The recently concluded Story Utsav festival, which ran for four days in Delhi and Faridabad, stands as a true testament to the effect and power of the work that story Ghar is doing. Using attractive displays, dancing, singing and dramatic presentations, it is a must for every child to witness Story Ghar in action.
Her last show was in May in Gurgaon. She says, “Every child, when given an Ipad, should also be given a book. But more than that, a parent bringing a child to a story session gives them a chance to bond with them and also be a child once again. Story-telling helps one to become a better public speaker and an effective communicator, these qualities being much needed for the future generations where everything is technology based.”
With weekly workshops for teachers on how to capture the attention of students and pique their curiosity, this is but one among the many integrated workshops Story Ghar offers. They also focus on NGOs where children and women are given special importance, such as at the Celiac Society and children’s home, both located in Delhi.
Anything and everything can be made into a story and conveyed, Jaishree believes, and in this day and age, when everything is 140 characters or less, with more importance given to cramming questions for exams, an art form which would otherwise have been lost in history is being revived so that we can use it for our everyday lives, thereby enriching it and effectively absorb and store information.
Her vision of opening a school in the future where, she says, ‘learning is fun, not forced’, is in the offing. One cannot wait to see what the future holds for ‘Story Ghar’ as it spreads its wings, one incredible story at a time. One can check their website: www .storyghar.com.
Jaishree’s story
● Focusing on children and NGOs, Jaishree and her team have ventured into incorporating storytelling in schools and making learning interactive, and most importantly, fun.
● With over 16 years of experience in the creative field, Jaishree has mastered the ability to convert any topic into an interesting story. Giving importance to key issues like gender sensitivity and environment conservation, she hopes to bring storytelling back into our lives and make us put those lessons into action.