BENGALURU: When Vikram Sridhar decided to venture into ticketed storytelling performances seven years ago, he did so with some trepidation. “People were used to paying money for theatre performances or standup shows. But a performative storytelling event? That was new since everyone is so used to storytelling being only read aloud and mainly for children,” says the professional storyteller, who decided to trust his conviction with the art form.
“I knew time would help with the art form’s acceptance.” Sridhar was right. The time did indeed come with Indian storytelling gaining its proud moment of glory in PM Narendra Modi’s latest edition of the monthly programme, Mann Ki Baat. While speaking about the art form, the PM mentioned names of various tellers who are contributing to the field, including Bengaluru’s very own Bangalore Storytelling Society (which Sridhar is a part of); Amar Vyas, who is the co-founder of Gaatha Story, which produces audio stories in regional languages for children; and Geeta Ramanujam, who is the founder of Kathalaya, which offers certified courses in storytelling.
“This is a feather in the cap of every Indian storyteller,” beams Aparna Athreya, who, along with professional storytellers Vikram Sridhar, Aparna Jaishankar, Lavanya Prasad, Shylaja Sampath and Sowmya Srinivasan, is a part of the core team of Bangalore Storytelling Society (BSS). Besides mention of storytellers from across India, the Mann Ki Baat episode also features the PM conducting a 6-7 minute long interview with the tellers of BSS. Recalling the “surreal” experience, Athreya says, “Intuitively, I knew this was the beginning of a new journey in the revival of storytelling.
This sort of national recognition is a great impetus for storytellers.” The full interview, which was recorded for about 25 minutes on Friday, will also be uploaded on PM Narendra Modi’s official mobile app. “It features some relevant questions about the next steps to be taken to preserve storytelling,” adds Athreya. Though convinced about the power of storytelling, this endorsement, says Athreya, comes like a sweet plot twist in the tale.
“Storytelling would have eventually got there but this gives us a lift,” she says, adding that in the seven years since the inception of BSS, storytelling has managed to attract more and more characters. Realising that adult listeners crave stories just as much as children, the society started a monthly meetup series for them five years ago and has now seamlessly moved online in these times. Previously, CE also covered a new series by BSS, which features tales being performed in various regional languages and dialects, like Khasi, Bodo, Urdu, Sindhi, Marathi, Kannada and more. “Storytelling continues to draw more people.
You now have business storytellers, healers who use stories in their work and even those who use it to enrich the quality of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education,” says Athreya. Agrees Sridhar, who believes storytelling is no longer relegated to just children’s domain. “Maybe now we will have more people take it up professionally,” he says on a hopeful note.
Happily ever afters do exist. Just ask Bangalore Storytelling Society, whose members were interviewed by PM Narendra Modi in the latest episode of his radio programme Mann Ki Baat, for their efforts in keeping the pages turning as they preserve the art of storytelling.