BENGALURU: Stories of gods and heroes who have saved the world or just making up something impromptu to distract a toddler, storytelling comes naturally to us humans. But as the days are getting busier, storytelling as art is slowly fading.
In an attempt to keep the tradition alive and improve people’s skills of communication through conversation, storyteller Vikram Sridhar is hosting a session for adults on July 3. The topic of stories ranges from folklore to mythological epics and personal experiences.
“The storytelling event is something that I have been doing over the years and after the pandemic, I am bringing it back. Imagine a time when we used to sit under the moon and the stars and listened to stories,” says Sridhar. The event is an intimate gathering with 20-30 people so that everyone is involved. It is going to be in a set-up where the host is not even going to use a mic.
“The form by itself is very interactive and involves the improv technique. In any other event, you will watch the performance but here what I am going to do is ask the audience to start the conversation. With the entire experience, they are also creating a story along with me and in return, they are taking back a cherishable memory,” guarantees Sridhar.
Sridhar believes that in a land like India, as a community and as a part of celebrations, we used to dance and sing together and tell stories. “Over a while, dance slowly moved away from houses and music also started fading. What we do is singing and the last thing that is slowly going away is the art of storytelling,” says Sridhar, who has been doing different aspects of storytelling for the last 20 years.
“The stories that have been passed on from generations have more ingrained emotions than written literature. When stories are written in books, they are considered lifeless but when told by a person...that’s when they get life,” says Sridhar.
(Stories at Sunset: Storytelling for Adults by Vikram Sridhar happening at Lahe Lahe, Indiranagar on July 3)
To keep the tradition of storytelling alive and improve skills of communication through conversation, this storyteller is hosting a session for adults, where topics range from folklore to mythological epics to personal experiences