BHUBANESWAR : He came, told stories and conquered hearts of both young and old. Enchanting storyteller Ameen Haque, founder of ‘The Storywallahs,’ enthralled children and adults alike during Storytelling session for Children and Adults on the second day of Odisha Literary Festival-2014 on Wednesday.
Making funny noises and faces, Ameen transported the audience into a world far different from their own and ensured that the listeners were left asking for more.
The session began with Ameen playing a soulful tone on his mouth organ before opening his can of stories. From mathematics to Mulla Nasiruddin, his stories covered a wide spectrum of subjects.
He used the techniques of effective storytelling from body language, to spontaneous weaving of stories and bringing each character of the stories alive.
Answering to queries of young students, Ameen said in order to be a good storyteller, children must read a lot of stories and start telling those to their parents, friends and teachers. This apart, one has to be a good listener to be a good storyteller, he said.
“Stories have a magical thing about them. When you watch television, it shows the same forests, animals and mountains. But when you listen to stories, each one of you imagine scenarios differently. Imagination is an essential part of childhood which helps in growth of the mind,” Ameen said.
He further said children learn through stories. They remember the lessons which stories teach. So students should be taught mathematics, history and other subjects through stories, Ameen added.
The audience listened in rapt attention for more than an hour. The children cheered, laughed and clapped at every turn the stories took. Ameen also made the audience join him in his storytelling activity.
A large number of students of various schools in the city attended the session.
If his first session was a hit with students, Ameen Haque transported adults to the world of love, faith and harmony with his stories in the concluding event.
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