BHUBANESWAR: After back-to-back brainstorming sessions on Odia and English literature at the fifth edition of Odisha Literary Festival, the audience was treated to a refreshing and pleasing session by Divya Prakash Dubey, India’s first ‘Hinglish’ writer.
It was ‘storybaazi’ in true sense as the bestseller author took the audience to a new high with his magical and mesmerising style of storytelling. Bedtime stories are not to make children fall asleep, but to wake them up and make them ready to ask right questions, he said.
‘’Chalo aaj patri pe sikkon ko rakhle, chumbak banale, jo aapnoko khiche...Chalo Aaj mandir main Allah pukare, Chalo Aaj masjid main ghanti bajale...” Dubey left the audience awestruck with these lines.
He narrated stories on struggles of Indian middle class, teenage love, college days, importance of letters in life, festivals, lost love and a father’s letter to a daughter written with a tinge of emotion.
An engineer from College of Engineering, Roorkee and MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune, Dubey left the audience in splits with his unique style of storytelling.
Guests listened to him in rapt attention for nearly 45 minutes and enjoyed his nuances as he combined his experience of an engineer and management graduate to connect to the audience. The audience laughed and clapped at every story he narrated in his unique style. Though his storytelling was in Hindi, the subject lines he chose drew spontaneous applause from all age groups.
His stories ignited young hearts even as they went through the memory lane of adults. His classic art of storytelling left the audience spellbound and asking for more.
The author of two bestsellers ‘Masala Chai’ and ‘Terms and Conditions Apply’, Dubey has also authored poems, short stories, radio stories and screenplays.
‘’We need to become a kid to listen stories. We should be thankful to our grandparents who have kept the tradition of storytelling alive today,’’ Dubey said while wrapping up his act.