Theart of storytelling is being revived in schools across urban India as workshops teach children to use their imagination and creativity

LAND TELLING TALES Theart of storytelling is being revived in schools across urban India as workshops teachchildren to use their imagination, andtheir words (Storytelling sessions encourage children to read more, help improvetheir vocabulary and even get some of them writing stories of their own.
PRIYA SRINIVASAN (ABOVE), director of ThePomegranate Workshop )

Onceupon atime…’ several wide-eyedchildrenlean forward,and another intriguing session of storytelling ObeginsatKathalaya,thehouse of stories.
The institute wasfounded in O Bangalorein1998, by one-time history teacher GeetaRamanujam, 53,who wanted to teach the ancient Indian art of storytelling.
But Ramanujam has seen anumber of fellow‘professional’ storytellers and culturalorganisations followin her footsteps in recent times,asthe dying art makes aresurgenceasa meansofpassing on verbal heritage and developingcommunicationskills among children.
So while Kathalaya tells storiesin schools across Bangalore, The Pomegranate Workshop and drama and communication skills teacher Anahita Dastoor,44, aredoingthe sameacrossMumbai, just as theWorld StorytellingInstituteisdoinginChennai.
And across the country,Scholastic India, aGurgaon-based publisher of children’sbooks, has been holdingstorytelling sessions in sevencities since 2008.Scholastic celebrated 90 years lastmonth, witha‘storytelling night’ across those cities—Delhi,Mumbai, Pune,Chennai,Bangalore,Hyderabad and Ludhiana —attended by about 4,000 people.
These arejust some of India’s new breed of storytellers,carrying on in a tradition thatisaeons old,passing on storiesold and new,mythological and fact-based, as theyseek to create a vibrant traditionalalternativetothe visually stimulating but culturally homogenous fare available onTVand the Internet.
“It is unfortunate thatwe, beingone of the oldestcivilisations in the world witharich culture of storytelling,have to talk aboutthe revival of this art,” says Lovleen Misra, 42, theatreactor andstorytellerwithThePomegranate Workshop.“Butyes, we areseeinga revival. More parents aresigning up, bringing theirchildrenalong.” Dastoor,who hasbeen using storytellingasateachingtechniquefor 25 years, nowhas about 300 students enrolled in the workshopsshe conducts weekly at her Santacruz home, whereshe narrates storiespassedon to her by her uncle.
“Children also want to tell their ownstories, whetherfictitious or based in real life,”saysDastoor.“Often, thereisnobody to listentothem,but at astorytellingsession, theycan learn to use their imagination and put their thoughts into words, learn to emote, articulate and speak before an assembly.” PriyaSrinivasan, director of fouryear-oldThePomegranateWorkshop, says demand is rising steadily as parents and schools see the impact that storytellingsessions have on everything from achild’svocabularyand interest in reading eventhe abilityto write storiesoftheir own.
Pomegranate,whichstarted with a single batchof40studentsattending sessions at aPrabhadevi hall in May 2006,now conducts packed weekend workshopsthroughthe year in addition tosummercampsinJuhu,Bandra andGhatkoparandweekly storytelling andreading sessions at threeMumbai schoolsunderaprogrammecalledThe MagicReading Room.
This year,Pomegranatereceived requests from three other schools wanting similar workshopsfor their students.
“Westarted the sessions two years ago, withasinglebatch of25students,” saysNehaCheda,principal ofMatunga’s ShishuvanSchool,wherePomegranate conducts workshops. “Wenow have two weekly batchesand have asked Pomegranate to also conductworkshopsfor our teachers,sincestorytellingisproving to be an effective meansofgetting throughtostudents of all agegroups.” InChennai,NewYorkerEric Miller, whohas aPhd in Folklorefromthe US,hasbeentellingstoriesandorganising worshops throughhis World Storytelling Institutesince2008.“Our focus is to makethe childrenmore articulate,helpthemlearn to express themselves,”saysMiller.
His institute nowconduct workshopsfor teachers in 12 schools across Chennai and is approachingpublic libraries to conductsessions theretoo.
So what does it taketobeagood storyteller? “You have to emote, use voicemodulation and expressions, maybe evenuse props likesock puppets, dolls and pictures—just as they used to in timesgone by,” says Ramanujam. “It helps childrenrelate to anysubject and can makelearning awonderful, interactiveexperience.” The proof is in the groans of disappointment thatgreet the end of most storytellingworkshops.
“MissAnahitaalwaysgets intocharacter while tellingusstoriesand that makeusenjoythem evenmore,”says Ananya Gandhi, 11, one of Dastoor’s privatestudents. “Whenwe’re all sitting together,Ijustdon’twant her stories to end.”