Over the last two weeks, I have had a new companion on my evening walks on the terrace. No, it isn’t a neighbour or a friend visiting, but characters from childhood tales I had forgotten. Thanks to Simply Stories Chennai – a city-based storytelling portal – going virtual, folk tales, stories from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, and several others have been rekindled.
It started in 2015, when Shweta Balambal, Karthik Krishna and Arjun Narayanan decided to pursue a course on storytelling at Bengaluru’s Kathalaya. Two years later, Simply Stories Chennai was founded to keep the tradition of oral tales alive. “When we started, the city already had an active community for storytelling for children, but not for adults. It is a common misconception that stories are only for kids, whereas most have been for adults,” says Krishna, adding that they decided to retell stories from mythology, folk tales and short stories from Indian authors for adults.
Virtual planning
Until the lockdown, the trio used Facebook and Instagram (they have over 900 followers) to announce upcoming events. “The situation made us realise the need for positive content and we started the Home Story series,” adds the sales professional.
While virtual storytelling sessions are a great stress-buster for listeners, how easy is the planning process for the organisers? For their live sessions, they first discuss the theme and then decide the lineup and who will be narrating. “Once we finalise the story, we narrate it to each other, and usually split operational tasks based on our schedules,” explains Krishna.
They pick stories that have a feel-good element or pique the curiosity of the listener. “At times we go with well-received stories from our earlier live sessions, or choose from tales we heard as children,” says Balambal. For the IT analyst, fables and folklore she grew up with are her go-tos. “Stories of Naranath Bhranthan, Kunti and Shakuntala are favourites.”
New learnings
As for Narayanan, he finds himself going back to the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Besides their familiar story outline, these epics contain several small stories which don’t get discussed enough, he tells me. “They are not only from the works of Valmiki and Vyasa, but several writers who revived them over the centuries in their own language and style. I like how they reinforce the element of karma in our life and how our destiny is a sum total of that,” says the city-based journalist. He enjoys putting together Vikramaditya’s stories as well, because “a 10-minute story contains deep philosophical learnings”.
A snapshot from an earlier live storytelling session
A major portion of their research also involves revisiting older stories, from the Kathasaritsagara, Hitopadesha, Jataka, or folktales from across India. They also look to historical events, novels, interesting trivia, plays and literature classics. “Between the three of us, we can read four languages and we refer to a lot of regional language literature,” says Narayanan, who also hosts The Madraswallah Podcast , where he shares stories from popular culture from the 1980s and 90s. “It is all about taking people back in time. Earlier, people listened to radio plays and magazine programmes, which are still wonderful to hear. With the rerun of classics on television gaining popularity, it is a fact that people enjoy reminiscing about their past,” he says.
Battling glitches
Like most people, they too are juggling their full-time job scheduled with these sessions. Balambal, who recently moved to Gurgaon, also has her one-year-old son to take care of. “Sometimes he gets cranky when I sit to record. In a few sessions, you can hear his faint voice in the background,” she laughs. Equipment was another technical issue. “I had ordered a mic and tripod but it could not get delivered,” says Narayanan, adding that he has had to postpone his recording sessions due to power cuts. “At times, I have forgotten to switch on the video and realise it half-way through the session!”
Post-lockdown
The lockdown extension will have the team continue with virtual sessions for a few more weeks, but they long to resume the traditional, face-to-face format once normalcy is restored. Followers can also look forward to more well-edited videos and collaborations, which have started coming their way now.
