Tales to Tell

Dastangoi was practised across the world — from Morocco to China and Bosnia to Indonesia. The art form reached its zenith in northern India with Lucknow-based Munshi Nawal Kishore,who published 46 volumes of the Hamza stories. But with the death of Mir Baqir Ali in 1928,the last great exponent of the art form died. “Under the guidance of Urdu litterateur Shamsur Rahman,we began to revive it in 2005 and Danish joined me soon. In the last six years,we have performed everywhere in India,Pakistan,Sri Lanka and New York,” informs Farooqui,who is a writer,theatre actor and co-director of the film,Peepli Live. He was here as part of the Chandigarh Heritage Festival on Monday.

The word Dastangoi refers to the art of storytelling and is a compound of two Persian words — “dastaan” and “goi” — which mean to tell a story. Dastaans were epics,often oral in nature,which were recited or read aloud,and in essence,used to tell tales of adventure,magic,warfare and romance. “The life and adventures of Amir Hamza,supposedly an uncle of the Prophet Mohammed,were really popular. Marked out by fairies,djinns and prophecies,Hamza travels to different lands in his infancy,and even as a young child shows great physical prowess and daring,” shares Husain,who is also a poet,actor and writer.

But unlike theatre,the dastangos — through their voices and expressions — strive to let the audience imagine the unimaginable and travel to distant lands with the power of words. There are no props,no elaborate sets and no music. The setting is formal with a takht,some tea,lights on the storytellers,who take turns to tell the story,urging the audience to pitch in with an appreciative wah and also incorporating poetry in the dastaan. “You make your own images,hear your own story. The narrative is compelling,interactive and there is no wall between us and the audience. Sab bayaan ka khel hai,’’ says Farooqui as Husain nods on.

Conducting workshops in Delhi and Mumbai to build a team of storytellers,apart from performing tales from Dastaan-e-Amir Hamza and Tilism-e-Hoshruba,the two have created contemporary narratives too,which include stories on the Partition of India,Bant Singh — the Punjabi peasant activist and the seditious charges on Dr Binayak Sen. Currently the two are busy working on adapting Tagore’s Ghaire-Baire for a Dastangoi session. “Naseeruddin Shah has also done six shows with us,and we have had an enthusiastic audience at all our performances,including people who are ready to go on a journey and suspend their disbelief,even if it’s for a little while,” sums up Farooqui as he moves to another story.