Story Sessions

English story teller Dominic Kelly was in town recently to narrate Crow ,a folktale about a black-feathered bird,at the British Council Library,Fergusson College Road,on the occasion of the library’s 50th anniversary celebrations. Kelly,who relates traditional stories and legends,found the Pune audience very responsive. “Puneites pay a lot of attention. It is good to have such an audience,which is with you when you are in the world of stories,” says Kelly. He first interacted with the audience to know what kind of stories they would like to listen to. “It is difficult when there are audiences who have come to do anything but listen,like in fairs,” he adds. He feels that story-telling is not about reciting but about establishing one as a character in the story itself. Though Kelly faced a blend of both youngsters and adults in BCL,he prefers narrating to a young group,“as they are clear about their reactions,unlike adults.” Kelly has also narrated Indian mythologies like the Ramayana and Mahabharata to audiences in Scotland,Thailand,Norway,Poland and Russia. “While narrating Indian mythology there,many found similarities with their native folk tales.”