When Hansel Spoke Hindi

At the Balranjan Kendra on Prabhat Road,Wednesday evening was dedicated to stories.

This story-telling festival regaled children with German tales presented in the regional languages

At the Balranjan Kendra on Prabhat Road,Wednesday evening was dedicated to stories. The tiny hall was full of children listening in rapt attention to the tale of Hansel and Gretel unfolding before them in Hindi. Behind them and perhaps lost more in the story,sat their parents. A jingle about a chocolate bar,the imitation of a dog’s bark and the effective voice modulations brought a smile to every face. By the end of the story,each child’s imagination had made a trip to the forest,the witch’s house and back to the happiness of Hansel and Gretel’s home. Called ‘Tell a Tale’,the event was organised in collaboration with Assitej India,Max Mueller Bhavan,Pune and FLAME School of Performing Arts. It was a part of the story telling festival that promoted German tales in Indian languages.

Published in 1812,the German fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel has been translated into various languages. Now,as a part of the story-telling festival,it is one of the many German tales to be narrated in Indian languages to children in six different cities. Renu Jamgaonkar of Max Mueller Bhavan,says,The aim of the festival is to introduce German culture to Indian children through story-telling. This provides an opportunity for theatre artists working for young people to experiment with the various styles of storytelling.

The festival began in Delhi on March 20 on the occasion of Children’s Theatre Day. It will continue in Mumbai,Kolkata,Chennai,and Bengaluru where Max Mueller centres are based. In each city,the stories are being narrated in the regional language.

In Pune,at the festival,a group of students from FLAME School of Performing Arts presented two stories in Hindi. A solo performance was delivered on a story titled Hands in Luck by Priya S who works at Balranjan Kendra. Rakesh Kumar,a student of FLAME,says,We had started preparing about a week before. Our aim was to present theatre in the simplest form.

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