‘Stories and storytelling are not dying art forms, they are becoming more relevant’: Imtiaz Ali

“I grew up in the hills where life was quieter, slower; where there were many stories to be told and heard. That is what brings me to storytelling,” Chauhan told indianexpress.com.

In today’s digital age, when quick swipes and scrolls dominate a major part of our lives, Ali pointed out the relevance of stories and the art of storytelling. “Every item we track on social media, and the elements we follow are called ‘stories’. Stories and storytelling are not dying art forms, they are becoming more relevant as people now are engaging with stories in every format possible. They are finding vehicles beyond what was earlier expected,” he told this outlet, adding that “it is this celebration of stories and storytelling that brings me to Kathakar.”

The first three days of the festival saw performances by storytellers from across the world: Niall Moorjani (United Kingdom), Lilian Rodrigues Pang (Australia), Baatarjav Erdenetsogt (Mongolia), Alim Kamara (Sierra Leonne), Sarah Rundle (United Kingdom), Seung Ah Kim (South Korea) and Yossi Alfi (Israel), apart from Indian artistes like Sikandar Khan and Shaguna Gahilote.

Storyteller Alim Kamara enthralled the audience with his performance, on the third day of Kathakar 2022. (Photo: Team Kathakar)

“I get to challenge myths through storytelling. The preconceived notions about who is a Black, White or a Brown person, and what places like India, Sierra Leone or London are, gets shattered as I share and hear stories from around the world,” said Kamara, who belongs to Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa.

Another storyteller who performed on the second and third day of the festival, Seung Ah Kim from South Korea, revealed that she became a part of the storyteller community when she moved from her country to Toronto. Highlighting the lack of opportunities for women to express themselves in South Korea, she said, “I decided to spread out with the freedom I experienced at Toronto, and started expressing myself through stories.”

Emphasising the relevance of folktales in the present times, Kim added, “Folktales are about human beings, they are not only about the past but also about our present as well as our future.”

The patrons of the festival Sushila Devi, Mohit Chauhan and Imtiaz Ali, felicitated the storytellers with a memento as a token of appreciation for their contribution to the art of storytelling. (Photo: Team Kathakar)

Shaguna Gahilote, the festival curator, opened up about the significance of folktales for the younger generation. “When we started conducting workshops with children on conserving our culture, we realised the children knew about Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and other universal fantasy stories, but did not know about Indian folktales,” she told indianexpress.com.

“Right from 2010, we have been bringing tales from around the world to revive our own tradition of storytelling, inspiring them as well as getting inspired by them.”

Started under the umbrella of Ghummakkad Narain Travelling Literature Festival in 2010, Kathakar is “Asia’s biggest and India’s only oral storytelling festival,” Gahilote added. Through the art form, the festival aims at transcending all boundaries of language and culture.

For story-enthusiast Yamini, a resident of New Delhi, storytelling has always been an “escape from my world to others, from my story to theirs, be it for a short duration”. “I came here only to see Imtiaz Ali and Mohit Chauhan, but I am mesmerised by the stories that performers shared today,” she said.

A performance on Kabir Vani by Prahlad Singh Tipania and grouo on the third day of the festival. (Photo: Team Kathakar)

The third day of the event also featured a puppet play on Ramayana by Ramachandra Pulavar and his team from Kerala and Kabir Vani by Prahlad Singh Tipania and his group. The patrons of the festival — Sushila Devi, Mohit Chauhan and Imtiaz Ali — felicitated the storytellers with a memento as a token of appreciation for their contribution to storytelling.

The fest was inaugurated by Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju on November 25 and was held at Sunder Nursery. Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture, and actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui enthralled the audience with their storytelling on the day of the inauguration.

The four-day festival is being organised in partnership with the Indian Ministry of Culture under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a programme initiated by the Government of India to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence. November 28 marks the end of the festival, which included a morning session with over 3,000 schoolchildren from across NCR.

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