March 20 marks World Storytelling Day, which is a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling. The theme for The World Storytelling Day 2024 is ‘Building Bridges’. Weaving magical tales, captivating listeners with every word, transporting them to new worlds - it's a skill that has been cherished for centuries. If there’s one thing common among the entire humanity - it’s storytelling. What are we, if not the sum of our stories? The experiences we share and our imaginations are the very essence of what it means to be human. Every single one of us has a story to tell. We need a narrative to make sense of the world and the power of storytelling helps us function and piece it all together. Our brains are made in a way to understand stories and pass them on.
Stories
have the power to connect people. For me, storytelling reminds me of my
grandma. It takes me back to summer vacations when she used to narrate her
sometimes mundane, sometimes exciting experiences. One such significant story I
remember is of the hare and the tortoise. We all know how the story goes. It's
fixed in our brains. This might seem like a pretty plain story and we might not
have given much thought to it when we were kids. But now that I look back, it
impacted my life a lot. Grandma said that the hare, despite having the natural
ability, did not win, only because of being complacent and lazy. Another thing
it taught me is to not look down upon people just because they are not
performing well. They might just be tired and it gives me no permission to
downgrade them for any reason. This thought has stuck with me. Such a mere,
simple story. Yet, such a powerful message.
Storytelling
has been a natural instinct of humankind since the very start of it. Right from
when human societies started forming, the need for communicating one another’s
experiences emerged which eventually developed into oral storytelling as we
know it today. Stories were first passed on through word of mouth. The
invention of writing ensured that these stories were recorded and preserved.
The Ancient Epics like Odyssey, Gilgamesh, and our very own Mahabharata and
Ramayana were written with the purpose of conveying meaning and wisdom across
time. The Mahabharata and Ramayana are written scriptures, but the reason for
their popularity is how they were passed on through this powerful tool of
preserving culture and wisdom. Other forms of storytelling like cave paintings
in the Stone Age, Chitrakathi which means telling stories through paintings,
Warli, etc. are proof that we're social beings who always want to share our
stories. What else could be the reason
for Stone Age cavemen wanting to imprint their daily lives on the walls of a
cave? It has been a part of every single
culture right since the beginning. Also,
all the dance forms, songs, and chants in Indian culture have the aim of
reciting stories. In fact, the Indian Classical dance form ‘Kathak’ elaborates
that “Katha kahe so kathak kahave”. Which means that it’s a dance form solely
based on storytelling. And these traditions have been carried out for hundreds
and thousands of years. It has always
been an inseparable part of every culture.
When
we think of storytellers, we usually think of authors movie directors, or
perhaps poets and songwriters. The melodious stories, the twisted meanings of
words in a song, and the magic of storytelling in cinemas are impeccable. They
touch our hearts with beautiful stories like nothing else. I would say that
historians are storytellers too. They tell stories that we are a part of in
some or the other way. These stories create not only an image of the past but
also give us a sense of who we are as a collective consciousness. They tell us
stories of great leaders, kings, and unsung warriors, whom we take inspiration
from. Knowing stories of our leaders, martyrs, and their struggles can move the
readers from emotions like apathy to empathy and then eventually action. These
stories of the past are a foundation of our present, and consequently, our
future. If we never knew the stories of our past, if they were never passed
down to us, I don’t think humanity would be where it is today.
The
art of storytelling is an integral part of our childhood. It has an important
place in our relationships with grandparents and parents. It is immensely
important as through those stories children's lives are shaped, information
about culture is told and values are given. Though it may seem to be a simple
act of oral recital, a story can have a huge impact on the way children view
themselves and society, their morals and perspective, which decides what kind
of a person they will become. This beautiful art form which used to bond
grandparents, parents, children, and generations after generations, is somehow
fading away. Kids are turning towards
digital gadgets and that bond with parents is fading. And the art of
storytelling has lost its essence now - people are not ready to listen to
others and no one to tell stories to the children.
On
the bright side, it might just be that the ways have changed now. Numerous
online platforms and applications provide audiobooks, podcasts, and people
sharing their own short stories, which people do listen to. With fading
storytellers, platforms like these give access to people who like to talk about
their daily routines and life lessons, almost like having an actual, your very
own personal storyteller. For people with no families or the ones staying away,
these storytellers are a huge relief. The platforms have a huge audience as
well so we can say that this art form is still alive in some form.
What
if I tell you that storytelling has science behind it? Have you ever had a
dream and thought it was real- or read a book so emotional you broke into
tears? That is because our brains can’t differentiate between what is real and
what is fictional when it comes to stories. So the mirror neurons in our brains
cause us to experience the story as if it was real. This is why we feel so
connected to stories and their protagonists. This is why stories matter -
because they inject real emotions into us through fiction.
As
I said before, we view storytellers as authors, filmmakers, etc. Most people
don’t think of themselves as storytellers. But you are. And so is everyone
else. We tell the most personal and persuasive stories. Afterall, what is
storytelling? A simple way of expressing our side of the story. It’s showing
people parts of our lives that are special and unique to us and only us. It's
like a blanket made out of small, vibrant pieces, which might seem
insignificant individually, but when weaved together, become a beautiful story.
Storytelling is a beautiful art form, and this storytelling day, let us strive to preserve it.
-
Chaitralee Indore
Very nice
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