Fancy, how ‘journalist’ was never my choice of professional description. Yes I am trained in journalism and I worked in a news organization for much of my professional career. I also never fancied sitting before the camera to anchor, I thought it too much trouble to look impressionable! The truth is that I never liked describing myself as a journalist. Instead I said what I was, a Producer. To me then and even now a show Director and Producer is where the power rests. I enjoyed immersing myself in stories, interviewing people, sifting through their stories, rewriting them and telling them effectively through visual narratives. As a trainee producer who reported and produced her own ‘stories’ I was hands and feet on the ground. In my fair share of reporting, I have travelled with politicians soaking the heat and dust of Indian elections, door-stepped them for sound bytes, chatted with celebrities to tell their stories, helped some rewind their lives to the forgotten crevices of their memories and narrating anecdotes. I have meticulously gathered narratives from various sources, to weave stories that have been forgotten. On the way I have stumbled and discovered stories that people have overlooked and yet have to be told loud and clear.
To me journalism was storytelling; despite the pressures to put together news worthy stories, driven by the sheer energy of stories and how they reach viewers. Leaving television was a very difficult and painful decision for me. Once I had crossed the threshold I knew I had to transform myself.
But was I ready to let go off of storytelling? It was a professional hazard that I loved and I couldn’t imagine my life without having stories to tell!
I fumbled a bit. I tried to find my foot in the world of freelance writing. As I reinvented my career and started writing for clients, I discovered there was a lot of storytelling to be done as far as brand stories are concerned. I worked with start-ups, news websites, market research companies and leaders in digital marketing, weaving niche content that brought value and texture to the stories they wanted to tell the world. This started a new chapter in the story of my life as a writer and editor.
Then came the most joyous turn in my life as storytelling became a parenting hazard! As I scoured a book fair for books for my 2-month old, many eyes rolled! Has she gone crazy? But as I started reading to my new born, I realized we were bonding in a whole new way! I wanted to be a better storyteller to my son and so I started practicing the art of oral storytelling. Telling one story at a time, bringing out all that I had forgotten about! There are just a handful of people who remember, and know that I literally grew up on the stage! As a trained Bharatnatyam dancer, I had spent a lot of my childhood on stage. Abhinaya came naturally to me, and even though I had stopped dancing 14 years back, I wanted to feel the rush of performance again! And so to just see if I have it in me to go the whole hog, I did a small workshop on storytelling. What can I say? My story bones tickled and I knew I was ready to be a storyteller to children!
As a child I grew up in an environment where questions were encouraged. Questions came naturally to me. I had questions about the girl child, which my parents answered. My mother raised me to stories of her life as a girl child who only wanted one thing in life – to study. She didn’t want to get married. But my grandparents would have none of it. She got married while still in college and had she didn’t, she says, she would have been still studying. I had questions regarding women’s perceptions towards menstruation. I had mine when I was barely 11 years old. Overnight my mother, aunt, grandmother came pouring down with instructions about do’s and don’ts! This time I asked some tough questions to my paternal grandmother who filled me with stories of how women in the old days had to bear insignia’s to indicate that she was menstruating. She told me stories of how women are treated as untouchables in those 5 days. She was orthodox, and while we had heated arguments about her stories and theories, I resolved to not pick any of the lessons that wanted me to pick up.
I questioned mythology. Even though I belong to the Ramanand Sagar generation of televised mythologies, I have deep impacting memories of the Ramayana and Mahabharata being told to me. My grandmother was not the best person to question though, but as I grew up to study Literature in college, I found a classroom where questions were encouraged.
For as long as I can remember stories have been my closest companions, helping me understand the world better. And in the exercise of questioning and enquiry have helped me discover many realities about the world, people and most importantly about me!
Roughly a month back, I spoke to a room full of young teachers and academicians about storytelling and the genre of mythology. To a room full of people I asked, “How many of you have said a mythology story in class?” There were few hesitant hands that went up. When I asked one of the teachers to describe her experience she said, “Mythology is so deeply associated with our religion that some parents from other communities came complaining. I stopped and I have never said mythological stories again!” The fact that mythological stories are deeply associated with religion is a truth. However, first as a student of Literature and then as a storyteller, I can only question mythology. Let me give an example. Why did Lakshman ridicule Surpanakha? Is it right to ridicule someone? What if he hadn’t struck off her nose? Could that have changed the course of Ramayana? As the talk went on, I asked my audience, “How many of you think that Ravana did the right thing in kidnapping Sita?” Surprisingly, a young male teacher responded by saying, “Ravana didn’t cross the line of domesticity, he didn’t enter the house. It was Sita who crossed the threshold and that is how Ravana kidnapped her.” A reply as simple as that had many furious heads refuting the male misogynistic point of view. Our response to Literature and our response to stories reveal many unknown truths about us. Which is why stories fascinate me even more! As I tell stories to children, I always ask them to question the given. If we don’t allow them to question the stories they listen, then they learn to grow without a reason, without a rationale and without a consciousness that is their own.
Asking questions have further made me stumble on people’s stories, the stories that they live and experience. We all have stories to tell. We all have stories that we learn from, find inspiration from, find comfort from. There are stories that we hide. There are stories that we want to tell out loud. And no matter what kind of stories that we have within us, there is always something to learn from it! Take for example the story of a young professional facing his first interview. He has no experience to talk of, and has an average resume. What are the stories that he can tell to make an impression? Or for that matter, what are the stories that a salesperson can make to pitch a deal? What are the testimonials and success stories that need to be taken out to the world? Or let’s say where are the stories behind a company, a brand, or a business leader? Stories humanize the world. They make us make sense of what we see. Stories let us empathize with faceless companies. Stories help in putting the spot light on people. Stories empower people by making them heroes!
Storytelling today has gone back to being a professional hazard, and I have realized the truth about my life – “Once A Storyteller, Always A Storyteller!”. I tell stories to help my audience discover ‘expressions, emotions and life through stories’ helping them make sense of what they read and hear. I help them harness the power of stories for their life and work. Knowingly, or unknowingly you everyone is telling stories…you just don’t know!
If you are a Storyteller and have stories to share, join our Google + Community – “I Am A Storyteller”.
Still want to know how I can help you discover expressions, emotions and life through stories? Drop me a line at Rituparna@yourstorybag.com
