"Every Parent Is A Storyteller" Says Renowned Storyteller And Author, Janaki Sabesh

Q. You are known to create magic with stories. But many parents struggle with storytelling. Do you have any tips for parents to refine their storytelling ability?

First, parents should shed their inhibitions and start enjoying the process of storytelling. Every parent is a storyteller. Each parent has a unique style of storytelling, which the child enjoys. Here are some simple tips - try and use props whenever possible, bring in a bit of voice modulation, and include a song that can be repeated by the child. All this will definitely help enrich the storytelling experience.

Q. What kind of stories lend themselves well to narration?

If there are animals in a story, it immediately lends itself to a story performance or telling. It is completely up to the storyteller and her imagination to interpret the story in her style. But sometimes, a story may be better read than narrated. For example, when a story is text-heavy or when it has many new words that the child would be introduced to for the first time, it would be better for the parent to read the story to the child rather than narrate it.

Q. How can parents teach their child the art of storytelling?

First, parents should be storytellers. That's the best way to teach children the art of storytelling. And second, parents should listen to their children. Every child has a creative mind with absolutely no limits. When children hear a story, they immediately want to share their version. All they need is a bit of help when they get stuck and of course, plenty of encouragement. But remember, it is their story. So, let them narrate it the way they want to.

Q Can you suggest some interesting storytelling-related games that children can enjoy?

The Golpo Bag is one of my favorite games. Golpo means story in Bengali. In this game, there's a bag that contains simple items like a hairbrush, a ball, a rolling pin, a pair of socks, and so on. The bag is passed around like passing the parcel and a child picks an item from it, without looking into the bag. If the item is a rolling pin, then the child starts the story with something like this. "Once upon a time, as I was walking on the road, I saw something strange. It was a rolling pin!" The next child picks up another item and continues the story, making sure that the item she picked features in it. This is a fun game that can sometimes result in a hilarious story!

Here's another interesting game. Children sit down with their favorite books. The first player randomly reads a line from one of the chapters of her book. The next player reads a line from his book and must connect it with the previous line using his creativity.

Q. Can you share some memorable experiences from your storytelling journey?

One of the first children to enjoy my storytelling was a special needs child. I was thrilled when his parents told me that he looked forward to listening to a new story from me every Sunday. His enthusiasm and interest kept me motivated!

In 2017, during one of my sessions, a little boy asked me for a story about an ostrich. I was not aware of any such story, so I started to research. But I couldn't find any story that lent itself to narration. That became the reason for me to write my own story and in 2018, I became the author of The Jungle Storytelling Festival, published by Tulika, which is about an ostrich that stammers and is unable to take part in the storytelling festival. I loved working on the book. You must read it to know what finally happens in the story!

Q. Did storytelling come naturally to you?

My father was a great storyteller and I grew up listening to his dramatic narrations. He had a great sense of humor. At every family get-together, he and his brothers would perform. I enjoyed watching him and I followed his footsteps soon enough. I started participating in many debates, recitation, drama, and vocal music competitions and realized that I enjoyed performing on stage. Soon, I started writing small plays for the Annual Day programs that were held in our residential colony. I loved working with children, directing them, and seeing them perform on stage.

In 1995, I released my first album for children—The Learning Train. The album was intended to simplify the world of numbers for children, through stories and songs. It became a big hit. One thing led to another and soon I was facilitating storytelling sessions at places like Goodbooks and Hippocampus. I was working in the corporate world back then, but would look forward to these assignments over the weekends. Finally, storytelling took centre stage in 2014, when I formed my initiative, Golpo Tales Unlimited.

Q. And thus began your storytelling saga.

I had a chance meeting with Ms Geeta Ramanujam, the founder of Kathalaya in 2014. Hearing her narration of a story made me want to pursue storytelling more seriously. I attended a course on storytelling with Eric Miller of the World Storytelling Institute. Then, I also pursued an intensive course with Ms Geeta. In parallel, I had started performing stories for children. Golpo Tales, which started at home with just two children, slowly grew by word of mouth, and a few more children joined in. I would look forward to every Sunday to share stories with the young ones and their parents. Soon, collaborations with various publishers happened. Today, Golpo Tales conducts customized workshops for parents, teachers, corporates, and other educational institutions. I am happy to say that over the past five years, I have had the opportunity to perform in more than 25 cities across India and also in Singapore. I am grateful for all the love and affection of children and parents from all over.

And we are grateful to Janaki for sharing the wonderful story and her experiences. 

FOLLOW JANAKI SABESH AT www.janakisabesh.com