A story! A story! and the creation of BSN

Venue: Thalam

Purpose: Meeting of the Bangalore Storytelling Network

Theme: Any story for 5 minutes

Well if I was to send you an invite it would contain these details!

An interesting forum has been created  for Storytellers in Bangalore and the venue was Thalam, a brand new space for creative endeavors, in Domlur(check out the link)!! Thalam is centrally located and provides space for events, workshops and get-to's. We were happy to get this space for our first ever meeting of the Storytelling Network in Bangalore, created by Deeptha a pretty young storyteller!

So a bit of intro, some stories and some thinking went into an evening spent sharing, understanding and creating...creating a focus for this group of people who appear to love stories...an evening well spent.

Here is the story I said:

AK Ramanujam's Folktales from India, is a collection one must read....like a scripture to put it more strongly. Read it and then again, till stories sink into your bone. I realise that stories kind of infiltrate into your system and then enter your blood stream and when they finally lodge themselves in your mind...whooosh...there is a Rush!
Stories grow on you, but you need to collect them like precious jewels, polish them and keep them safely tied up in delicate spaces, to adorn the audience at the opportune time.
I found a classic tale from Ramanujam, called " What happens when you really listen". This story is also available from Tulika publications and is called "Sweet and Salty".
There is a distinct rural flavor in the way Ramanujam has delivered the tale, while Tulika has cutely adapted for a much younger audience.

The story is of a Husband and Wife living in a village in Andhra. The Husband is not aesthetically inclined, while the Wife wishes he was more so. So when a famous storyteller arrives to tell the Ramayana, she urges her Husband to sit through the discourse. The first night he sleeps only to wake up to eat the sweet that is usually distributed and when asked he tells his wife the story was very sweet. The second night he sleeps but a child makes his shoulders, a cosy seat, so he tells his wife the story was heavy. The third night sees him sleeping with his mouth open and  a dog pisses into it, so all he can recall to his wife is that the story was salty! Mystified, the wife takes him to task and discovers the truth. Now she insists he sit right in front and follow the story. Then the miracle she hopes for happens as he dives into the story...literally!! As the Storyteller/ Hanuman jumps into the ocean to retrieve the ring, our friend too jumps onto the stage to help find the ring. Oh, what compelled him to do such a thing? The villagers believe he is blessed and from that day on wards treat him with reverence, all because....he really listened to the story! 

So if you love to tell stories and listen to them as well, then hop onto the BSNetwork and come into the WORLD OF STORIES

~~Until next time: ssstoryteller~~