Story Time

One of my fondest memory from my childhood is during the power-cut hour, sitting in front of our house in Bangalore, with my grandfather - him on his lazy chair, the rest of us on the ground, or the stairs, telling me wonderful stories. There was something mysteriously fun about sitting outside in pitch darkness with only the light shimmering from the million stars above, listening to the stories. My grandfather is one of the best story-tellers. He introduced me to Lord Krishna – through various stories – Kaliya-mardhana, Putana, Bakasura and many more. Today one little search, can land you with a million sites offering stories – folklore, mythology and everything in between. But reading is vastly different from listening to a story.

The magic is in the words, the description, the hint of mystery when some things are left to the listeners’ imagination. It cannot be long, drawn out measure because you might loose the listeners interest, nor do you want to say too much that they have nothing left to imagine. It’s definitely a talent.

When my dear Chachan (grandpa) used to tell me the story, it was his voice – rough, loud and clear that helped build the story. It was also his diction and the little details in the story that he would include. I still remember the first time he told me the story of “The Count of Monte Cristo” he remembered all the character names. Unfortunately I seem to have forgotten many of them today! (sob!) He had a craft in telling the story – like when he narrated the story of Krishna's Kaliyamardhana he would describe the dance Lord Krishna did on the snake with a little beat - "Tham Thakka ...", holding one hand like a hooded snake and the other to symbolize Krishna jumping around the various fingers.

Flash forward 25 years, now I am trying to tell stories to Kochunni – stories of wonder, stories of love and of devotion. I don’t think I have a good talent but I am trying my best. I hope that as he gets older he will enjoy story time, maybe we can sit outside, in the moonlight and build memories together.

On the other hand, he probably already has his great grandpa's talent. He is making up stories about the lion and the monkey jumping on the car and running around, drinking milk, sometimes falling over, sometimes giving you hugs. If you ask him why they fell over, he will turn around look at a spot and ask the lion why he fell, its funny, amusing and lovable. He draws in details that you don't expect from a 2 year old - of course the details might not be all that right with the lion in a green shirt or driving the fast car, but to me what matters is his thought process the fact that he is able to imagine, and to build as much detail as he is able to with his limited vocabulary to tell me a 'katha'.