A group changes lives of village children through storytelling

Eight-year-old Bhavani in a remote village of Tamil Nadu was a shy girl till she had a storytelling interaction with a group of young team recently. Now, her parents are noticing that their daughter is slowly gaining in self-confidence.

Sounds strange. But it is true. Like her, hundreds of children in remote villages seem to be evincing interest getting to know about the “ignored” old tradition. A group of talented youngsters has embarked on a novel mission to improve education among the poor and downtrodden in the remote corners of Tamil Nadu through  traditional storytelling and hearing.

Teaching is a tough job and more so in villages where children need encouragement to learn things. Teaching the art of storytelling  is even more difficult. To meet this challenge, the group hit upon the novel initiative of teaching through storytelling as it would have a tremendous impact on children by not only sustaining their interest but also in helping them learn new things.

The storytelling interaction gave Bhavani insights into new horizons and today her parents can see the spark in her. The youngsters believe that stories are often connected with children. In fact, they are not only loyal listeners but also like to tell stories.

According to them, for children in this country, which is exposed to speedy globalisation, cartoon characters on television have replaced the age-old oral tradition of storytelling. “We are trying to keep the ancient tradition alive and that, too, in a different way,” says Kumar Shaw, the head of the storyteller team named “Aram” (education), said.

Aram, which was started by a 10-member group a year ago, aimed at helping downtrodden children in villages, especially after school hours. However, initially, their attempt was not a success as many dropped out due to lack of confidence. “How to instil self-confidence in them was a big question. Then we came out with a plan to tell and ask stories from children, hoping that they would open up and mingle with others freely,” Kumar said.  “Kadhai Solrome Vanga” (Come We Tell Stories) -- under this banner -- Kumar’s squad started from villages in Thiruvallur district.

After getting permission from the Pazhaverkadu village panchayat president, the group set up a small stage and called children for the storytelling session. Kumar was in for disappointment. Not even one turned up to listen. Then, the group worked out a new idea and organised a drawing competition next day with a theme “Tell a story from your art”. After that children started expressing their thoughts through drawings and started telling stories. The group conducts its programmes on Saturdays and Sundays when most children are free.

Kumar says that stories played a significant role in children's growth. Stories not only help in stimulating children's imagination and understanding of the world, but also help in improving their language ability.

They face different kinds of challenges as the storytelling technique changes from place to place. In one village, the storytellers asked children to play with clay when they started telling stories. “The children started moulding their own heros according to our story theme,” Subash M, lecturer in a college who is a team member, said. Even puppet shows were organised in some villages to draw the attention of students. “The excitement and drama of this different way of storytelling hold students’ attention. They also promote greater communication among children,” he said.

The team work is different. They ask children to ready their stories and divide them into groups of four or five, depending on the number of participants. Then, each one is asked to tell his/her story. The best storyteller in each group earns points and competes with the best in the other groups. The winner gets further points. As the performance of each representative is added to the score, children get involved in the whole process and listen to stories attentively.

Explaining their busy day-to-day activities, Kumar said:“Some of our members are fresh graduates and some are working. A minimum of five persons, which changes every week, will conduct programmes regularly in villages.”

Accordingly, they decide a village during the week days and get permission from the village administration for the programme. One will reach on Friday evening to ready the stage and purchase articles required for the art work. 

When asked how they mobilise funds, Kumar said “Our unit is neither an NGO nor any service provider. We never charge for our programme. Neither do we receive any money nor any gifts from villagers. The only thing we do is that whatever they provide we eat. It is just an adventure. The joy comes from our encounters with new experiences,” he says.
“In some villages at the end of our programme, children collect money from their parents and present small gifts, children even bring fresh vegetables cultivated in their homes,” he said.

So far, Kumar and team members have travelled to 50 villages in Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Coimbatore districts. “We are planning to go to villages in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka,” Kumar said.