A bagful of tales...

There was a different sort of ambience at the Ranga Shankara. Usually filled with people indulging in some ‘intellectual’ talk over a hot cup of tea, there was laughter and  queals all around as the little ones ran across the cafe.

Not a common sight but indeed it was a pleasant one. On the occasion of ‘World Theatre for Children Day’, Ranga Shankara’s ‘AHA!’ and Goethe Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan had invited these little guests along with their parents for a storytelling session by prominent theatre personalities.

The energy was infectious and by the time everybody settled down for the first
story, even the adults had become child-like.

With an interesting bag of stories waiting to be told, the evening began with a
story session by actress and well-known theatre practioneer Padmavati Rao or
Pinty akka, as the kids fondly called her.

Padmavati took the kids on a journey not too far away from the City.

Her story began where most stories end, a happily ever after.

“What happens after a happily ever after? How does one really live happily ever after?” she asked the children and thus began the story of a clever Brahmin, his wife and a greedy Gowda. The children loved the tale with all its adventure and witty lines.

They joined in enthusiastically helping Padmavati make all required noises.

Aditya, an eight-year-old, said he was having a fun time. “Pinty akka’s story was really funny and I enjoyed the characters,” he added.

The next storyteller to take the stage was S Surendranath, who has worked
extensively on Indian mime.

One of the founding members of Sanket Trust and the Sanket Group, Surendranath, entertained the kids with a cute Kannada story that he had heard as a child.

The tale revolved around a pumpkin and by the end of this the children really were hungry.

Parents frantically rushed to the cafe and bought some crispy hot vadas, french fries and kokum juice to satiate the evening hunger pangs of the kids.

As the children settled down again for the next tale, they were introduced to Arati Punwani-Sunawala, founder of ‘Tarantismo Creative Dance Company’. For the evening, Aarti had chosen a German folktale titled ‘The Fisherman and his Wife’.

This was then followed by a Kannada folktale Punyakoti. Veteran theatre personality Arundhati Nag expressed her delight at the turnout and even shared a piece of advice with the parents.

“I hope this little session will encourage all of you to start telling stories at home and keep the art alive,” she added.