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| Edited By: Ornella D'Souza |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 17, 2019, 06:00 AM IST
"We’re all made of stories. When they finally put us underground, the stories are what will go on. Not forever, perhaps, but for a time. It’s a kind of immortality, I suppose, bounded by limits, it’s true, but then so’s everything”
– Charles de Lint, Canadian writer
India has a powerful storytelling tradition – right from the 8-9th century CE Tamil Paanars, Bauls of Bengal, Urdu proponents such as Kabir, Khusro and Hamza, gurus like Osho to even politician Shashi Tharoor (despite his infamous inflections on the public like ‘hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia’). You’d notice, however, how certain people in our daily lives can hold anyone captive by even their reply to the monotonous, ‘so how was your day, today?’. How do they manage to have people across diverse age groups, class, caste, demographic, etc., eat out of their hands? If you want some of that magic rubbed off on you, perhaps, step one is – brush up on your storytelling skills.
Even neurology acknowledges the left-brain interpreter – a concept where the brain strings all the information we receive into little stories with a beginning and an end, informs Paula Martin, a storyteller from Argentina. She was among the six storytellers invited to the recent cultural event, Bhubaneswar Dot Festival, that had storytelling as a segment and saw scores of local kids and their parents enthusiastically sing, dance and repeat verses along.
Martin, who retold South American folk tales using the Andean charango (stringed instrument) or siku (pan flute) at the event told this writer, “What a person tells you on the day they are feeling thankful will differ from when they are unhappy. Different stories coming from the same person.”
When talking to kids, she advises to use movement, repetition and sequence, and with teens and adults, poeticise the language more. “Let people feel the image conjured by your words go through their bodies. Please emote correctly. For instance, some tango songs – the music of Argentina – have melancholic words but some singers smile and sing it with joy.”
Another Dot fest performer, Wangari Grace from Kenya, 35, says that in her hometown, strangers on a bus journey can get talking about their entire life’s story if one of them just says ‘hi’. “‘Oh my children did this... my husband/my wife did that... this is what’s going on at work...’ This leaves behind a good story even if the two never meet again.” A cue that people hunger for good stories is how her number of gigs have lately doubled. “The key is to mean every word you say. So be interested in telling them how your day was and remember to ask the other about theirs as well.”
A good narration won’t give away the plot all at once, said Thailand’s Dr Wajuppa Tossa, 68, who runs her own storytelling company. “Unfold it little by little. A good story/conversation can make children interested in the language. One tip: don’t indulge in another activity while talking to your kids. And for important discussions, pull them close and have a heart-to-heart and eye-to-eye connection.”
(Masters of the word: (Below) Urdu poet Aakash Chintkindi, Standup comedian Sorabh Pant and Thai storyteller Dr Wajuppa Tossa)
Those who are keen to nail the new age podium monologues – spoken word or standup comedy – as other forms of conversing with the crowd: first hear how you sound, says Aakash Chintkindi. The Urdu poet and founder of PoShaK, a platform that hosts Urdu open-mic nights, demonstrates his point by quoting lines from his poem Qafas (Cage/Prison), over the phone.
Bistar pe baitha ek ladka, apne saamne ki deewar ko gaur se, dekh raha hai.
Baaharse aati hui raushni deewar pe khidki ke grill ki painting, bana chuki hai...
(Sitting on the bed, a boy was staring at the wall in front of him in rapt attention. The light from outside the window [behind him] had made a painting of the grill on the wall…)
He first narrates it in a monotone and then emotes it with voice modulations. The first tone sounds drab, but the second, entices. “It is the sound of words, the expression in your voice that makes people want to know what will happen next,” explains Chintkindi. But for the words to flow right, they must be written to sound right. It’s not only about the typical introduction-buildup-conclusion format, but relating to your audience. He refers to a poem he wrote for children about a little girl who dreams she’s being rescued by a fairy from a bully. “I wrote the poem using ‘bad girl’ not ‘chudeil (witch)’, ‘God’ not bhagvan, ‘beautiful’ instead of khoobsurat.” Point to him that not everyone has the language skills and he says. “Then read more, step away from Bollywood and watch art movies, spend more time communicating with people and away from your digital screens and social media.”
But how do you please everyone from every societal rung? Stand-up comic Sorabh Pant advises, “I ensure either all jokes appeal to everyone, or some jokes appeal to some. The only way to test whether a joke works is to try it in different crowds.” He should know. In his episode Beef Ban & Gay Rights, he tried to take both sides of the equation, “but people who decided to get offended still did. I haven’t been doing political content now because every little thing you say is being nitpicked by people,” he adds, implying to another famous episode – A Democracy of Jokes – where, from Narendra Modi to Rahul Gandhi, he spared no one. “You can figure out a way to talk about anything. People appreciate it when you don’t choose a side. I don’t think it’s always possible, and highly unlikely. Couple of stories I’ve written are really dark, especially the ones dealing with mental health around me. The more stand-up I do, the more I’m aware of what people like. But it’s also the confidence game, where I know what I say will disgust you but eventually you will end up at a place where you’re okay with it.”
“If you’ve been given feedback that you can get boring, realise that being yourself isn’t working,” says Vikram Sawant, co-founder of Studio Talk, a communication and media strategy company that hosts public speaking workshops. It means that maybe when you talk, you get stuck at one tone and drone on and on. “I tell corporate honchos to narrate what the company has achieved as a story, rather than throwing numbers. Along with that, walk around, look at your audience, and gesticulate. Also, speak up, speak emphatically. You notice how certain TV anchors, because they are locked down on a chair, put in more energy and use their whole body to make a point.” And how to fix that? “Read aloud daily. This exercise will help you pronounce and emote correctly.”
Ex-journalist Krishna Warrier, who conducts storytelling sessions, finds it fun to surprise people when they’re tuned out. Before you speak at a public speaking gig, ask a few people their names, and in between your narrative call out a name – even if you don’t remember who it was – and throw them a question. “Or speak at their level… like the SMS lingo with teens,” Warrier specifies.
(Ex-journalist Krishna Warrier teaches the art of storytelling to students at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai)
What if you are an introvert with a speech or sight problem? Warrier, who conducts workshops at St Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged, shares an anecdote. Once his friend, who is visually challenged, and he, saw a large, gurgling waterfall on a trip and “I said ‘wow’ aloud and was surprised he also said ‘wow’. I asked what about it he admired. He said ‘I heard the thunderous gushing of water and felt tiny droplets kissing my cheek...’ You see, everyone can find their own way of making a conversation interesting.”
Case in point is Ramesh Narayan, Vice-President, International Advertising Association Global, who had a bad stutter, but decided to get rid of it on his own when his foray into the ad world required him to speak convincingly. The 63-year-old used to panic when the conversation would change to a subject he had no clue about. Meditation changed that.
“I took years to calm down, but I didn’t stop practicing to talk. Remember, it’s all in the mind. Do not expect miracles to happen in one day, and make peace with the fact that you won’t make the best first impression,” says Narayan, taking a leaf from Amitabh Bachchan’s book, who he once witnessed rehearsing a speech two times over. “Even he practices! A good preparation kills half the nervousness. Become comfortable in your own skin by cultivating your own style,” says Narayan, who speaks at a slow pace but articulates clearly.
Pant also admits he is an awkward person though not as much as he used to be. “I worked on it. In college, to improve my conversation skills, I would invent stories, rather of what I saw that day, and tell it to my friends. I don’t think anyone’s a natural at storytelling. The more stories you tell the better you become at it,” says Pant, adding that the best conversation starter is perhaps what he learned from his best friend, just a ‘hey what’s up?’
Note: a fluent speaker can be a horrible storyteller, warns Narayan. “Many are too full of themselves to notice if their audience is interested in what they have to say, and end up as big bores. Do you want to be a gasbag who talks a mile a minute or just say a few words and make more sense? When you observe your audience, you can give them exactly what they want.”
