Keeping storytelling alive

Founders of Udaipur Tales International Storytelling Festival, talk about the importance of oral narratives

- Manasi Y Mastakar

At a time when screens shape how we experience stories, the Udaipur Tales International Storytelling Festival, is encouraging people to slow down and simply listen. The festival focuses on live, oral storytelling, where stories are shared from memory and personal experience. In this interview, the founders, Sushmita Singha and Salil Bhandari, talk about why they chose storytelling instead of a traditional literary format, how folk and modern stories come together at the festival, and why real human connection still matters in today’s digital world.

Excerpts from the interview:

What was the moment that led you to imagine Udaipur Tales as a storytelling festival rather than a literary or cultural event?

We came upon the idea of an Oral Storytelling Festival one evening while sharing how stories told to us had shaped our lives from childhood. We were keen to work on conserving intangible cultural heritage, as we felt that our lives are so much built around them. Their imprint is deep and in critical moments they show us rage way. On of our tribal staff member's shared a tradition, which was more modern then what we can imagine and we realised there were so many such stories that get lost. That further strengthened our resolve that oral storytelling needed to happen. This festival centres purely on live listening to the storyteller. The listeners are connected physically and emotionally to the story with the storyteller being the catalyst.

At a time when attention spans are shrinking, what makes live storytelling still resonate so strongly with audiences?