THE MARVELLOUS NARRATIVE TRADITION OF OUR COUNTRY

RETELLING Indian katha through 3,000 years of stories has been the most marvellous adventure for me as a 21st-century inheritor of our storytelling tradition.

- 

Naturally, this effort made me look closely at the nature of this inheritance. Here are some points that struck me, and I would love to know what you think.

My top point: we're very lucky to have had many master storytellers. The two outstanding examples are Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana, and Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata. They're subtle, they love detail, and they're kings of suspense and irony, especially Vyasa. My second point: the oral tradition through which their stories were passed on is actually an experience of theatre. These stories were in fact turned into myriad forms of regional theatre that flourish even today.

Even in informal settings, anyone who tells these stories instinctively drops or raises their voices, stops at a crucial moment to increase its drama, and asks leading questions like "What do you think happened next?" These storytellers could be granny at bedtime, the pauranikar or kathakar the traditional storyteller at the temple or a campfire artiste. It could be someone on your screen or in print. Professional storytellers also use songs to heighten a dramatic moment and give listeners time to experience an emotion, be it sad, happy, afraid or ablaze with wonder.