BHUBANESWAR: The concluding day of Bhubaneswar Festival of Storytelling (BhuFeSto) was marked by interactive sessions on folklore from various countries at IG Park in Ashok Nagar here Monday.
The five-day event came to a fitting end as national and international storytellers took the participating kids on a fantasy ride to the world of folklore and mythology. The session held the attention of participating children till the very end.
Paula Martin, a storyteller from Argentina, kick started the proceedings by delighting children from several schools with her musical and bilingual folk tales. She used several instruments such as Charanga, Quena and Sikus among others to make her act more engaging. She narrated some stories from a book Pachamama Tales: Folklore from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, which she has co-authored.
She narrated a story of a princess who was not as beautiful as other fairy princesses. However, she managed to find love in someone who loved her despite her lack of beauty. Narrating another story, she spoke of an armadillo that wanted to sing and make music but fails to do it. A wise man promised him that upon his death, he would make a wonderful stringed instrument from his shell and travel across the lands playing music to all the people and animals.
Talking to Orissa POST Paula Martin said, “My experience at BhuFeSto has been marvelous. The children as well as teachers were so delightful and welcoming. Through my storytelling sessions, I am trying to revive folk tales among people of the younger generation who are not able to read those tales often. Through my book and storytelling, I am trying to convey novel messages through.”
“The situation of storytelling in India is quite healthy. Other countries should learn from the rich storytelling tradition of India. Anybody can tell stories. One may opt to undergo training in storytelling,” she added.
Another artists Himanshu Bajpai of Lucknow performed Dastangoi, an Urdu art of oral storytelling, which ferried children into the world of fantasy and sorcery. He narrated the story of a king who prays the sun to stop excessive heating so that his people stay with him and don’t leave him in summer. His prayers were answered by the Sun who gave him mangoes to ensure that his people stay with him.”
Bajpai said “Dastan means a ‘tale’ and goi means ‘to tell a tale’. It is a 16th century Urdu storytelling art form in which the narrator or dastango uses nothing other than his voice as an artistic tool to create a dastan. The present generation must be encouraged to participate in such events so that they continue to connect with this. It would also ensure the survival of this art form.”
Parents of the participating children were quite happy with such an initiative and stated that such it is a welcome step. They also said that they would be quite happy to bring our children for such events if it happens more often.
