Every once in a while, I come across a storyteller where one can feel the love for storytelling radiating even over a telephone conversation! Arthi Anand, author of the kids’ bestseller ‘Ranganna
Apart from bookstores and libraries, Bangalore Lit Fest and Bookalore, she has conducted events in The Green Pocket, Cavalry Cottage, Kitschdii, Timri, Hamleys, Hundred Hands, Cubbon Cubs among others. She volunteers through Samiksha for the Kidwai Cancer Kids unit and through Anand Vidyalaya for Ejjipura slum kids in Bangalore.
Read on to know more about Arthi Anand and the storyteller in her.
Tell us about Arthi – the storyteller in you.
All of us have stories which we would like to tell others. Some of us share them and some shy away. We just need the right audience to get us started. I think I found mine.
What influenced you to start “making” and telling stories?
I used to write stories while in school. But once I went into college and started 
working, I did not pursue it. My children made me re-discover my love for spinning a yarn. My story-telling skills were honed by series of anecdotal stories called “Mister Muthu” that I wrote on my personal blog. This was picked up by Chandamama and published as a monthly serial-story. The fan following which this serial generated surprised me. I also began to review books for Saffron Tree around the same time and began to understand what works in children’s fiction and what does not. With that my confidence grew and I started writing and telling stories for children.
How did Art Tales happen?
Tulika Publishers launched two picture books of mine: ‘Have You Seen This?‘ and ‘Ranganna‘. During the launch, I found I enjoyed narrating stories (mine as well as others’) and interacting with children. Also weaving trivia, song and craft into a session came naturally to me. As a marketing professional in my “other life” I have sufficient opportunities to refine these skills. I had found my audience or should I say they found me!
You pursue storytelling along with a full-time corporate job. What are the pros and cons of pursuing both careers in parallel?
First, there is no compulsion to turn your hobby into a business venture. That means, you can be selective about the projects you take up and associate with only what resonates with you.
On the flip side, unlike a full time storyteller, interaction with professional storytellers is minimal and narrating at schools and touring for lit fests almost impossible.
Storytelling certainly enhanced my corporate avatar – clarity, conviction, communication, capturing the audience interest – is there anything that storytelling does not help us with?
[color-box color=” customcolorpicker=” rounded=false dropshadow=false]You can experiment, modify and evolve each time you tell a story, based on your audience’s reaction. It is a WIP (Work In Progress) in that sense. Instant gratification or rejection![/color-box]
How have the stories in your life, including your background in the corporate world, influenced your style of storytelling and the way you place stories?
I travel a lot, both on work and for pleasure. As a child we moved 4 states and about double the number of houses. English and Geography were my favorite subjects. I like to make my storytelling sessions “active”. So word play, quotes, trivia, maps all find a place in my stories. Travelling for work, I observe accents and voices. I like picking up a few words in all languages I encounter. I also avoid pathos in stories, like I do in real life.
You have explored both the narrative and written medium of storytelling. How different is the experience?
The narrative experience is different each time. You can experiment, modify and evolve each time you tell a story, based on your audience’s reaction. It is a WIP (Work In Progress) in that sense. Instant gratification or rejection!
The written medium is led by the form of the book and the editorial sensibilities of the publisher. But it is tangible and therefore thrilling. The other interesting thing about writing for children lies in observing how other story-tellers embellish your stories and how the character created by you has a much larger meaning to your audience than what you imagined.
Tell us more about the audiences you work with. How different is the experience between different kinds of audiences?
I work largely with children but often grand folks and parents sit in and enjoy the tale.
With little children, shorter stories with rhyme, movement and drama and sing-along help hold attention, while with older children, quizzing, seeking opinion and drawing from their social milieu works well.
In terms of strata, it is amazing the gratitude and generosity of the underprivileged that I get to work with, be it the Anand Vidyalaya children of Ejjipura or the children at Kidwai memorial via Samiksha.
Any particular incident/anecdote from your sessions that you would like to share with readers?
I feel very honored each time grand-folks come and tell me that I engaged them with my stories.
I feel extremely cherished by the children who have limited exposure to modern storytellers and call me the best storyteller they know.
I love my neighborhood children telling my children that they are lucky they have a storyteller mom! (not sure if my kids feel that way though 🙂 )
I was most chuffed to hear a child ask me to record all my songs because they make the stories memorable.
Any suggestions to our readers and other storytellers on how they can help in keeping stories alive?
Share them, tell them, write them, record them, repeat them (but to different audiences)!
———
Don’t Miss: We love storytellers as much as we love storytelling. On Tell-a-Tale, we’ve featured a lot of talented storytellers, in the past.
Are you a Storyteller? If you’re a storyteller who is actively pursuing storytelling and would like to be featured in this column, drop us a mail at contact AT tell-a-tale.com or reach out to us via Facebook.
