Mumbai: A story is told eye to eye, mind to mind and heart to heart. Legend has it that the whole sphere of stories and storytelling has an ingrained element of vulnerability and honesty, with undeterred engagement of mind and imagination. It was humanity’s need to share knowledge within communities for better survival prospects that apparently led to the evolution of stories, and transgressing beyond time, stories became an intrinsic part of cultures around the globe. But are stories as much a part of our life, as it was until a few years or decades ago? When did we let this beautiful and inherent part of our life go amiss amid the hustles? When did we stop bonding with our loved ones, and even strangers through stories that continue to appeal universally?
It’s about time we took a pause, and vow to bring this fascinating form of timeless tradition back into our lives, our homes, our communities and the society as a whole. India’s favourite storyteller Kahanikaar Sudhanshu Rai is slated to shortly launch #BondWithStories, a meaningful pan-India campaign that intends to touch millions of lives across all age groups. The campaign intends to bust the myth that stories are a medium solely for children and assert that people across all ages can benefit immensely from this ancient art. Four stories appealing to different human emotions would be released as part of the campaign, which would essentially be a nationwide drive sustained over 60 days.
Conceptualised by storyteller-filmmaker-actor Sudhanshu Rai, the #BondWithStories campaign’s objective is to create awareness about how stories can play a pivotal role in enhancing one’s holistic personality, irrespective of whether it’s a child or a grownup individual. The sporadically discussed prowess of storytelling with regard to evolved imagination, mental growth, creativity, holistic personality building, consciousness and personal bonding is likely to constitute the core of this campaign, which would seek participation from people across demography. It would further stress the need to make storytelling practice in homes, schools as well as corporate circles to foster a positive culture.
With more than 200 stories and standing as one of India’s few live storytellers, Sudhanshu Rai has been using the power of sound to augment the experience of stories for listeners/audiences. His live storytelling shows for instance are replete with orchestrated effects of sound, which is believed to have created our whole universe and still remains a significant tool that can enhance our holistic mental health to make living better. The #BondWithStories Campaign aligns with his vision to propagate a panoramic perspective of storytelling. This comes just days after Sudhanshu Rai declared that his next as an actor-filmmaker is a Bollywood sci-fi thriller, which for the first time brings such genre to India’s Heartland.
