World Storytelling Day: Storytellers in Thiruvananthapuram weigh in on their journey

A few storytellers in Thiruvananthapuram share their journeys, challenges, and evolving methods on World Storytelling Day, inspiring young minds.

In the good old The Hare and The Tortoise story, we all know that the overconfident hare who challenged the tortoise for a race lost because he stopped to rest and fell asleep. But what if the hare stopped to play games on his mobile and lost track of time and therefore the race? This is a new-age take on the popular Aesop’s Fable by Anjali Rajan Dileep on her storytelling podcast, Apple Story Club (Malayalam Stories for Children).

Anjali is among the handful of storytellers in Thiruvananthapuram who have been captivating and igniting young minds with their treasure house of tales. On World Storytelling Day (March 20), they talk about their journey and adapting to the changing times.

Anjali Rajan Dileep at one of her storytelling sessions | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The pandemic forced Anjali, who founded Apple Story Club, an offline venture at her home in 2015, to go online. “That was when we introduced a 20-day reading programme with stories in English, Malayalam and Hindi, which got wide reception. We had 26 batches, with children from across India and even abroad joining.  Later I started the podcast, uploading stories that I recorded on my phone at my home,” says Anjali, adding that the podcast was in the Top 100 chart of Spotify for over six months.

Archana Gopinath has completed a 10-year journey with her venture The Reading Room. “It started as a small space [at Jawahar Nagar] where I held sessions on weekends to introduce children to the world of books. The inspiration was my son, who was hooked to books and stories,” says Archana. It has grown to a much bigger space, now located at Cheruvaikkal, hosting a wide range of activities.

In the case of Janaki Hari, storytelling was part of her profession as a speech and language therapist, especially while handling children with special needs. Three years ago she started pursuing it seriously, conducting sessions at her space on Golf Links Road, Kowdiar. “Since my daughter is being home-schooled, I wanted her to be among a group of children. So I began storytelling events and ended up becoming a certified storyteller,” says Janaki.