This was simple - finding a name, creating a website and putting ourselves out there. Yet, this simple act has taken years.
It all began twelve years ago, when fresh out of school, I entered college. There was a theatre group, and unlike other art societies, it didn't require an audition to be a part. So I just walked in. There was a circle full of people, giggling, dancing, singing and rooting for every single person no matter what. I loved that part. So, I stayed.
When I went to another university, I longed for a theatre group as there was none. I made an open call and some people showed up. Once again, the drama began. When I was on my own, I spent time exploring writing and performing poetry. In the end, it was stories where I found my home.
I was fascinated by how people felt when they told stories of themselves. It took a lot of vulnerability and courage on their part, but every story shifted fundamentally something in them. I got more curious and made storytelling my choice of PhD work at the site of schools.
To experience storytelling deeply, I travelled to an old institution in England. There, I met my teachers, Roi Gal-or and Karmit and 18 more storytellers from across the globe who shared the same passion and desperation for stories. And so, for four months, we lived in a storytelling hut. Every week, we told stories to people from the village who came to see us.
I returned to India and began taking workshops in storytelling. I witnessed people enjoying the gatherings and trusting me with their stories. So, I offered more and more workshops, for more and more people. Every workshop made me nervous in the beginning. Every workshop ended with immense gratitude. Every workshop had its own flavor and stories. And so, I began looking for a room to keep the memories and stories of these workshops safe and sound. This website would now be the home of all the stories about the work we do (and wish to do). In words of poet Shane Koyczan, "Our reflection is the first sentence to a story, and our story starts: We were here."
コメント