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Telling a Tale

Kathayatra, a mega story festival by Bhaashaa Foundation, steps into the shoes of the grandmother to offer stories to children

A scene from a play showcased at Kathayatra A scene from a play showcased at Kathayatra

By Prajakta Patil

Bhaashaa Foundation, a city-based voluntary non-profit organisation that works for the preservation and enhancement of regional languages, recently announced its third annual mega story festival, Kathayatra, which was staged at Balgandharva Ranga Mandir and Le Meridian in Pune between November 21 and 23. According to Founder President Swati Raje, “I grew up listening to the stories told by my grandmother. They were such an indispensable part of my life. But today, the grandma tales are vanishing as nuclear families are taking the place of joint families. To revive that story culture, I started Kathayatra in 2011, and have received an overwhelming response from children and grown-ups.”
In the third edition of Kathayatra, an international academic conference on the topic of “Translations and Migrations” has been organised in association with Sahitya Academy and National Book Trust (New Delhi) on November 21 and 22. Various academicians and scholars from India and abroad would be participating in the event.
The festival also featured a lot of activities such as plays, dance performances and workshops for the participants. It also gave a glimpse of diverse performances by nationally and internationally-acknowledged artistes. Various widely-acclaimed performances such as Shakkar Ke Paanch Dane, a Hindi play by Manav Kaul of Ranya Theatre and a children’s play by Ranga Sri, an artist from Bhopal; were presented during the three days at Kathayatra.
“The festival included a special story building workshop for the hearing impaired children in association with Cochlea, a Pune-based organisation,” says Raje. A highlight of this year’s Kathayatra was an interesting and interactive session called Goshta Vartamanpatrachi, in association with Pune Shramik Patrakar Sangh.
This session provided a glimpse into the making of a newspaper for the children. Experts from media interacted with the children and helped them prepare a mini-version of their newspaper.
The event also witnessed several renowned personalities including Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Environment and Forests; Nancy Silberkleit, CEO of Archies Comics, USA and noted writer and activist Father Francis De Britto. Closing ceremony of the event featured a special talk on “Language, Stories and Technology” by Vivek Samant, CEO & Managing Director of MKCL, and was followed by an internationally acclaimed folk play, Ramayana by the Little Ballet Troupe of Bhopal.

 

 

First uploaded on: 05-12-2014 at 01:00 IST
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