Dear Friends
We are celebrating Gaatha, a storytelling festival beginning at 5 pm tomorrow (Friday the 17th of February).
In 1995, Amrita and I were travelling in the Canadian Yukon. Driving towards the town of Whitehorse. On the way, we met a young woman on her way to the Whitehorse storytelling festival. We had no idea what to expect, but we also went there to see what this was all about. It was mesmerizing.
There were storytellers from all over. From Native American storytellers to a storyteller from Boston who superbly used the Harmonica while he told his story. We said to ourselves that it would be nice to have such festivals in India.
Stories are what we grow up with. My नानी would tell me stories before I went to bed. And I would tell my children imaginary stories of different parts of the world - on earth and beyond, while putting them to sleep.
Stories are also what helps us remember the past, and reinvent the future. Stories give us solace, stories entertain, stories inspire, stories help tradition go from one generation to the next.
This is why we have teamed up with the Mumbai Storytellers Society to organise Gaatha - गाथा। Storytellers from around India and from around the world will be on our Vidyavihar campus to tell us stories. The details of the conference are at https://www.gmisf.org/en
Please attend the conference and take advantage of this unique festival.
The opening event is at 5 pm tomorrow at the Gargi Plaza and I look forward to welcoming you there. The festival continues over the weekend.
Sincerely
Samir
