What do Jeeva Raghunath, a pre-school teacher from India, and Craig Jenkins, a young theatre artiste from U.K., have in common? They both love stories. They first met in U.K. and thus began their journey of camaraderie and friendship. They were in the city to perform for “Under the Aalamaram”, a story-telling festival.
Craig began his session with a story that unfolded in a forest and kept the laughs coming every time he imitated a pack of monkeys walking to the river. He was soon joined on stage by Jeeva who announced, “Please switch off your phones. Yes, madam, you too. I can see you hiding the phone under your book.” And, then she walked off the stage grinning.
Jeeva then re-entered as the rude and rustic vadai seller, grumbling about a crow that stole her vadai. She also made fun of the audience, saying how some of the ladies present were decked up in order to woo Craig. “This is an age-old tale. But, I decided to tell it from the perspective of the vadai seller. Sometimes, I make the vadai the hero of my story. This way, you get so many stories from just one story,” Jeeva explained after the performance.
Every time they tell a story, it is different, said Craig. “You can say the same story six times. It changes according to the space, people watching us and what’s happening around us… We are not story machines. A lot of improvisation, editing and re-work go into every tale.” Sometimes they worked on a story for a year, said Jeeva. It is like a parallel track, always running in the back of their minds. Some ideas strike them when they least expect it! “Like, a song might just hit me when I am on my morning walk,” said Jeeva.
Craig was fascinated with Indian mythology and oral story-telling tradition. When he was at the University of Kent he sat through a story telling session by Vayu Naidu, who later asked him to train under her. He spends more time in India now, participating in sessions with like-minded professionals like Jeeva and working with school children. His long-term plan is to do a Ph.D in storytelling in India.
Craig said he gave a contemporary spin to old stories so it is quite likely iPhones or Rajinikanth would pop up in his stories. “It is all about having fun at the end of the day, since we live in world filled with sadness and sorrow,” he said. Jeeva grew up “eating stories along with her food” in her joint family. It was an offer for a marketing job at Tulika and a book launch session that made her into a story-teller. “I accidentally translated a book. And, during its launch, they made me read it out. And, from then on it’s been a continuous journey.” She has been globe-trotting with her stories for 19 years. “It is simple. Stories must have life when you tell them. Don’t make them sound so dead. Do it with feeling,” she advised.
While Craig’s sessions are interactive and playful, Jeeva brings humour and voice to her story telling. They may have a different approach, but they inspire each other. “We adapt to what is best for us. We have to keep our own style. Though I wish I had his figure,” Jeeva laughed. Craig returned the compliment by saying how Jeeva was incredible. “She has performed in so many different places. But, she is always herself.”
Jeeva along with school friends, Kanchana Manavalan and Kausalya Padmanabhan, started Under the Aalamaram. The idea was to revive the age-old Indian tradition of sharing stories, sitting under the shade of the big tree. “ Aalamaram has lots of roots hanging out of it. Each root is a story.”
Jeeva said she was hopeful about the future of storytelling, but pointed out the need for more awareness. “We had a good response in Coimbatore. Almost 200 kids from a school in Kerala came for the sessions.”
At the end of the day, said Jeeva, a smile on the face of even one child thanks to their story was enough to make their day. “It does not matter if they don’t tell us in so many words. It will be written all over their faces.” Craig summed it all up by saying, “In the end, if you forget me, it’s okay. It is the stories that live on. A good story teller’s name is never remembered.”
