Forty children from Sunflower Special School sat rivetted as they heard Hyderabad-based storyteller Deepa Kiran tell the story of a little girl called Mohini. This was at the Vizag Junior Lit Fest at Hawa Mahal.
Be yourself
“Children who have learning disabilities are often told what to and what not to do which leads to low self-esteem. I wanted to share that it’s okay to be yourself,” explained Deepa.
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Mohini in Deepa’s story annoyed her teacher and mother by often getting lost in her own world! Deepa seamlessly enacted the roles of every character in her story moving easily from being a little girl to a grumpy teacher.
She kept the kids engrossed with dramatic voice modulations, captivating expressions and quick stage movements.
She used an ocean drum and Indian hand cymbals to break the monotony of dialogues. So infectious was her enthusiasm that one little girl joined Deepa and they danced to a song.
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After the story finished, the children drew their favourite characters from the story.
Deepa is also an educationist, writer and a voice-over artist.
She is the founder of Story Arts India. As a storyteller, she has travelled to Iran, Vietnam, Austria, Greece, Italy, Scotland and most recently to the 10th University of South Africa International Storytelling Festival.
“People are finally recognising the importance of storytelling,” said Deepa. Recently she conducted a workshop to train 2,200 teachers under Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society.
About the fest
The Vizag Junior Literary Fest was organised by LitLantern Culture and Literature Welfare Society in association with AP Tourism Authority and The Hindu In School . In the first edition of the event, around 800 children participated.
The fest drew in popular writers such as Roopa Pai, Janaki Sabesh, Richa Jha, Soumya Rajendran, Seema Wahi, Priya Kuriyan and African storyteller Bongiswa Kotta Ramushwana.