It all began around six years ago when well-known journalist Neelesh Misra decided to take a sabbatical. As he wondered what to do next, he formed a writer-led band named Band Called Nine, which had singers such as Shilpa Rao on board. The band decided to narrate stories on stage, and have songs interspersed throughout. One thing led to another and Misra was offered a night slot on the radio, to host a storytelling show Yaadon ka IdiotBox with Neelesh Misra , that proved to be a turning point in his life and has now gone on to gain immense popularity.
Today, the storyteller-cum-writer is back with a new show titled Kahaani Express , this time on Saavn, a digital platform. Ever since Yaadon… aired on radio, Misra has been known to narrate some heart-warming stories exploring relationships and their various facets. This time with Kahaani Express , he is armed with stories about relationships forged on trains. “Train journeys are what represent India; they are the nerve of the nation. And the railways always have fascinating stories that capture relationships. They are real, but momentary,” says Misra, adding, “Given that this is on a digital platform, there are a lot of new audiences. We want to build on this and take it to other Indian languages.”
The show will be dubbed in Tamil and Telugu as well. “It’s a great way to travel across cultures with these stories. We’d like to take stories from the South of India to the North; break stereotypes. I believe storytelling is a great tool for building bridges.”
According to Misra, there has been a revival in storytelling listeners, but not storytellers. “The idea is to get people to generate original content,” says the storyteller, who draws inspiration from his own life and from the stories of his listeners, to generate content for his shows.
For instance, for Pehla Pyaar , he drew heavily from his own experiences, while Papa Ki Sharth stemmed from a request by students from Kota. “I’ve had people call me and write to me, telling me that my stories have seen them through tough times and when they have been depressed. In fact, two researchers are currently working on a study to quantify that stories do help people deal with depression. I’d then like to use these stories and incorporate them in treatments at hospitals and in schools as well,” he says.
Ever since his first story Diwali Ki Raat aired on radio, his shows have evolved, he says. “I was very clear that the songs that would be played during the show would adapt to my stories and not the other way around. The first story was about 12 minutes long, which seemed rather long for radio then. Today, an average story is about 24 minutes long.”
Although his show was rather unusual when it launched, he soon won a loyal fan following. Stories began pouring in about how people planned their commutes according to his show, how entire communities gathered in the parking lot to listen to the radio, and hostels changed their mess timings to suit his show. “It was overwhelming. And surprisingly, our core audience was much younger than what we’d thought it would be. In fact, my youngest known listener is a five-year-old, who knows the names of all the characters in my stories. At that point, I was writing the stories all night and recording them in the morning. Now of course, there’s a team of writers. But I’d like to write the last story for Kahaani Express . Probably a love story,” says the writer, adding, “I’m fighting a battle to go back to being a writer. I’m brimming with ideas.”
