For the first time, Jaipur is hosting Bookaroo, a literature festival for children at Jawahar Kala Kendra on April 30 and May 1.

Disclaimer: The content below contains material that some readers might not understand or if thoroughly understood might make them nostalgic and rekindle the child within. So, children’s guidance is advised.

After the monster hunt, and all the workshops, I entered the Kahani Tree. Rituparna Ghosh enacted the stories of the World’s First Superheroes like none other.

The story is presented through the character of Vihaan.

Vihaan loved Spiderman, Batman, Hulk, and all other Hollywood Superheroes. As Vihaan went to his grandparent’s place for summer holidays, his Dadi told the tales of Hanuman and Krishna and proclaimed they were the First Superheroes of the world.

However, Vihaan argued that Spiderman and Batman were the superheroes, strangely, that night, Hanuman and Krishna came into his sleep and took him with them and told the tales of their power, victory, and weapons or the cool gadgets, as Vihaan understood.

Suddenly, Vihaan was shaken and woke up to realize it was a dream. But, after that day, every day he sat with his Dadi and heard stories of Hanuman and Krishna.

The beauty of the story lied in the way Rituparna playacted it. Rituparna brought every character to life. She stomped her feet and lay down on the floor like a kid. She strained her mouth like Hanuman and asked kids to fly with her. In the essence, her way of storytelling was so expressive and animated, that I wanted to join the madness, too. I wanted to be Vihaan or Hanuman, or Krishna and be in that story.

Rituparna asked all kids to get up, act like Hanuman and they all sang together,

“Hanuman Ji ki Jai,

Sab bolo Bajrang Bali ki Jai.”

I got a chance to interact with her after the session ended.

Me: The story-telling session was fantastic. We read that you used to tell stories to your son which is how it all started. Tell us more.

Rituaparna: I am a professional story-teller. Not only am I involved with story-telling to kids, but I also train teachers, professionals, through workshops, story-telling sessions. After working in the field of media for nine years, I realized I wanted to do something else. So, now this is what I do. I perform solo and have a brand called Story Bag. Because I believe, everyone must have their own collection of stories that defines you.

Me: What is your objective through story-telling?

Rituparna: My aim with every story is to rekindle some emotions in people through which they connect to the story. Let’s take the example of this story World’s first Superheroes. Many people cribbed that their children watch TV and idolize the Hollywood superheroes, but are uninterested in mythology. I came up with this story in such a way that I contemporized the Hanuman and Krishna keeping aside the religious aspect and the result- it instantly appeals to the kids, and they enjoy. I believe, the children only learn and memorize something if it’s done in a fun way.

She also spoke about the importance of story-telling,

“Firstly, they learn how to imagine and visualize through heard stories. Once they start imagining and enjoying the stories, they would want to know where this story came from. It will inculcate the sense of reading, writing and most importantly, expressing.”

Photo Courtesy: Pallav Bhargava