Weekly story-telling session for children from tomorrow

Mysore/Mysuru: Kalasuruchi, the city-based cultural organisation, embarked upon a small experiment to conduct weekly story-telling sessions by the name ‘Kathe Kelona Banni’  (Come, let us hear stories) almost 15 years ago and due to covid it had to be temporarily stopped.  Now that life is returning to normalcy, this programme is being restarted on Oct.23 (Saturday).

During the inaugural programme, noted theatre personality Bhargavi Narayan had narrated stories. Since then, come Saturday, exactly at 4.30 pm, you can see and hear children enthusiastically entering the Suruchi Rangamane in Kuvempunagar.

‘Kathe Kelona Banni’ intends to cultivate a habit of listening and to simply enjoy a good story.  Of course, we have abundant supply of stories from India and abroad —  Vikramaditya and Betal, Arabian nights, Panchatantra and not to mention an eternal spring of tales from Ramayana and Mahabharata.  

Over these many years, people from all walks of life have shared stories with children. Doctors, engineers, lawyers, writers, actors and a large number of teachers have contributed.  There have been many stories narrated serially too.  Vimalashree narrated Ramayana over 20 weeks while D. Balakrishnaiah narrated Mahabharata over 25-plus weeks.  Dr. Ramanath regaled children with Vikram and Betal stories over 15 weeks.  

Limca Book of Records has recognised this feat and included ‘Kathe Kelona Banni’ in their annual records for the year 2015.

Dr. H. K. Ramanath, K. Nagaraja and Balakrishnaiah have been coordinating this programme since the beginning.  Dr. Ramanath says, ‘Apart from enjoying a good story, we are also striving to inculcate a sense of fairness, cultivating good values and above all, increasing listening abilities among the children.  Questioning is actively encouraged and it is amazing the kind of questions children come up with, if nudged a bit.’

Nagaraja adds, ‘Over these years, several generations of children have attended the programme.  Typically one sees children starting around 6-9 years and continuing to attend for about three years.  Some of the children who attended initial programme have completed graduation now.’

Vijaya Sindhuvalli, the backbone for all Suruchi Rangamane activities, is now being affectionately called ‘Kathe Mane Ajji’ by the children.

Interested children may participate in the story-telling session tomorrow at 4.30 pm at Suruchi Rangamane, 476, Chitrabhanu Road, Kuvempunagar, Mysuru. B. Balakrishnaiah, retired teacher and resource person, will narrate the story for kids.  For details contact K. Nagaraja, Co-Convener, Kala Suruchi on Mob: 92435-81097 or 99459-43115.