Developing Storytelling in Different Genres

On 19th April 2023, Vox Populi, a collective of the college conducted a story-telling session at the Library of The Bhawanipur Education Society College from 11:00 a.m. The idea behind the session was to develop the art of storytelling amongst the students while indulging in interactive games. The session began with the Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Dilip Shah introducing Prof. Champa Srinivasan, the author of the book ‘Jar of Marbles’ Mrs. Srinivasan who is a professional writer with a Postgraduate degree in English from Jadavpur University, is also a Professor at The Bhawanipur Education Society College.

Mrs. Srinvasan introduced the students to the idea of Storytelling & how there is a story all around us. She told the students to develop their storytelling skills by listening to things around them, even if it is just eavesdropping, she said jokingly! She took the students back to her own college days where whenever she was free, she indulged in a conversation with herself, while standing on her balcony, watching nature unfold before her. This gave her a stimulus to keep developing her thoughts and putting them forward. Soon after Prof. Shah, to instill the idea of storytelling in students, narrated a story to them. With the gripped eyes of the listeners, Prof. Shah engaged the students in his own story from his college days. He ensured that the students learned the importance of the library & the many ways of developing spoken skills for life at large.

The students were then asked to pick chits from a box to participate in a game called Weave a Story, where each chit had a word mentioned, around which they had to develop an impromptu story. The different genres of storytelling came forth as the students narrated inspirational, horror & stories from alternate realities, merging their own experiences with fiction. It was a thrilling afternoon as the students were gripped in each other’s worlds through the medium of storytelling. Toward the end, Prof. Shah & Prof. Meenakshi Chaturvedi applauded the students for their participation. The two winners of this game Rahul Kumar Yadav and Akash Roy were awarded prizes by Prof. Champa Srinivasan and Prof. Dilip Shah, bringing an end to this one of its kind learning experience.