Geeta Ramanujam -- an international storyteller
By Raj S. Rangarajan
The Critical Mirror, Delhi
Geeta Ramanujam — an international
storyteller
She tends to be metaphorical – occasionally – metaphysical and at times mystical. She has created her own genre of storytelling, has been featured on several Indian and international forums, and was even mentioned by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Hindi broadcast series – Mann ki Baat in 2020.
I am talking of Geeta Ramanujam, accomplished author, storyteller, founder and director of her storytelling academy. Her most recent publication – Tales from the World – published by Puffin Books and illustrated by Arkapriya Koley, has been well received. Her first book, The Wise Monkey and other Animal Stories was published in 2002.
Starting with a touching tale from India of a mountain and a bird, Geeta’s sensitively described Meru has both pathos and poetry. One gets hooked when one starts reading. In another narration, she talks of storyteller Topista Kezabu, who at 91, continues the East African oral tradition called “Koogere” – that is described as storytelling in the form of folklore and narratives. Here, she talks of crabs running sideways when a sharp-eyed Kavirondo crane would swoop down to pick up the fish.
Storyteller Ms. Geeta Ramanujam
Geeta’s passion comes through in admirable measure and her eclectic choices of subjects, countries, and methodologies for her stories are a treat for children. Her narrations open up a world of possibilities for the young ones allowing them to soar to unimaginable heights.
This versatile artist has worn several caps: nursery school teacher, writer, creator, entrepreneur. She has taken the art of storytelling to a new level and explains the exercise in an easy-to-comprehend manner. Her company, Kathalaya’s International Academy of Storytelling, based in Bengaluru, offers certificate and diploma courses, which are interactive and experiential in vocal art. She has trained almost 94,000 students, teachers, entrepreneurs, professionals from corporates as also executives from NGOs. Geeta uses her creative abilities to craftily motivate her students into teamwork and leadership skills.
We have heard of the celebrated “lollypop” series of stories for kids, and in that tradition, Geeta brings life to many of her narrations from all over the world, ranging from home country India to Japan to Greece and on to Scotland and South Africa and many more.
Geeta says, “Folk tales are generally passed down from one generation to another through oral narrations when children and adults gather at festivals or when they share food, perhaps around a camp fire.“ Imaginative grandmothers in India have always spun magical tales at leisurely home-cooked meals with children listening raptly. Tasty morsels seem tastier when the story is suspenseful or enticing or both. The narrator-grandma is the key artist in the process and her stories that embellish or exaggerate are also sometimes credible.
Geeta Ramanujam’s far-reaching scholarly repertoire extend beyond 48 countries that she has visited, and many of her books have been published in European and Asian languages. Her narrations talk of elements – fire and water and living things – as also of American-Indian traditions, and shamans. “The oral tradition is alive and kicking” reassures Geeta.
Some of her chapters highlight heart-warming nuggets in her “Did You Know” column for easy comprehension:
For instance, continues Geeta: “In Native American culture, stones are referred to as Stone People, and they are the record-keepers on Earth. They hold the stories of the earth within them. Storytellers often hold a special stone that has ‘spoken to them’ when they tell a tale. Some have—what is known in Irish as a crane bag—a bag containing stones, each one a different size, shape and colour, that they have gathered along their way. The storyteller will pick out a stone, hold it, feel it’s qualities and begin a story.”
“In Scandinavia, the stone is replaced with a nail and in Germany, an axe head is used. Sometimes, there’s one charismatic traveler, sometimes two; sometimes, it’s a monk, and even a soldier. But the heart of the tale remains the same “ So goes her clarion call: “are you tempted to try some Stone Soup?”
Did you know:
* that in the Zulu tradition, drinking and eating from the same place was and still is a sign of friendship, which comes from their ‘share-what-you-have’ belief?
* that as part of their storytelling practice called “Goorompa” narrated to the author through “Kamishibai” in Japan, pictorial images called “Chitrakathis” were used by the Pinguli tribes in Maharashtra citing epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. These stories, Geeta says, travelled to Japan?
* that Anansi, a “trickster” is a West African god? He often takes the shape of a spider and is considered to be the god of all knowledge, and is one of the important characters of West African and Caribbean folklore.
* that the Borok is a aboriginal tribe of Tripura state in Northeast India with a population of approximately 15 lakh. They speak a language called “Kokborok” that comprises alphabets and letters like so many of our languages, but the difference is that this tribe also communicates through sounds, gestures and symbols with devout relationships with their gods and goddesses.
A former Bharatanatyam performer and Carnatic music singer, Geeta has been a recipient of the Encontro Internacional Boca do Céu de Contadores de Histórias Award in 2016 in Brazil, the Ashoka Fellowship Award from the U.S. in 2000, the Bangalore Hero Award in 2018 and the Best Story Narrator Award from the Governor of Tamil Nadu in 2019. A former resident of Mumbai Geeta now makes her home in Bangalore.
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The Author: Raj S Rangarajan is a free-lance journalist based out of New York. He can be contacted at: raj.rangarajan@gmail.com
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