Chennai: India which has a tradition of storytelling, Prime Minister Modi in his radio program 'Maan ki Baat' lauded Srividya from Mangadu for maintaining to tell the ancestral narrations.
During his radio program, he said, "In India, we have a rich tradition of storytelling, rural people have played a sumptuous role in preserving our traditional stories and passing them on to the future generations. Parents should inculcate the habit of telling stories to children in every home."
"Everyone in the family can relish narrating stories to one family member every week. Corona infection has bound the families together. We have to tell the rustic stories of our villages to the children", added PM Modi.
In particular, the villupattu style of telling mythological and allied stories blended with music is very popular in Tamil Nadu and Srividya from Tamil Nadu telling such mythological stories through villupattu is most appreciated.
Srividya (35) from Mangadu, Chennai has been a storyteller since 2016 and has been telling mythological stories delineating on our culture, and our hoary arts to children and the elderly as well.
In an exclusive interview to ETV Bharat, Srividya said, “My journey as a storyteller started in 2016. This is my profession as of now. I have told the ancestral and other stories of our country to tens of thousands of children, adults and the elders.
When children are being told stories about the civilization and culture of our country, they can easily negotiate with them. They like them a lot because we tell such things through the stories and anecdotes and they ponder over them."
She further maintained, "The whole focus of the children is on the stories as they tell the stories with displaying relevant expressions. Through this we can develop children's imagination, thought process and their acumen. Also, I am transmitting to others through stories about the art forms, civilization, cultures and scriptures of our country. I went to the United States last year and narrated stories about our country's culture and civilization to those residing there. They have developed a fondness for hearing the stories of our country. They evinced a lot of love to hear and know the civilization and cultures of our country."
"I also continue telling such stories about the civil and cultural values of our country on social networks too. I have been telling stories through several languages including Tamil, English and Hindi.
I have been a storyteller for the last four or five years. In this context, yesterday (Sept 27) morning, the Prime Minister of our country Narendra Modi spoke about the storytellers of Indian culture in his Mann ki Baat program and I was extremely proud and happy when he mentioned then my name as belonging to Chennai. My passion is to tell the entire world about our hoary culture, civilization and art values through similar stories”, added the 35-year-old storyteller.
“Apart from than the storyteller, I am a mother, a wife, an ordinary woman. Though I have been a storyteller for the past 4-5 years and I have told so many stories as well, our honourable Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi has spoken on stories and storytellers. That too on stories emphasising the impact on Indian culture and when he referred to Chennai he took my name, for which I am very happy and very proud. I did not expect this. This has raised the feeling of responsibility more in me. All these years I have done but after this, I have to perform even better. I should ensure that my stories reach even wider audiences", said Srividya to ETV Bharat.
"There are so many stories based on Indian culture which I want to share to the world. I tell stories related to India and Tamil Nadu and other fantasy stories that I write myself. My stories should bring an impact on the listeners. I have been telling stories which have comedy in it, expressions in it and make people curious to listen to more”, added Srividya.
Also Read: PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat
