What is Storytelling and how we all are constantly surrounded by Stories!

Storytelling describes the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics and embellishment. Storytelling is embedded with every form and type of culture. It’s a medium through which we are now able to research and gather knowledge about our past since most of the historical perspectives about a certain event or happening have been described in the form of stories.

We are all constantly surrounded by stories. The movies we enjoy, the songs we listen to, the poetry we feel, the advertisements we see, the news we watch or the books we read are all stories being told to varying degrees. Storytelling is one of the most ancient and powerful mediums to convey a message or educate about a certain issue. It is both an art and a science. Art in a way that it explores the creative aspects of explanation, and science, since the level of research and logical understanding required to tell a story decides how effective it is going to be. 

The ancient Indian culture is filled with stories which take us to the depths to understand the various dimensions life and spirituality have to offer. The poems, shlokas, verses, all are arranged in the form of stories by the sages, to depict a certain emotion and expand into much wider meanings which are still relevant. Similarly, every language has its own way of telling stories and the way may differ which eventually reveal into beautiful art-forms which we all appreciate!

The internet age is a blessing since new mediums of communication have cropped up and thus, the process of storytelling has been slightly modified to cater to this new audience, but the fundamentals remain the same. To grab attention, you now need a compelling story with facts and figures mentioned and thus, the tech advancements have expanded the horizon at a whole new level. From creating simple infographics to video educating the masses, we have been a part of this change since now stories can be created anywhere as the schools are on the verge of breaking their boundaries.

An exciting future for all the storytellers is thus awaiting!