As published in FPJ Weekend on November 10, 2013
Courtesy: Neha Mendiratta Khullar
Participant Anisha Sharma narrates her story 'The Insomniac'
at the Tall Tales event held on September 28 at Studio X, Fort
Do
you have a story to tell? Not the one when a man walked into a bar with a
Democrat, Republican and a polar bear. Not even the time you got high at a
cocktail party and went around telling whoever would listen why ‘bubbles’ is a
funny word. Stories that are more than snippets or a series of events where you
lived the highest highs to the lowest lows; stories now seem like they were
born to be told, ones that will pop out a chuckle or a plop out a tear at a
moment you least expect it to.
“I
have seven such stories,” says Michael Burns, a documentary filmmaker. At 36
years of age, you might wonder if Burns has led a particularly uneventful life.
But on Friday, October 25, at a storytelling event ‘Tall Tales’ held at Studio
X in Fort area, as a motley audience of hundred odd people heard Burns narrate
the time he had was staring down the barrel of a revolver pointed at him, struggling to stifle his laughter
because of the ridiculous engraving of a tree, a wild stallion, a hill and
native-Americans on the handle of the gun, all doubts were laid to rest.
“There
are stories that are just a list of things that happened,” Burns had told me a
few days before he was to go on stage. “And then there are great stories.” At Tall Tales, a live storytelling initiative that
Burns started in the month of June this year, the endeavour is to share such “great” stories that might come from just
about anyone who is willing – be it your high school physics teacher or your
regular dhobiwallah who fights crime
by night. “You would be surprised at the range of unique experiences people
have had and want to share,” said Burns.
Storytelling
in itself is not a particularly new form of entertainment. However, most of
what one encounters is cloaked and layered in various other art-forms: novels,
poetry, dance et al. Tall Tales takes it back to the basics where all you have
on you is a spotlight, a script if you need one, a little pre-performance grooming
and a rapt audience, hanging on your every word. In such an ambiance, complete
with wine and nibbles, stories spring from every strata and genre.
Last
Saturday, for example, in his story titled ‘Tea and Me’ the bespectacled investment banker Anurag Byas
narrated the time of his first rendezvous with a cuppa: “In my adolescence, I never drank tea. I had a belief
that God grants your wishes if you give up stuff.” Over the next ten
minutes, Byas went on to narrate how he finally managed to break the shackles
of his “tea celibacy” and lead a life that involved downing more than 15,300 cups over the years.
“Back
home, I used to listen to this public radio broadcast called ‘This American
Life’,” said Burns, who hails from Connecticut region of United States. “In
every show, they had stories based on the theme-of-the-week. That was the
primary influence for Tall Tales.”
Other
than the radio show, live storytelling – whether in the austere form or spoken
word poetry – is quite a norm in various parts of the US. When he moved to
Mumbai in 2011 with his partner, Burns found it striking that there were hardly
such platforms in the city. When he had settled down in the city, his second
job as a lecturer in English at YMCA going steady, he decided to collaborate
with two of his friends Kaneez Surka, an improv actress, and Vishal Jadhani and
launched Tall Tales. Contributors were invited from across the city. Burns
curated and edited stories they submitted, drew from his own experience from
the days he was an improv actor to train them before finally holding the first
edition earlier this year.
Conceived
as an occasional event, Tall Tales has snowballed into a bi-monthly. Stories,
says Burns, are now received every other day. Each session features 4-5
storytellers, their narration ranging between 10-20 minutes. It has even caught
the eye of the organisers of Mumbai Literature Festival that will be hosting some
of them in their upcoming edition in December.
“When
it comes to live storytelling, there is a direct relationship waiting for you
in the audience. All you have to do is embrace it,” said Burns. The team has
decided to take it up a notch and launch ‘Small Tales’ in the coming summer, aimed
at children below 15 years of age.
Other
than a distinct addition to the city’s culturescape, the initiative has gone a
long way in enriching some of the participants’ lives. Take Rohit Nair who had
never had any prior public speaking experience. Since June, he has already
featured in three of the sessions, one of which was an encore. “I never knew I
had this capacity of impromptu shenanigans,” he says, half-embarrassed. It’s no
wonder that when Burns took to the stage on Saturday, Nair’s cheer rang the
loudest – “Michael for President!”
To
participate, email your story to story@mumbaistories.com or call 9769725776.
