The ongoing lockdown can be quite depressing if one is not used to staying indoors for long, particularly if they live alone. All one needs is a human voice to communicate with. With this thought in mind, city-based storyteller Sangeeta Goel has started reaching out to people with audio stories on request.
The day the lockdown was announced in Kar nataka, the storyteller shared a message on her social media pages that said, “I’ve been sending audio stories to people who send me a request. It has helped me stay sane. DM (me) (share your number if you feel comfortable with that), tell me a preferred theme and I will share an audio story.” Since then Sangeeta has sent audio stories to over 35 people across India.
She has recorded stories about animals, courage, discipline, relationships, resilience, love and hope. While there are storytellers who have been posting video stories on different social media platforms, Sangeeta says, “I felt this is a more personalised approach.”
Once she receives a request, the storyteller looks for the most apt tale in her archives. Once she finds it, she has to modify it to make it suitable to the oral format. “I rehearse and then I record it – this takes a long time because I have to imagine an audience in front of me, at the same time I have to visualise the story. But when people listen to them and call back to talk or give feedback on what the story made them feel like, it is quite a rewarding experience. These are precious conversations in these times,” she says.
Most of these stories are folk tales, and are not longer than 10 minutes. Listeners from Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, London and Netherlands have sent requests, and Sangeeta is hoping to help more people.
Send a request to @storytellersang on Instagram or Twitter