To mark the 77th Independence Day, Indian Kamishibai Association brought together storytellers to celebrate Indian stories and art forms by blending them with the Japanese storytelling style called Kamishibai. Around 15 performers across India participated in a two-day online marathon of storytelling
Indian tales spiced up a Japanese art form at an online storytelling marathon named Kamishibai Katha organised by Indian Kamishibai Association (IKA) recently. Formed in 2021, the association organised this year’s event where they celebrated Independence Day by blending Indian and Japanese storytelling. Around 15 storytellers from across the country gathered online to retell old and new Indian stories: folk, mythological or personal, in Kamishibai format, which was also expertly merged with various other Indian art forms of storytelling such as Chitrakathi.
Kamishibai is an ancient Japanese form of storytelling. It is a combination of two words: Kami and Shi-bye, literally meaning paper and drama. It comprises a wooden box with doors, called Butai, with pictures inserted inside. As the box opens, the storyteller engages the audience with singing, music and narration and transports it to the world of stories.
The event also included two workshops, a Chitrakathi performance by Chetan Parshuram Gangavane from Pinguli, Maharashtra, whose father Parshuram Vishram has been a renowned Chitrakathi storyteller. The second workshop was headed by Tara McGowan, who is a storyteller, author, and visual artist. She has been performing Kamishibai for over two decades now. She helped storytellers to hone their performance skills.
“Stories connect people. They are the best way to communicate,” says Veena Seethepalli, an educator and a storyteller from Hyderabad who is a member of IKA and also participated in the marathon. She helps children in NGOs and girls’ schools to learn communication, English language and speaking skills through stories and art.
“At Kamishibai Katha, I told the story of a banana leaf growing in my garden. The whole process of the banana plant growing was so fascinating to me that I decided to make picture cards showing different stages of its growth, in Kamishibai format. A story about Ganesha, who likes bananas and other aspects such as how economical and useful a banana leaf is; the tree spirit, Lord Vishnu, who is prayed to every Thursday– I added these little things in my story. My interest is in taking these little things to the children I teach,” she added.
Veena believes that stories have great pedagogical value and need not be fanciful or expensive. “Most important is to find stories near you, for example, Amma is cooking near you, you can create a story out of it, the idea is that the stories should have more relatability to their day-to-day lives, taking them away from the gadgets,” she said.
It is the simplicity of the Kamishibai art form that attracted her. “I like art. Here, one can make one’s own picture card which doesn’t have to be great. Make six cards, that’s enough to tell a simple story. You have the choice to make it a life story or a science story or anything else. It works best for children,” she added.
Besides the simplicity and adaptability of the format, she emphasised the fact that storytelling helps you grow as an individual and a performer. “Tara McGowan showed us that day there is so much technique involved in just pulling out a card. It has to be one quick motion, a swish so that the entire story looks like one continuous movement. You have to practise and learn,” she said.
As a storyteller, she has worked with many schools in Delhi and Hyderabad. She has also worked for libraries in Australia and Singapore. Talking about her journey with Kamishibai, she says, “My journey is nascent. I was attracted to it because I like to draw. I tried doing a story with Gond art. The banana leaf story was done by the paper tearing method so that children know what is economical and how to make wealth from waste,” she said.
As a teacher-educator, she interacts with teachers in rural areas. “The first question I ask them is what stories they remember from their childhood. They all say, The Crow and the Pebbles, The Blue Jackal or the Akbar-Birbal stories. As children we remember them as mere stories, it is only as we age that we begin to understand the deeper aspects. The Crow and the Pebbles is essentially a science story. The idea is to connect,” Veena said.
Veena was also extremely grateful to Ramya Srinidhi, the founder of the Indian Kamishibai Association and the pioneer of Kamishibai storytelling in India. She recently performed at Bengaluru Poetry Festival. Through workshops and performances, she has been encouraging other storytellers and educators to take up Kamishibai. Speaking about similarities between Indian storytelling forms and Kamishibai, she said, “There is a lot of evidence that suggests that picture storytelling probably originated in India. It is interesting to trace how art forms move from country to country. For example, in Chitrakathi, the storyteller keeps the picture in front and engages the audience with music and narration. In Kamishibai, there is a wooden box. As soon as you open the box, you see the pictures inserted inside and you are transported to the world of stories. The art form has gone through its own changes since the 1920s when it began in Japan. There are a lot of similarities and still keeps its distinctiveness intact.”
Once discovering Kamishibai, Ramya said it was like “light falling on a prism, there seemed to be a whole spectrum of things that I could do with this art form. I even got a Butai made specially in India by a carpenter. One thing I would like to mention is that people outside India who have been trying to revive this art form have been so giving, I felt I needed to make my contribution as well by blending it with my culture. It is not something that I am bringing from outside and propagating here, but more of an integration, which was actually loved by all,” said Ramya.
Celebrating Independence Day, the performers combined various Indian stories with Kamishibai. “There was a storyteller who used Warli art to tell a story about Gandhi,” said Ramya. “The response from the performers and the audience was amazing. There were more performers wanting to join in next year,” she concluded.