Sweet Karam Coffee Storytelling Newspaper :)

One message from a friend, ” Hey! I have referred your name for an event on 27th September”

10 mins later, comes another message followed by a call from the company “Sweet Karam Coffee”. The requirement was discussed and gig confirmed!

Well, honestly, it did take me sometime to take in the fact that I will be performing at this event – “The Big South Indian Festival” organized by Sweet Karam Coffee where the brand ambassador Janaki Patti will also be present!

Already that week was packed for me with school sessions followed by travel to Chennai for an international Storyteller’s conference. And not just that, 26th night, just one hour after my train arrives at Bangalore, I will be having a Kamishibai presentation as part of a project done by Indian Kamishibai Association. So I just did not/could not think beyond “Ok I have this gig on 27th about south Indian food and traditions”. I decided to take it as it comes – one at a time.

Since the session was for the adults and the time was just 25-30 mins, I knew that the stories need to be, not just interesting but also relatable – something that they can connect to and the storytelling needs to be engaging so that they don’t walk away or start chit chatting among themselves 🙂 And I also told myself that, some adults can come with the presumption that stories are only for children. So, yes, it’s going to be a varied audience.

Coming from a south Indian, Tamil brahmin family, obviously I had my personal connect with South Indian food and traditions. And the 4pm ritual of sweets, snacks and savories still happen in my family too.

Bingo! I got the framework of what and how I want to present my stories 🙂

I started my research so that I can bring in the legends, history and folklores as well, to give some variety and spark that curiosity in my listeners to further go and explore about it.
But there was a problem – I had so many stories to tell but given the time what to tell and what to leave?

Hmm… I sat and planned and organized my stories.

On the way to Chennai, I anyways had 5 hours of travel. I visited, re-visited , thought more and worked on my stories and my performance. Hmmm… clarity and flow improved. Time was still an issue but anyways I parked that for later.

3 days passed. I boarded my train back to Bangalore on the 26th.

Slowly excitement kicked in. I now began to visualize and further plan my session for the next day. Few more ideas popped up and I worked on it more. Now I could see that the flow was getting better. I practiced it a few more times.

Oh Yes!! all this in the train on my way back…

You see, work is worship 😉

I agree that train is not as comfortable as our house, but I was able to get the time and focus, and that matters, is it not? 🙂

The D-Day arrived. I took the cab from home…The venue was at least 1 hour 45 mins away.
No! I did not use this time to rehearse (I was quite ready and i decided to go with the flow and the audience) but more worried if I would reach on time! Thankfully being a sunday, traffic was bearable but the roads were horrible especially as we got closer to the venue. Luckily the cab driver did not crib or complain about it !

4pm – Bang! I reached the venue.

Wow! What a festive atmosphere…

While I was not late and exactly on time, I still needed sometime to gather myself for the session. Thankfully something else was happening and they were yet to start the 4pm ritual. I quickly refreshed and got ready.

“Here, we welcome Ms. Meenu, a professional storyteller to join us for the 4pm ritual with her stories”

And I was handed over the mic…

ahaa… who do I see?

Ofcourse Janaki Patti!!!

and

Rakesh Raghunathan – food historian and traveler.

Coincidentally I had read his blogs and seen his vlogs too as part of my research and I immediately recognized him 🙂

Wohoooo!!! I was thrilled… until that moment, I did not ever think or realize that i will be sharing stories with such people in the midst!

One quick “Breathe in” and I began…

“Thandhaane Naane …” , my favourite folk tune to just set the mood and bring all the people into the story time… As all heads turned towards me, I began, picking up from where their earlier discussion had finished – talking about their childhood memories. It gave me a good start leading slowly into another catchy song that I had created based on the different sweets of Karnataka. With snack plates in their hands, their mouths busy savoring the sweets, I still had their attention as I began my first story on the history/origin/legend of Mysore Pak. As they relished their snack, I helped them relish the story too, blending in drama, characterization and sound effects along with audience interactions.

Time was ticking as I moved on to a quick history/legend about Murukku with tit bits from my personal life. I ended the session by sharing some home-made hand murukku prepared by my mother with everyone.

“Correct proportion of the ingredients. Tastes just like how we make it traditionally at our homes.”, said Janaki Patti
“Thank you Patti”, I said as I was still taking in what all happened over the last 30 mins.

Slowly people came and spoke to me, “Very beautifully presented!”

“You know, this is one of those rarest occasions I must say that through the 30 mins I did not open my phone and check!”, said another and I was floating in cloud nine!

“I really loved your style of storytelling with all the singing and dancing. Very nice. Do not stop doing this. My best wishes to you!” , said the kind and generous Janaki Patti who later made me sit next to her in the swing and shared stories from her life. Wow! what an experience to cherish!

And of course grateful to Rakesh Raghunathan who generously shared his appreciation after my session, “Meenu so beautifully brought out the story of Mysore Pak. It was as If I was there with Wodeyars and experiencing it!”

Thanks to Kahaani Box and Sweet Karam Coffee for having me at this festival and enjoying the storytelling as much as I enjoyed performing the stories!

I returned home not just with goodies but also love and gratitude!

But do you think it ended there???

Oh… It was truly a happy surprise to see my pic on the Bangalore Times Newspaper on 3rd October, as part of the article that covered this event. As I do not buy TOI paper, it was even more a thrilling feeling when friends messaged me sharing this news with the photo of the article and congratulating me…!

Wow! A sweet storytelling event that led to a sweet surprise 🙂 _/\_