Shayan maintains words have the power to inspire and destroy, not necessarily all at once. You might want to choose yours well. An MBA by qualification, a writer at heart, she believes everybody has a story worth telling and insists you tell her yours. Her petite frame belies her love for food. A voracious reader, Shayan can easily get lost on an unending trail of information and trivia while researching for her articles.
If she appears woolly-headed at the editing table, know that she is about to hit the nail on the head. A hopeless romantic, Shayan is dewy-eyed reading tales of undying love. In her own words, working with Soulveda has been a brand new departure for her as a writer. The sky is the limit, she believes.
A staunch believer of 'you are what you read', Mallika is never found without a book or any conceivable object that would allow her to read. In her own words, she is a traveller who is just passing by. And during the course of her chosen journey, her first instinct is to put on paper how she sees and hears the world. On a regular day at Soulveda, Mallika entertains rather generously all requirements 'internet'. A huge Jim Morrison fan, the only people for her are the mad ones. You might also find her wielding sarcasm as her weapon of choice when challenged intellectually. She believes in the uniqueness of every individual and can often be found fighting for it.
24 November 2016
How do we know human life existed thousands of years ago? An obvious answer would be history. Stories have been told and retold by kings, queens and the common man alike. These stories have been a significant part of man’s life on earth. It would be no exaggeration to say that storytelling is as old as human civilisation. Stories about war, conquest, exploration, love, loss and life have decorated the pages of history like stone sculptures on the walls of caves and temples. We all have stories to tell and have been storytellers at some point in our lives. But what it takes to be a master storyteller has been explored little. In an email interview, Singapore-based storyteller and writer Rosemarie Somaiah talks about the subtleties of the art of storytelling and what it takes to be a storyteller.
Can you describe the art of storytelling?
The art of storytelling is one of the most natural, intuitive human skills. It is about one person making a connection with another through the offering of a story.
Can you tell us about the origins of storytelling?
I am neither a scientist nor an academic to say for sure, but there is sufficient research that shows the human brain is hardwired for a story. It is how we process the world around us to make sense of it all. We then share this gift of story with the ones we love or live with, to enable them to get through the complexities of life. So, while researchers may consider whether it began with cave drawings and pictures, or gestures, grunts, growls, words or languages thousands of years ago, the main purpose of telling stories is to derive meaning from what we experience in life and pass it on.
As a storyteller, what do you experience when telling a story?
When telling a story, I am sharing a part of who I am–my hopes, my dreams, my fears and my truth–with the audience. However, this act of intimacy is balanced by the fact that a story or a narrative is an efficient tool to carry a multitude of facts, opinions and perspectives. However, one must understand the difference between fact and fiction, truth and story.
“What I am really interested in are the quiet, untold stories shared by people who don’t realise how important their stories are.”
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