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“Tell me a story!”
At some or the other point in our lives, either we have said this to someone or someone has said this to us! Stories play an important role in making us who we are today and majorly contribute to the way we perceive this world. Right from a young age, there have always been a story for everything. There was one to make us eat, one to make us sleep, one to instill morals and values, and others to inspire, aspire and dream! But does that mean, stories are only for kids? No! Stories have a great impact on people throughout their lives. As we grow older, it’s the stories we tell ourselves, the ones we pay attention to, which design the very world we live in!
So when we heard of this young man, who after receiving an Engineering degree and a Masters degree from the reputed IIT Madras, decided to pursue storytelling as a career path, we were intrigued! Just like children, we were ready and excited to listen to the story of this person whose life revolves around stories and folk-tales! Meet Vikram Sridhar, a classical storyteller by profession!
A Storyteller’s Childhood Tale
We decided to start right from Vikram’s childhood. He says, “Like almost every South Indian, I did my engineering and then got into management. It was what was expected out of me and every child around me. I studied in the best of schools and colleges, which are iconic for education in Chennai. I was neither a topper nor a failure, so nobody really noticed me in school.”
“We were not a typical TamBram family. My father and mother were both quite different from that definition. By profession, my father is a business man but he is also a weight lifter; we still have a gym in our house! My brother is a sportsman. I come from a family where we were free to pursue whatever we wished to do.”
He adds, “With so many options at my disposal, I learned many diverse things while growing up. And when I learned such different things, people would ask me what it was that I really liked! This eventually created an internal conflict inside me, which pushed me to discover my true calling through exploration.”
When asked when he stumbled upon his love for stories, Vikram shares that it didn’t happen until he was in his fourth year of college.
“I watched a play called ‘Nagamandala’ based on Indian sentiments and elements, along with my friend. Since that day, my fascination for classical stories has only grown. Even when I was doing my masters, I became an actor and acted for the first time in a play. Eventually over time this lead me to volunteer with various theater groups in Bangalore and work in different parts of theater from production, marketing, management, to acting, which finally lead me to forming a theater group called Tahatto in 2009. Even when I started working with IBM, these were the three additional things I would devote my time to: Theater, Wildlife and Social Contribution.”
When All The Dots Connected To Pursue Storytelling
Juggling between work, theater, wildlife and social work could not have been a piece of cake. We asked Vikram how he managed everything simultaneously.
“Juggling between these things didn’t tire me because I loved doing it. I know for a fact that I make time for things I love to do, instead of pushing it to tomorrow; today is the best time for me to do it. And when you do what you love, life will connect the dots for you. It may take time for the world to come and acknowledge it, but if we keep giving energy to our dreams through relentless work, it does happen!”
He continues, “These dots connected for me in 2013 when someone was looking for a volunteer to do theater for a bunch of school kids. And when that happened, I realised how many of my stories had elements of flora and fauna, conservation of life, and social connectivity. So through storytelling, I could get all my three interests into one place!”
He further adds,
“I personally chose classical stories that vary across from folk-tale to mythology to history, which if not told orally, will be lost and would only be found in books. I felt a strong need to change that. So, I dedicated my storytelling to the genre of classical performing storytelling.”
Making Friends With The Stage And The Audience
It’s not easy to be on the stage without jitters. Vikram exclaims that he used to feel nervous while going on stage but found a way to conquer his fears.
“Nature somehow tells you what you have to do and what the world needs from you. And when it started telling me that I should start storytelling, I grew to love my stage and my audience. The expressions I saw on people’s faces when I told them a story, ranging from smiles, laughter and tears, really pushed me! It’s never about the stage, it’s about your performance!”
“Though today I can perform on-stage even if the plot is shared with me right before the play, I prefer to put together my elements in the stories live on-stage! It doesn’t mean I didn’t have to polish this skill. Practice has been very important in my journey and it does take a long time! With more practice, my outlook towards storytelling has also changed.”
Connecting with the audience is a quality that’s not easy to develop and is usually what determines the success story of a storyteller. So what is it that helps Vikram connect with his audience we wondered! He shares, “Now when I look at story telling, it is still a performing art, but not just for entertainment or to make people laugh; it’s a spiritual journey for me. When I narrate a story truly, I am telling it to myself more than anything, and in that process I connect with my audience. So be it two people in the audience or a 100, I would tell the story absolutely the same way!”
“There is a child in everyone. If we can manage to remove all the baggages that adults come with, be it stories of struggle, heartbreak, fear, and all other sorts of worries, there is a child sitting inside with a whole lot of wonder about this world, which is what I connect to. This quality is not necessarily childish, but more childlike!”
Vikram further adds, “Sometimes, there can be stories that don’t connect to the audience and that’s okay too! As we come from a culture where stories are assumed to be only for children, it is challenging to make that connection with adults through their biases. And even though the philosophies of most stories align very well with adults, this cultivation takes some time. But thanks to this slow cultivation, I get to be on a beautiful journey!”
When You Change Something Inside, The World Starts To Change
Stories have a way of seeping into our daily lives, sometimes consciously, but most of the times unconsciously! But they have such a big role in our lives. So we asked Vikram, what were his thoughts on this subject. He answers,
“Stories are like an umbilical cord between a mother and a child. It is also like electricity; you can never see it but it has so much power! All that you know about the world is through stories. Our biases, stereotypes, connection to the world and the people; everything is through the stories we’ve heard. So when we choose to listen to variety of stories, we are definitely exposing ourselves to changing the world around us and the way we look at it!”
A Day Into The Life Of A Storyteller
We were curious to find out what a day in the life of a professional storyteller must look like! Vikram laughs, “No two days are the same for me. Whenever it’s possible, I meet people and narrate stories! There is this dedicated community we started in 2013, called the Bangalore Storytelling Society (BSS). Few Sundays in a month, we have around 4-5 storytellers sharing stories based on a certain theme. The idea was to hold an open space where people can come and share personal stories.”
He continues, “We also do activities for children and family. First Sunday of every month is for adults and the last Sunday is for family and children. This is to create better awareness in our society. As art needs art appreciation, an enlightened audience translates to an empowered artist!”
Takeaway – Habits That Help
Vikram Sridhar shares,
“I have developed a habit of reading one folktale or one story a day, be it from visual medium or oral medium; this has been my practice for years now! The other is that I regularly do voice exercises because I don’t believe in using a mike while storytelling. Today, we do have a lot of technology, but this unplugged approach is what connects with me the most!”
Liked reading this? Then you might also like to read Nikhil Dhingra – The Choreographer Who Danced His Way To Create A Career With Vibes!
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