Learn Curve for Girls

Kathalaya Interview Series

Your career trajectory?

I am an electrical engineer. I was with Konika films. I had great growth in that company. They made camera films. I am a Kannadiga. I was managing aftersales. I was in many managerial roles and managed multiple projects. I worked on System Integration. I worked on seamless management of audio-visual facilities. I was in the managerial area for 24 years – business development, client servicing and everyday operations.

Your storytelling pathway?

I had no clue about what storytelling was. I was highly involved in presentations to clients. I was otherwise not someone who would read books. Storytellers are usually from literature background. I took a storytelling course. Storytelling gave a lot of exposure. Other people are an integral part of the storytelling experience. Storytelling opens the heart. Storytelling is deep engagement with children on a daily basis. My feeling is that I didn’t chose storytelling. Storytelling chose me. I did learn a lot with Geeta Maam. She is a great person to learn from. She opened the heart of storytelling for me. The Kathalaya storytelling diploma was a deep dive into storytelling. The diploma internalised storytelling for me and skilled me with different techniques in storytelling. I learnt to use different practices for storytelling. I started preschools in Mumbai. I run eight centres, all in Mumbai, where I teach storytelling. I am part of two international schools where I do storytelling as a part of the curriculum. I teach parents storytelling for their children. I find that storytelling is a skill that helps me breathe. We are all storytellers.

Can you talk about storytelling for the classroom?

Once I turned into a storyteller, I have an eye and ear out to absorb details that can help create great stories. I made my own curriculum for storytelling for early childhood development.