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Indian Storytelling Network

 

Storytellers Living

Outside India

 

 

 

Storytellers

 

1) Jayasree Rajendran (based in Dubai).

2) Laxmi Balaji (based in Toronto).

3) Sanjukta Bhowmik (based in Philadelphia).

4) Sonia Bareja (based in Portugal).

 

 

 

 

1

Jayasree Rajendran.  (Based in Dubai.)
Jayasree is a Holistic Coach and Trainer.  She is a founder of Bloombyond, a holistic space for empowering lives.  She offers Personal Coaching, Therapy, Storytelling Performances and Trainings, Wellness Sessions, and NLP Certification Trainings.  She is also a certified yoga and meditation teacher, certified career counsellor, an enthusiastic public speaker, writer, blogger, Tamil poem scribbler, traveler, and lifelong learner.

     Jayasree as a software engineer worked for some of the world’s leading international banking software companies for a decade.  Her passion for empowering others motivated her to step into an entrepreneurial journey, teaching Storytelling along with giving various trainings (in group workshops and one-on-one sessions).  She has been connecting people for more than 16 years, travelling around the world.  Her vision is to empower women and children to be happy souls, living healthy, joyful, and successful lives by identifying their true inner potentials with the tagline, Empowering lives by all means. 

     Jayasree has studied the nuances of Storytelling through a workshop led by Eric Miller of the World Storytelling Institute.  She has studied the "Art of Storytelling and Brand Storytelling" with Katha Priya.  She has also graduated from several "Train the Trainer" programs offered by various international certification bodies.

     Before the pandemic, Jayasree was conducting Storytelling sessions for 3 years in Dubai in her own space, public places, nurseries and in trainings.

     She tells and hears stories in almost every conversation, as she believes that this is a way to enter the creative world.

     As an NLP Trainer she uses her personal stories elegantly to communicate with participants, creating strong connections and facilitating long-lasting changes.  She is also keen about using personal stories in business storytelling.  Listeners sometimes experience her stories as healing or therapeutic.  She gets a great deal of satisfaction from assisting her clients and trainees to also compose and tell such stories.

     Jayasree is available for conducting online sessions outside Dubai, and direct sessions in Dubai.

-- Group Storytelling for children.

-- One-on-one coaching sessions that include Storytelling.

-- Group and one-on-one training in business and brand Storytelling.

     Your empowerment is our happiness!

     A photo of Jayasree is here.

Contact

Phone:  +971 582903908

Email:  jayasree.rajendran@gmail.com ,

info@bloombyond.com

https://bloombyond.com

https://www.facebook.com/JayasreeRajendranJR

https://www.instagram.com/jayasree.rajendran

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nlpcoachjayasree

 

 

2

Laxmi Balaji.  (Based in Toronto.)

Laxmi is a storyteller from India (hometown: Salem), currently residing in Canada with her husband and two children.  She is a founder of a storytelling service named “Sagas-R-Us”.  She performed in Toronto International Storytelling Festival 2022, and is the recipient of the 2023 “Emerging Storyteller Award” given by Storytellers of Canada - Conteurs du Canada (SC-CC).  She is also an Apprentice Teacher in the Parent-Child Mother Goose Program.

 

Laxmi started her storytelling journey when reading books to her elder child.  She discovered that children get excited if the stories are narrated with expressions and voice modulations instead of just reading them.  She started telling stories at community centers and preschools in 2016.  Since then she has done storytelling at various events in schools and libraries. 

 

Laxmi has a sweet spot for telling Indian mythological stories and various folktales.  She weaves stories in both English and Tamil.  She believes that in today's busy atmosphere, telling and hearing stories in a traditional way will enhance the imagination and calm the mind.

 

Laxmi is a proud member of Storytelling Toronto, and Storytellers of Canada - Conteurs du Canada.

 

Storytelling activities led by Laxmi include:

 

Sagas-R-Us Family Storytime (in Tamil) for all ages.

Last Saturday of each month, 8pm to 9pm IST.

Video call link: https://meet.google.com/tgr-fqhq-mpb

 

Workshop for parents and teachers on

"Ways to select and read books to children".

 

Workshop for children on

"Ways to use one's imagination for memory power".

 

A photo is here.

 

Contact

sagasrus.lax@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/sagasrus

https://www.instagram.com/sagas_r_us_laxmibalaji

youtube.com/@Sagas-R-Us

 

 

3

Sanjukta Bhowmik.  (Based in Philadelphia.)

Sanjukta is an academician with a doctorate in chemistry.  She has 15 years of teaching and research experience, primarily in Mumbai.  Presently she is living in Philadelphia, where she is a faculty member at Thomas Jefferson University, and also volunteers as a tutor for immigrants.

 

Sanjukta's love for teaching led her to storytelling, which she often uses in her teaching and tutoring.  She believes storytelling is an art form with a deep impact in every aspect of human life.

 

Sanjukta is the cofounder of “obo”, a digital storytelling platform.  The objective of "obo" is to create a space dedicated to promoting storytellers and their art.  Storytellers could also earn money through their work on "obo".  In short, “obo” gives the power back to storytellers, enabling them to create a (for now) audio-only online experience customised for each listener. 

 

So let's all tell our stories with “obo”!

 

Contact info

 

obootaarthespeakingelephant@gmail.com

 

Whatsapp (India):  +91-9323877498

 

Phone (USA):  +1-484-745-7425

 

"obo" on Google Playstore:

Obo–storymobile, Audio stories - Apps on Google Play

 

"obo" on Apple Store

 

 

4

Sonia Bareja.  Founder of Storyknack.

(Based in Portugal.)

Sonia Bareja is a Chief Story Coach and Founder of StoryKnack™, a brand unit of Stories & Narratives, a consulting and coaching firm.  Stories & Narratives provides businesses and academia (schools, colleges and universities) with workshops and other programs that facilitate the knack of storytelling.

     Sonia is fondly known as Pied Piper Sonia in the storytelling world, is an incisive professional with 20 years of varied experience as an Entrepreneur, Educator, Storyteller, Wellness and Personality Development Coach and Mentor, and Sales and Marketing Professional.

     Sonia has been involved in harnessing and developing creativity in corporates, professionals, young adults, and children.  She has earned a Master of Business Administration degree (MBA).  Peers, mentors, and her audience members often vouch for Sonia’s versatility, enthusiasm, and undying passion and commitment.  She’s a firm believer in "Learning by Doing" and practices the policy of "Success via Constant Motivation."  She is a creative Demonstrator cum Educator.

     Sonia's storytelling career spans over the past 9 years.  She has been a Professional Storyteller since 2012.  She started with Corporate Storytelling.  From the early days, her sessions featured Activity-based Storytelling.  She also conducted sessions on Sexuality and Wellness in schools.  Ever since she has been conducting performance-based storytelling across schools, colleges, and festivals.  Sonia clocked-in with over 300 sessions in a span of twenty-four months in 2018 and 2019.

     Sonia's strengths are around communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.  She has often been appreciated for strong voice throw, voice modulation, and clear narration.  She also brings poetry, singing, and music into her Storytelling Sessions.

     Some of the sessions Sonia often leads are:

1) Performance Storytelling Sessions for children, teachers, and parents.

2) Workshops on Storytelling in schools, colleges, and universities.

3) Workshops on Sexual Health, Child Safety, Peer Pressure, and Bullying.

4) Storytelling Sessions in Festivals for children, teachers, and parents.

5) Theatrics and Communication Workshops for children.

6) Wellness Workshops in corporatations and schools.

7) Train the Trainer Program for teachers and parents.

8) Workshops on and for specially-abled children.

     Sonia conducts cutomised workshops relating to the above-mentioned topics -- including for underprivileged children, and children in orphanages.

     She firmly believes that “Telling stories is the most fundamental way of communication.  Stories have power.  It does not matter who the audience members are -- if one is a good storyteller, he or she can surely help to bring about the desired change in the audience members."

     A photo of Pied Piper Sonia is here.

Contact

Whatsapp -- +91 98116 67850

Email -- soniabareja76@gmail.com

Website -- https://storyknack.com

Facebook -- https://facebook.com/StoryKnac

Linked In -- storyknack

Instagram -- @storyknack

 

 

 

 

 

 

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