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Network Chennai (the world's first map of professional storytellers in a city, it seems). Also: in Chennai Storytellers (56) 1) S.W. Alvin. 5) Anusha
Ramasamy. 6) Banumathy
H. 8) Debjani
Bhaduri. 9) Divya Anand. 10) Divya
Vijayakumar. 12) Geetha
Kailasam. 13) Geethanjali
Javed. 14) Haritha
Kannan. 15) Indu Divya. 16) Jayanthi B. 17) Kalyan Babu. 18) Kanagadurga
Ramesh (Kanaga). 20) Kavitha
Thyagarajan. 21) Lalitha
Thilak. 23) Manjula
Karthikeyan. 24) Mohan
Krishnan. 25) P. Mohan
Raj. 26) Monisha S. 27) Mubeen
Irshad. 28) Nazrin M.
29) Padma
Rangaraj. 30) Periya
Nayaki. 31) Pooja Giri. 32) Pretigaya
Haran. 33) Priti
Sudarsan. 35) Priya
Palanikumar. 36) Radha
Balaraman. 37) Ramya
Arivazhagan. 38) Renu Meera. 39) Renu Narayan. 40) Sabapathy
Narayanan (Saba). 41) Samatha
Sharma. 42) Sandhya
Ruban. 43) K.
Shanmugasundaram (Shan). 44) Shifa Mustafa. 46) Shyama Sridharan. 51) Sudha
Umashanker. 52) Suriya
Lakshmi. 53) Vasugi Ram
Manohar. 54) K.R. Vidhyaa. 55) Vithya
Dhanaraj. 56) Zarin M.
S.W. Alvin. Alvin
is a Storyteller and Creativity Trainer.
He seeks to deliver Peace, Joy, and Goodness through stories, and also
to help individuals discover the knowledge of their true selves, and identify
their inborn potentials.
Alvin's Storytelling and Training Company is Regina Pacis - Zone of Confidence. Regina Pacis trains Teachers regarding
Storytelling, Communication, and Personality Development. Alvin also teaches Spoken English classes
for students and professionals. Alvin has developed a 2-week Personality
Development module called "LIKES" (Life Inspiring Knowledge
Enriching Stories) for people of the age group 12 to 17 years. If you might be interested to have this
module in your institution, please contact Alvin. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact alvinansa@gmail.com 2 Ambujavalli N. (Ambuja). Ambujavalli – an IT professional turned storyteller-trainer and public
speaker – strongly believes that good stories spread healthy
happiness. She is known for the performance elements (music,
movements, humour) that she weaves into her stories. She is
comfortably bilingual (English and Thamizh). Audiences love her
energy, humour, and more importantly, her spontaneity and connectivity. Age group : 4 years and older
(no upper limit). Genre : Folktales; Classical stories;
Personal stories; Indian mythology and legends. Style: Performance based with music
(rhythms), movements (dance) and humour occasionally with instruments (veena,
tambourine, etc). Festival Performances - National & International 1. PINKS
– Penang International Kids Festival 2022 – Malaysia. 2. AKT
Festival 2022 – Singapore. 3. Malaysian
Kids Festival organized by Pustaka Nageri Sarawak 2021. 4. FEAST
Fest 2021. 5. National
storytelling festival for adults 2022 by CSMVS – Mumbai (A dance story). 6. Under
the Aalamaram by Kathai Kalatta – 2018. 7. Chennai
Storytelling Festival 2017-2023. In the Media 1. TV
– Interview - Indian National TV - Podhigai (Live). 2. Guest
of Honour – Indian National TV - Podhigai (Live). 3. Featured
– Podhigai TV, Kalaingnar TV, Makkal TV. 4. Radio
– All India Radio (English & Thamizh), Bengaluru community radio. Signature Workshops 1. Mudras and Rhythms - Imbibing Indian rhythms and
dance mudras into stories - FEAST International Conference 2019. 2. Animate a Story – Adding elements of music,
movements, and humour to a story - CSF 2023. 3. Katha Cookery – Storytelling workshop for adults
(teachers, parents, aspiring tellers). 4. StoReveal – Storytelling workshop for children. 5. Teaching subjects using stories. A few more feathers in her cap 1. Interim Director 2023 – Federation of Asian
Storytellers (FEAST). 2. One of the authors of FEAST's 2019 Anthology,
"Royals, Wise and Otherwise". 3. Workshop Leader/Co-Leader, Chennai Storytelling
Festival 2017-23. 4. Part of the Tamil Nadu Government Education
Department's "Story Corner" project. 5. Curator of Spiritual series that combines slokas and
stories of deities: "All in All Aadhyantha", "Spectacular
Shiva", "Versatile Vishnu", “Dynamic Devis”, “Kurumbukara
Kanna”, “Radiant Ramayana”, “Astounding Aazhwaars” ... 6. Visiting faculty – Storytelling as an elective for
college students. Contact ambujavalli@gmail.com +91 99625 27135 http://www.facebook.com/Ambujavalli.Nagarajan https://instagram.com/ambujavalli_nagarajan https://www.youtube.com/user/ambujavallin/featured (Over 1.8k subscribers). 3 Annapoorani Barani. Annapoorani
is a storyteller, a theatre artist with Veshadharis, a carnatic singer, a
writer on holistic growth for Life Positive
and The Teenager Today, and a
sales and marketing manager. She has pursued theatre, music, yoga,
and writing in numerous capacities and believes these activities have helped
to mould her into the multifaceted professional she is today. She loves to blend her knowledge of music,
yoga, and fitness into her storytelling, and she believes this blending has a
powerful impact on her audience members. An ardent reader of books of all genres
and a lover of mythology, one can often find Annapoorani engrossed in
watching movies or reading stories pertaining to mythology and other tales of
various cultures. Her love for stories
is coupled with a penchant for exploring the hidden facets and lessons in
stories. Annapoorani is fluent in Tamil and
English. Her story repertoire
includes: Mythology (Hindu and other), Animal Fables (Aesops' fables,
Panchatantra stories, etc), and adaptations of classic tales. As a storyteller and storytelling workshop
leader, Annapoorani can customise sessions for all age groups. A video recording of Annapoorani telling
an original fictional story is here.
--- Contact annu199@gmail.com 97910
54616 4 Anuradha C.R. Anuradha is a storyteller who
hosts storytelling sessions under the name of "Story Clouds". She believes that storytelling is a very
powerful tool to transmit our social and emotional values to children. She loves to be with children and has
developed a fun-filled technique to bring out their individual talents in
telling and discussing stories, and in doing arts and crafts. She leads storytelling programs at schools and
shelter homes, and also conducts training sessions for pre-school teachers. Anuradha is fluent in Marathi, Tamil,
and English. Her story collection
includes Mythology, Folktales, and Animal Fables. Anuradha also runs an activity center
for children in Chennai to develop their soft skills. She is a postgraduate in Business
Administration and has ten years of experience administrating pre-schools. A photo is here. A
recording of Anuradha telling a story in Chennai Storytelling Festival 2022
is here. A recording of her telling the story,
"Annual Hair Cut Day", is here. --- Contact storyclouds81@gmail.com 98849 13130 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Atstoryclouds Instagram: Anuradha.Ragunanthan 5 Anusha Ramasamy. Anusha is passionate about
telling stories to children. She believes stories and
storytelling can be used 1) to teach children good moral
values, 2) to help shape children's
minds, and 3) to encourage children to
develop reading and writing habits. Anusha is the founder and
director of Once
Upon a Time. She conducts
storytelling sessions on weekends in Ashok Nagar and Royapettah. Her summer camp storytelling sessions have
been very popular. A photo of Anusha telling a story
is here. Anusha also holds a Masters
degree in Psychology. Contact: 93447 79430 anushram@yahoo.com Facebook, Anusha Ramasamy's Once Upon a Time. 6 Banumathy
H. Banumathy
is the Founder-Director of Fables n Tales. She believes that stories can entertain and
educate. As part of the Government of Tamil
Nadu's "Children's Program", Banu has shared stories in Public
Libraries across Chennai. She is also a
member of the Government of Tamil Nadu's "Story Corner" project. Banu has told stories and conducted
workshops in Storytelling Festivals and schools across Tamil Nadu. She has performed for Regional and
International Radio Channels, for DD National Television, and with
International Storytelling Guilds. When Banu tells stories, she uses her
theatrical expertise to transport listeners to different worlds. Listeners make the story their own by
relating themselves to the characters.
Banu believes that by telling and/or
listening to a hero’s / heroine's story journey, and by deciphering the
metaphors of a story, one can enhance one's problem-solving skills, further
develop moral values and creative imagination, improve vocabulary, and even experience
healing. --- Storytelling-related
Services Offered (online): --- *
Regular Saturday storytelling sessions for children aged 4-9. --- * Interactive
storytelling sessions using puppets for all occasions. --- *
Customised intensive workshop, "Introduction to Storytelling and Its
Elements", for all age groups. --- *
Workshop on making and using puppets. --- *
Workshop for parents on reading and telling stories to their children. --- Contact 80560
50606 banumathy81@gmail.com --- https://www.facebook.com/FablesnTales --- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ZvmWi3dsZB8aMbqSj_FLQ --- Instagram:
fablesntales Daniel Joseph. Daniel
uses Storytelling to teach English language.
He is a certified TESOL instructor.
Together with his wife, Christina Joseph, he directs Virginia Language
Training (VLT), which is based in Pallavaram (just south of
Chennai airport). VLT, formerly known as VATD (Virginia
Academy of Training and Development), provides English Language training to a
number of schools, including Shikshaa Matriculation Hr. Sec. School, in
Hasthinapuram (near Chromepet), St. Stephen's and St. Sebastain's in
Pallavaram, CSI Bains School in Kodingaiyur, CSI Ewarts Annanagar, and more
schools all over Tamilnadu. VLT has conducted English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction for over 50,000 students,
using innovative and creative fun-filled activities such as Storytelling,
Theatre, Mime, Puppetry, and Arts and Crafts, to help children develop their
language abilities. Two excellent
Storytelling and Language trainers -- Maria Lincoln and Sabatina Cornielle --
contribute to the strength of the VLT team.
Recently we have added even more Storytellers to our team. Virginia Language Training is now
conducting Online Classes for children all over the world, providing programs
in Storytelling to Learn English, Moral
Values, Good Behaviour, and about Different Cultures for young people in
India, USA, Canada, and Brazil. Contact 88258
79393, 99406 13580 danygetsit@gmail.com Pallavaram,
Chennai - 43 Facebook, Virginia Language
Training 8 Debjani Bhaduri. Debjani
enjoys telling stories, and also giving instruction in Storytelling, to
people of all ages. She brings a lot
of humor and fun to her Storytelling work. Debjani is a post-graduate in English
literature. She has taught in a
college in Bangalore; and in Bala Vidya Mandir, Gandhinagar, Chennai. Currently she is conducting phonics classes
for children in Besant Nagar and Thiruvanmiyur. She also teaches communication skills and
story-theatre classes for teenagers and adults in Adyar and Thiruvanmiyur. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 98402
76914 debjani.bhdr@gmail.com Facebook,
Debjani Bhaduri 9 Divya Anand. Divya
finds great passion in her craft as a storyteller for young children. She has been in the IT industry for a
while, along side which she has also been doing voice overs for promos,
corporate videos, documentaries, and the like. So the power of voice and
expressive speech found a natural meandering into the world of storytelling,
which one can apply to entertain as well as to educate. Voice, action, fun, and more give flight to
the characters and bring the story alive.
Her stories entertain, and in the process also cultivate the need and
sense to be grounded with healthy beliefs and value systems for oneself. A photo of Divya is here. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 98404
26260 dhivyaanand1110@gmail.com Divya A's
website is here. 10 Divya
Vijayakumar. Divya
is a Storyteller, an Educator, and a Quiz Curator. She is a BE (Bachelor of Engineering)
Computer Science graduate, and has worked in the IT field. However, from her early years, Divya has
also been a book lover: her favorite genres of stories are mythology and
folktales. Divya's storytelling journey started
when she was telling stories to her own children, and then when she handled
reading sessions for children. Her
inspiration to use stories in education came through a workshop in Chennai
Storytelling Festival 2019. In that
same year, Divya founded Skill Tree,
marking the beginning of her career as an entrepreneur in the field of
education. Divya believes that storytelling is an
effective tool for facilitating learning and development in children. Listening to, discussing, and telling
stories helps with their brain development, encourages creative thinking and
problem solving abilities, and helps them improve their
interpersonal-communication-social skills. Through Skill Tree, Divya conducts
(online and offline) story sessions for children aged 4 to 10 years. The stories especially relate to science
and math. She explores and works on
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) story sessions to
communicate the concepts and facts to children in ways that are more likely
to be remembered by them. She loves
using puppets, sing-alongs, and language-games to deliver her stories. After she tells a story to children, she
often invites them to participate in a related art activity, or some other activity. Her interest in arts and crafts led her
to develop sessions which combine storytelling and origami under the name,
"Storigami". She has led
"Storigami" sessions in numerous schools. Divya has completed the World
Storytelling Institute's 10-session Storytelling Workshop. She has also attended Storytelling
Workshops led by Geeta Ramanujam of Kathalaya, and Alvin SW. She has told stories in a FEAST story swap,
and in a Katha Potpourri organized by KathaVriksh. Divya has conducted an online
storytelling contest titled, "The Narrator". She also conducts phonics, reading, Vedic
math, and Indian folk art and craft classes for children. Divya's vision is to use storytelling
for education, to lead storytelling workshops for children, creating a space
in which the children can develop
their storytelling talents and -- among other things -- learn STEM concepts
from mythology and folktales. A photo is here. Contact 88385
00794 skilltree1513@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/skilltreecentre Instagram:
skill.tree 11 Dr
Eric (PhD in Folklore, MSc in Psychology) is Scholar, Writer (Fiction and
Non-fiction), Storytelling and Writing Instructor, Psychological Counsellor,
Life Coach, and Storytelling Therapy Trainer. He is a native New Yorker, settled in
Chennai. --- Dr
Eric co-founded and directs, A) The
World Storytelling Institute. B) The
Chennai
Storytelling Festival -- now approaching its 10th annual edition, in
Feb 2022. The Festival's schedule is here . C) The
Storytelling
Therapy Association of India. --- He
co-facilitates the Indian Storytelling Network
and the Chennai
Storytelling Association. --- He is
the Assistant Director of the East West Center for Counselling and
Training, and the Indian
Institute of Psychodrama. --- Four
trainings Dr Eric offers (currently via Zoom) are: --- 1 "Storytelling Workshop" (for
adults) -- 10
sessions (with a group of 12 people at most, usually). Info
is here. --- 2 "Professional Storyteller"
training and certification (for Storytelling Workshop graduates) -- 4
sessions (one-on-one). Info
is here. --- 3 "Storytelling Therapy: Using Stories and
Storytelling for Life Coaching and Psychological Counselling"
training -- 8
sessions (one-on-one). Trainees
apply the Storytelling Therapy method to themselves in order to learn how to
apply it to others. Reviews of this
training are here
and here. No
requirements. Additional training info is here. --- 4 "Storytelling and Psychodrama"
group workshop. With
co-trainer Ms Magdalene
Jeyarathnam (TED Talk). One of our past workshops is described here. --- All of
the above is occurring primarily via Zoom. One-on-one sessions could also
occur in Dr Eric's office just off Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai. --- Dr
Eric also helps to provide Storytellers for any occasion (in Tamil, English,
and other languages). --- Links
to 91 newspaper, etc, articles mentioning Dr Eric's work are here. --- Links
to 83 of Dr Eric's writings are here. --- Regarding
Videoconferencing: --- Dr
Eric has been working with Storytelling and Videoconferencing since the early
1990s (almost 30 years ago). --- Links
to 19 Storytelling-related Videoconferences he has co-facilitated are here. --- In
2017, Eric guest-edited "Ways
Storytellers are Using Audio- and Videoconferencing for Training, Discussion,
and Performance" -- a 12-page section of the USA National Storytelling
Network's Storytelling Magazine. --- Member,
Chennai Storytellers. Contact
eric@storytellinginstitute.org Geetha Kailasam. Geetha
is a Storyteller and Writer. She
conducts Storytelling and Theatre classes for children and adults, especially
in Besant Nagar. Geetha is is also a Certified Accountant
by qualification, and passionately teaches Accounts and Commerce to students
in the 11th and 12th Standards. Contact 99529
57031 geetha33@gmail.com 13 Geethanjali Javed. Geethanjali
directs the Spotlight Academy, through which she trains children in soft skills
using storytelling as one of the tools.
She conducts summer camps for children in the Academy. For many years, Geethanjali was a
teacher. She has a PG in English
Literature. She has studied
storytelling with Eric Miller (director, World Storytelling Institute) in
Chennai, and with Sherin Mathews in Mumbai. Geethanjali also trains teachers,
regarding ways to use storytelling to enhance children's English-language
speaking skills. She tells stories in
schools, libraries, NGOs, and social gatherings. She tries to inspire people by telling
personal stories which they could relate to regardless of religion, language,
ethnicity, etc. A person who always believes in
countries without borders, Geethanjali considers herself as an ambassador of
peace. A photo of Geethanjali is here. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 73583
25036 geethanjalijaved.gj@gmail.com 14 Haritha
Kannan. Haritha
is a passionate Storyteller, Translator, Educator, Script Writer, and
Voice-over Artist. Stories, books, and
illustrations always fascinated her.
Having the zeal to explore the possibilities of stories, in 2020
Haritha started her own venture StoryVandi, in which she leads
regular online and offline Storytelling sessions and LSRW (Listening,
Speaking, Reading, and Writing) enhancement sessions for children in Tamil
and English. Haritha loves to narrate stories for
children relating to Folklore; Diversity and Inclusion; STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Math); and History, Society, and the
Environment. She uses stories to help
children deepen their understandings of concepts taught in schools. She loves to nurture the potential and
imagination of children through stories and hands-on activities. These sessions include mindful activities
and physical movements. She encourages
children to use materials they find at home in her sessions. Haritha has been actively associated
with many events, such as: Thamizh Ilakiya Peruvizha 2022, Katha Potpourri by
KathaVriksh 2022, Exclusive Teller @ Talking Stories Radio London, Little Laudable Learners Show Day, ELF
English Guest Storyteller, Tamizhil Kathaigal Ketpom 2022, Chennai
Storytelling Festival 2022, and Two to Tango by BTB. She has won the "BTB Storyteller of
the Year 2020" Award. She is one
of the authors of the Anthology, “Airavata 2”, published by Mayaakatha and
Ukiyoto. She has completed the MOOC (Massive Open
Online Course), "Flourishing with Positive Psychology and
Storytelling", using open educational resources. She has worked as a She-For-She Mentor,
Creative Thinking Mentor, and Story Mentor for an NGO. Haritha has been a Partner Educator at the
esteemed educational institute, Little Laudable Learners since July 2021. Haritha regularly conducts theme-based
storytelling sessions for children 4 to 14 years old. She writes her own short stories and has
actively participated in numerous storytelling and creative writing events. She has hosted over 40 storytelling and
poetry events. Haritha also conducts
curated storytelling sessions for adults. A photo is here. Contact
info 96885
77957 storyvandiharithak@gmail.com
15 Indu Divya. Indu
is a professional storyteller, trainer and content developer. She believes deeply in the magic of
storytelling as a medium to engage with people. Personal-experience storytelling is the
type of storytelling she most enjoys and considers her forte. She has trained under Jeeva Raghunath. Indu has conducted storytelling workshops
and has staged public performances for children. Indu is now focusing on engaging with
adult audiences through her storytelling.
She has recently founded The
Narrative, a company providing training/coaching
and content development services.
Storytelling is at the core of all the services offered by The Narrative: In addition to regular workshops, The
Narrative organises Live Themed Personal Storytelling Sessions for mature
audiences, once a month. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 98407
12328 indu.divya.247@gmail.com Facebook,
The
Narrative 16 Jayanthi
B. Jayanthi
has been an educator for over 20 years, teaching English. She has always enjoyed telling stories to children,
and telling these stories has always been very rewarding for her. She has also written some stories, but
telling stories is her favourite way to share the stories. Jayanthi has one more year of service in
teaching, after which she plans to completely involve herself in
storytelling. Jayanthi has started a Youtube channel,
"Jayanthi’s
5-minute stories". She has
uploaded numerous recordings of her telling stories about Krishna. These videos have over 250 views. She is planning to upload her tellings of
fairy tales and other folk tales also. Jayanthi likes to tell stories online
and offline. She also conducts
storytelling workshops for children. A photo is here. Contact 99400
51023 jayanthib6@gmail.com "Jayanthi’s
5-minute stories" on Youtube. 17 Kalyan Babu (a.k.a., Uncle Kay). A
senior management professional and newly minted theatre coach, Kalyan’s love
for theatre brought him into the world of storytelling. A voracious reader of books of all genres
since his childhood, over the years Kalyan has assembled a personal library
of over 1,200 titles and counting. Kalyan is the Creative Director of ReaderzForge,
an after-school book reading and theatre program. ReaderzForge came into existence as a
direct result of the ongoing pandemic.
Having dabbled in theatre during his younger days, Kalyan always
dreamed of going back to his theatre roots in some way but, as is usual,
there were always other ‘urgent’ priorities on the top of the list. But as COVID-19 wreaked havoc and India
went into a long lockdown in March 2020, Kalyan began reading Harry Potter
books for the kids at Narthanam to ease their boredom and the experience was
so fulfilling that it led to the launch of ReaderzForge in July 2020. ReaderzForge offers a variety of reading
and theatre activities for children in the 5-16 years age group with focus on
building greater English communication skills, enabling creativity, team
building and improving their Emotional Quotient (EQ). As part of the offerings, Kalyan conducts a
weekly storytelling session for kids – Kathas by Uncle Kay (K-bUK). He
incorporates elements of theatre in storytelling and is known for using
voices and acting to dramatic effect. Kalyan is a Postgraduate in Management
and spent 11 years climbing the rungs of the KPO industry before retiring
from the corporate world as Senior Vice President - Global Delivery. He has spent the last 10 years working as a
Management Consultant. In addition to
his professional commitments, Kalyan helps manage the various activities of
Narthanam Chennai, a Bharatanatyam dance school. Narthanam Chennai and ReaderzForge are part
of Narthanam School of Performing Arts (Madipakkam, Chennai) which he runs
along with his wife Gayathri, a Finance / IT professional and a Bharatanatyam
dancer. A photo of Kalyan is here. Contact Phone
/ Whatsapp: +91 93822 09157 readerzforge@gmail.com
18 Kanagadurga Ramesh (Kanaga). Kanaga
is the founder-director of the Storytelling organisation, Alabanza.
She is a teacher by profession, and has worked with children in the
classroom for many years. She is a
certified trainer of Montessori kindergarten teachers. She is also a language instructor,
regarding the Spanish language especially.
She has attended an English Language Course at the British Council,
and has passed the "Test of English as a Foreign Language Exam"
(TOEFL). Kanaga is an experienced storyteller and
mono-dramatist. She is an
enthusiastic, creative, and imaginative person, and is well able to use her
acting skills to express feelings. She
has attended a "Seven-session Storytelling Workshop" and a
"Workshop on Storytelling for Personality Development" at the World
Storytelling Institute. Kanaga can combine, in customised
workshops, instruction / training in languages and other subjects (including
storytelling and mono-drama) -- for children, teens, and adults. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 99625
72169 cvkanagadurga14@gmail.com 19 Member, Chennai Storytellers. 20 Kavitha Thyagarajan. Kavitha
is a storyteller and founder of Once Upon a Time ... Tells a Tale. She enjoys telling interactive stories to
young children between the ages of 3 and 10 years. She has given storytelling performances in
many activity centres, such as Chennai Hippocampus, Oyster Kids, and Kart
Wheel; at Odyssey book store; and for some leading schools. She includes art and craft work in her
sessions. Kavitha conducts regular storytelling
sessions at her space in RA Puram - Kavitha's Storytelling Space ! Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 99400
36390. kaviswe@gmail.com Facebook,
Once Upon a Time
... Tells a Tale 21 Lalitha Thilak. Lalitha
believes stories are the most effective medium to pass on an idea or thought;
and that a storyteller is a vital bridge between the story and the listener,
and has to ensure that the essence of the story reaches the audience. Lalitha's first experience of
storytelling occurred when she was telling bedtime stories to her two little
girls. She realised how much they
enjoyed this experience. Today as
teenagers they fondly recollect the stories.
And like Lalitha, they are avid readers. Listening to stories helps children to
think, learn, and grow. Through her storytelling,
Lalitha seeks to create lasting impressions on children, kindling their
imaginations and encouraging their curiosities. This is the vision of her storytelling
venture, Speak Through
Stories. Through this program, she conducts
storytelling sessions on weekends with children in two age-groups:
5-7-year-olds and 8-12-year-olds.
These sessions are interactive.
The children have ample opportunities to express their own
perspectives. Before the pandemic, Lalitha also
conducted storytelling sessions for 9th and 10th standard girls in a
government school. These sessions
mostly involved stories related to life skils, and occurred in a combination
of Tamil and English. Lalitha's goal is to continue to
entertain, enrich, and create a positive impact though her storytelling. A photo is here. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Video
recordings In Chennai
Storytelling Festival 2022, Lalitha told two stories: an original story, and a mythological story. She also co-led a Chennai Storytellers workshop titled,
"Heal and Transform through Art". In the April 2022 session of the
"Storytelling by and for Adults" series, Lalitha told this story. Contact 91766
82108 lalithathilak79@gmail.com The Speak Through Stories
program. Lavanya Srinivas. Lavanya
is a Storyteller, Trainer, Author, and Translator. She is the founder-director of Katha Kamamishu, A
World of Stories. As a Soft-skills
Trainer, Lavanya is certified by Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University,
Hyderabad. She conducts Activity-based Storytelling Workshops for
children and adults, in Classrooms, Colleges, and Corporate settings. She uses Storytelling as a powerful tool
for Effective Communication, Ensuring Employability, and Enriching Human Lives;
for Enabling Personal Success, Self Confidence, and Self Expression; for
Language Learning and Cross-cultural Trainings; and for helping people to
develop Creativity in general, as well as in fields such as Music, Dance,
Literature, and Advertising and Branding.
Her Storytelling Workshops are educational, enriching, entertaining,
and empowering. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 98844
72301 laavanyasrinivas@gmail.com www.kathaakamamishu.blogspot.in Additional
info about Katha Kamamishu is here. 23 Manjula Karthikeyan. Manjula
is a Software Developer turned Storyteller.
She enjoys telling stories to children. She is inspired by the various storytelling
sessions she has attended in the USA.
She includes singing, puppetry, and arts and crafts, along with
storytelling. Manjula focuses on
improving the morals, speech, communication, and social skills of children
via storytelling. She is a graduate of
a seven-session storytelling workshop for adults conducted by Eric Miller,
Director, World Storytelling Institute. Contact 97907
27987 manju_bkse@yahoo.co.in 24 Mohan Krishnan ( @Mohan
Kabir ). Mohan
is a Storyteller, Happiness Coach, and Wellness Curator. He is an accomplished Human Resource
trainer. Mohan uses storytelling
techniques to train people in soft skills and communication regarding
products and services, especially in software and financial services
companies. He also utilises
storytelling techniques for coaching and mentoring. Using storytelling techniques for
recruitment and for performance appraisals are innovative concepts he has
introduced. Mohan conducts regular storytelling
sessions, drawing from Indian epics, folklore, and history to inculcate
values, motivation, and inspiration.
He is an exponent of the 15th Century Saint Poet Kabir Das and uses
Kabir’s couplets (doha) for conveying life lessons Mohan conducts storytelling workshops
for teachers, Human Resource professionals, parents, grandparents, and young
adults. He is fluent in four languages
(Tamil, Hindi, Bengali, and English).
He often includes singing in storytelling. Taboo tales, and immersive and experiential
storytelling are two of his innovative and creative storytelling
techniques. His performances, talks,
and workshops synergise elements of enterTRAINment (teaching-and-learning
through entertainment). In a previous avatar he was a senior
executive with the Reserve Bank of India and has an impressive record of
service. Mohan directs the Madras Tale Spinners, a team of accomplished storytellers. Contact 98403
22236 rbi.mohan@gmail.com --- https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohan-krishnan-0b646615 --- https://www.facebook.com/rbi.mohan --- https://gr8gurusblog.blogspot.com --- https://www.instagram.com/mohankabir --- https://www.youtube.com/user/rbimohan/featured --- https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/verses-two-good/article5785025.ece 25 P.
Mohan Raj. P. Mohan
Raj is a Chemist (MSc and MPhil in Chemistry), having 15 years of experience
in the Pharmaceutical Industry in Research and Development Depts. He is also a part-time professional
Voice-over Artist working in relation to e-Learning, presentations,
documentaries, motivational speaking, and storytelling. Mohan Raj is passionate about telling
stories to various kinds of people. He
believes stories and storytelling can be used for, 1)
Self-learning. 2)
Emphasising good moral values. 3)
Helping with decision-making. 4)
Encouraging reading, writing, and public speaking. 5)
Enabling a person to be more compassionate, empathetic, and socially
friendly. 6)
Motivating for self-improvement. Links to a number of Mohan Raj's various
genres/types of recordings on Youtube are here. A photo is here. Contact 94434
53406 mohanspmr@gmail.com http://vijayamohanvoiceover.com 26 Monisha
S. Monisha
is a dedicated school teacher, and an avid storyteller. She believes in bringing life into any
story she tells. Her voice modulations
and character-driven enacting bring the stories to life. She integrates rhymes and songs in her
storytelling to engage the children.
She often uses puppets.
Children of all ages are captivated by her performance and enthusiasm. Monisha designs her storytelling so that
it enhances the child’s imagination and creativity to full potential. She believes storytelling is an effective
medium to convey morals and values.
She makes storytelling engaging in such a way that it encourages the
children to bring out their communication skills and build on their social
skills. Monisha offers workshops for children
ages 2 to 10. She also conducts
storytelling training seminars for teachers.
She is fluent in Tamil and English.
A photo is here. Contact 89254
11959 monisha060695@gmail.com On
Instagram as "feltquietbooks" 27 Mubeen Irshad. Mubeen
is a very passionate Storyteller. She has
told stories at “Storython 2016” (an 8-hour storytelling event), Anna
Library, Accenture, and at various other events. She regularly conducts storytelling
performance-and-training sessions for children at Swarna Sudarshan Hall, in
Kovilambakkam, Chennai. She also
conducted these sessions at other locations. In 2016, she gave storytelling
training to approximately 500 children.
Mubeen releases free audio stories
through Whats App every week through her own brand, Story Carpet. She has
penned positive rhymes for children: these rhymes have been heard more than
400k times on YouTube within a span of 6 months. She has also penned 30 Rebus stories for
children which are also on YouTube.
She has published a number of articles in an International acclaimed
Magazine. She underwent storytelling training in
the World Storytelling Institute with Dr Eric Miller. She is a blogger, public speaker, Emcee,
and an ardent Toastmaster. She is also
a health geek: you can find her in the yoga studio every day. Mubeen’s primary mission is to infuse
positive ripples in the minds of young children through stories. She offers customised classes on Creative
Writing, Public Speaking, and Storytelling, for Schools, Colleges, and
Corporates. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact SMS/Call/Whats
app: 96770 70837 Website,
www.storycarpet.com Blog, http://thepositiveripples.blogspot.in Facebook,
Story Carpet 28 Nazrin M. Nazrin,
a B.E. (Bachelor of Engineering) graduate, is a dynamic and enthusiastic
person. She is certified as a
"Professional Storyteller" by the World Storytelling Institute
(based in Chennai). She is also a
motivational speaker, has undergone various other Storytelling Workshops, and
holds a diploma in Fine Arts. Nazrin has a strong belief that
Storytelling could help one to become increasingly self-motivated,
independent, and able to achieve one’s goals.
She believes Storytelling could help everyone, irrespective of
age, 1) To
follow one’s own passion, irrespective of hurdles one might come across. 2) To
become more confident. 3) To
boost one’s morale. 4) To
feel, and connect with, a common humanity. Nazrin customizes sessions of
Storytelling, Storytelling-related activities, and Coaching in Storytelling,
according to the age group and occasion.
Contact 98844
17134 29 Padma
Rangaraj. Padma has been in the teaching
field for a number of years, alongside which she has also been doing
voice-overs for documentaries and corporate videos. An experience that catapulted her into
the world of storytelling was anchoring a school event, when she noticed how
the power of effective narration can transmit an idea or thought to a
listener. It was a “Eureka moment” in
which she discovered her passion for the craft of storytelling for people of
all ages. This experience led Padma to venture
into the world of storytelling, which can be a channel to address emotional
or social issues. Through stories the
target audience could understand the deep connections between humans, nature,
and all living beings. Padma believes
it is ideal for storytellings to be followed by discussions and activities,
to promote causes that will credit experiences. Padma has earned Bachelor of Education
and Bachelor of Psychology degrees and has undergone Montessori teacher
training, all of which helps Padma to intuitively handle the curiosity of
children’s imaginations in numerous ways. Training and certifications: "Woven Words" workshop, led by
Renu Narayan. "Storytelling for
Teachers and Educators", led by Surekha Dey. "Storytelling Workshop for Adults"
(10 sessions) led by Eric Miller, World Storytelling Institute. Performance and participation:
Kathavriksh storytelling sessions, and Story clouds storytelling sessions. Padma is fluent in Tamil, English,
Hindi, and Kannada. A photo is here. A recording of Padma telling a story in
Chennai Storytelling Festival 2023 is here. A recording of her telling a story in the
"Storytelling by and for Adults" series is here.
Contact 94493 50361 priyapadma641@gmail.com 30 Periya Nayaki. Periya
Nayaki is a Transpersonal Storyteller, Trainer, and Psychologist. She believes all that is needed for people
to live to their complete potential is within them, right here and right now! Periya Nayaki uses stories as a tool to
create loving environments with respective personal spaces where the
individuals (be they children, youth, or adults) are allowed to explore their
higher selves and manifest greater possibilities. She uses metaphors, mythology, folklore,
movies, day-to-day events, and personal experiences for stories. Periya Nayaki conducts customized
workshops and trainings based on individual requirements in personal
settings, and in the virtual space as well.
She has worked with many students, teachers, and parents over the
years and has learned one sure thing: If love cannot nothing else can and
sometimes silence is the best untold story! Contact 99652
23119 nayaki@gmail.com 31 Pooja Giri. Pooja
combines passion for storytelling, with creativity and entertainment. She engages audience attention with
participative narratives, and often intersperses her presentations with
interesting activities that enhance listener involvement. Pooja has a rich repertoire of tales and
fables from ancient lands of oral tradition such as Africa, China, India,
Turkey, Indonesia, and Ukraine. She
also composes, and writes and tells her own stories. Pooja has performed in schools, at book stores
and birthday parties, and for informal groups. She is the founder-director of Thangam
Talkies. She conducts regular programmes at The Storytelling
Studio, R A Puram, Chennai.
Pooja conductied a Storytelling Session for Children on Saturday 6
June 2015 at Starmark in Phoenix Mall (Velachery). The event poster is here. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 97910
81117 poojagiri@yahoo.com Facebook,
Thangam
Talkies Instagram,
Thangamtalkies2010 32 Pretigaya Haran. Pretigaya Haran is a Storyteller and a Trainer of Public
Speaking, Communication, and Drama.
She conducts weekly Storytelling-theatre workshops for children at
iSpark, Goplapuram, in association with the World Storytelling
Institute. She also conducts weekly
Story sessions and Public Speaking classes for middle school children in a
school in Chennai. Pretigaya has had the
joy of sharing stories at numerous venues, including Schools (Baal Niketan,
and Sherwood Hall); Libraries (Anna Centenary Library, and Just Books);
Children’s Centres (Buzy Bee, iSpark, Nutshell Kids, and Saaransh); and a
Spoken English Centre (Communiqua). Pretigaya also leads
Storytelling workshops for adults who use Storytelling as a tool to teach
school curriculum, behavioural aspects, and values and morals, to
children. She has conducted
Teacher-training workshops in schools such as Terapanthi Jain Vidyalaya, KRM
Public School, Kalgi Matriculation School, and Sherwood Hall Senior Secondary
School. She has also conducted
Storytelling workshops for college students and adults in the Chennai
Storytelling Festival. Pretigaya has trained
children in Speech and Drama at Chennai branches of the Helen O'Grady Drama
Academy for over 3 years. She is very keen on drama. She has performed in English, Hindi, Urdu,
and Gujarati, in plays in London. For two consecutive years she has
performed in the annual "Living Satues of Marina Beach Heritage Walk",
an event in Madras Week. Here is a collage of photos of her performing
Kannagi (in English) on 23 August 2015. Pretigaya writes and direct skits
for children. She has been sharing
Jain stories with young children at the Vepery branch of Jain Sanskaar
Vatika, an All India School on Jain studies. She also directs the annual day play for
them. Pretigaya started Story Sack,
Everything Stories in March 2017 to formally give her work a
name. She is also part of a project
called Springboard Tales,
wherein a team of storytellers share monthly, theme-based story videos,
available for purchase at their website. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 80560 51247 pretigaya@yahoo.co.uk Facebook,
Story Sack,
Everything Stories 33 Priti Sudarsan. Priti has been spreading stories
since 2014. She started a venture
named Story
Voyage through which the participants are
transported by the stories to a different worlds, where the participants'
imaginary characters come to life. She
trains adults (teachers, parents, and others), teenagers, and children in
storytelling and other forms of communication. Priti is also a certified Alternative
Medical Counselor who connects psychology with stories to help children heal
better. It's a very innovative method
of combining Alternative Medical Science and stories. She has conducted various workshops,
participated in many storytelling festivals, and worked with many
storytellers from around the world. If Priti's profile
interests you, and you feel she might fit your bill, please contact her. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 99627
14870 pritis83@gmail.com Facebook,
Story Voyage 34 Priya Balasubramanian. Priya
B. is the Founder-Director of Kadhaikalam Vaanga, a storyteller's platform. To join the WhatsApp group of Kadhaikalam
Vaanga, please send a text containing this request to 99620 08610.
Also facilitated by Priya B: 1) "Solla Marandha Kadhai" --
a personal storytelling event for adults, for sharing our own experiences as
stories in a group. The stories can be
shared in either English or Tamil.
This event is conducted on the last Saturday of each month. The event poster will be shared in Kadhaikalam
Vaanga's Facebook page and WhatsApp group. 2) "Vellai Pookal" -- a
storytelling workshop for children and teenagers. The participants will be trained to create,
narrate, and write new stories in English, with art based activities to enhance
their creativity. 10 sessions (one
session a week), on Saturdays or Sundays. Contact 99620
08610. 95000
85690. kadhaikalamvaanga@gmail.com priyaprak2415@gmail.com A
flier about Priya B's work is here. Facebook,
Kadhaikalam Vaanga 35 Priya Palanikumar. Priya is
a freelance trainer and Founder-Director of Open Story, a
storytelling and theatre initiative. She
has performed in schools, libraries, social gatherings, at Podhigai TV series
and for events at festivals. She also
works with schools as drama teacher for annual day events and handles end to
end from scripting to staging of dance drama productions. She is the Director at Nimayaa, a theatre
unit of Bharataarpana Institute of Fine Arts. Her interest in Yoga and Bharatanatyam
help in integrating a lot of sound, silence and movement in her storytelling
style. Her favourite genres are
adapted folktales, mythology, biographies, and academics interwoven with
creativity and spontaneity. She
underwent training at the World Storytelling Institute from Dr. Eric Miller. Priya is also an acupuncture and yoga
practitioner who runs a centre called Yahvi yoga. As visiting faculty at a dance school, she
conducts story yoga sessions for young children (7-12 years). She offers customized workshops on
storytelling, basic theatre, healthy and mindful living, motivational public
speaking, communication, and gender perspectives. She is a textbook optimist who believes
the world is full of stories and all we need to do is listen. When she is not telling stories she ends up
thinking about all the characters in her line of work. Member, Chennai Storytellers Member, SpringBoard Tales Contact 90422
51513 openstoryworld@gmail.com Facebook,
Openstoryworld Instagram,
Openstoryworld 36 Radha Balaraman. Radha started her career as a software Engineer. She has become a Storyteller and
Educator. She loves reading and
telling stories to children. She is
inspired by the various storytelling sessions she attended in the USA. Her love of books is immeasurable. She loves to dance, sing, talk, and act --
and she includes all of these in her storytelling. Training received: 1) Diploma in Montessori Education. 2) "Performance Storytelling Course" by Ms Laura Simms
at Chennai Storytelling Festival 2020. 3) "Storytelling Workshop" by Dr Eric Miller, World
Storytelling Institute. 4) "Storytelling as Pedagogy Workshop" by Ms
ChitraKala Ramachandran. Radha currently works
as a teacher in a school where she includes storytelling in her
teaching. On weekends, she conducts
online storytelling sessions for children (5 to 8 years old). A photo is here. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 89396 07925 radhab2021@gmail.com 37 Ramya Arivazhagan. Ramya enjoys telling stories to children and believes
in enjoying the little things in life.
Storytelling turned into her passion when she started exploring the
world of stories, as she realised stories delighted her own children from
very young ages. She often includes
puppetry and arts-and-crafts in her storytelling. She would love to explore art-based storytelling in the coming
days, as she enjoys art and considers drawing to be one her strengths.
Ramya is an IT professional by career.
She has done her Foundation Course on storytelling from Kathalaya,
Bangalore. She has also done workshops
and hands-on training with Mr. Mohan Krishnan and Mrs. Lavanya Srinivas.
Her journey into professional storytelling started along with
like-minded friends, and mentor Mr. Mohan Krishnan. She and two other storytellers have
co-founded Kadhai
Kadhaiyaam. She has
performed storytelling sessions in summer camps, schools, activity centers
and libraries.
Kadhai Kadhaiyaam conducts regular storytelling sessions and workshops
in and around Velachery in schools, activity centers and libraries. Kadhai Kadhaiyaam experiments with
different styles of storytelling, such as tandem
storytelling and art-based
storytelling. Contact 98400
75308 kadhaikadhaiyaam@gmail.com 38 Renu Meera. Renu M
works especially with parents of children who have special needs. She listens to the parents' stories of their
own experiences, and tells them stories about other parents'
experiences. She seeks to use
storytelling to encourage, inspire, and educate these parents regarding ways
these parents could assist their own children. She also trains such parents to use
stories and storytelling to help their children improve their storytelling
and general communication abilities. Renu M is a graduate of the World
Storytelling Institute's 8-session Storytelling Workshop for adults. A photo of Renu M is here. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 98846
61803 annaimeera3@gmail.com 39 Renu Narayan. Renu N
is a graduate in English Literature.
She is a trained Montessori teacher.
After completing the Montessori course in 2004, Renu N made a paradigm
shift in the way she parented her own children. Her interaction with all children also
underwent a dramatic change -- increasing her understanding of and respect
for children, for who they are. She feels she has also learned a lot just by
spending more time as a storyteller with children. Renu N has always been a voracious reader. She reads even more now in the quest of
finding new stories for children. She
has always loved stories and storytelling. Telling stories to her two
daughters helped her to hone her storytelling skills. She is a nature and animal lover, and
incorporates these elements into her storytelling, so children could better
understand the deep connection between humans, nature, and all living beings.
Renu N has a storytelling initiative
called KathaVriksh. She conducts
regular storytelling sessions for children at various places in South
Chennai. These sessions are highly interactive. She helps them learn ways to draw and tell
a story. She teaches them crafts by reusing and recycling paper and other
materials that would otherwise be discarded.
This helps the children understand more about how important it is for
us to take care of our environment. Renu N also conducts open-mic themed
"personal-experience story" storytelling sessions for adults -- and
other kinds of storytelling sessions for adults. These sessions occur at
different venues in the city. She has started writing poems and
stories for children, and is planning to publish this material. A photo of Renu N is here. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 98410
13108 kathavrikshstories@gmail.com Facebook,
KathaVriksh Instagram,
KathaVriksh 40 Sabapathy
Narayanan (Saba). 41 Samatha
Sharma. Samatha
started her open-mic storytelling as a way to release from trauma and found
it deeply healing. She won the award
for Best Storyteller in Chennai Storytelling Festival 2016 which gave
her the confidence to take up storytelling professionally. Samatha has since then consistently
performed in many storytelling open-mics in India and Indonesia, and held
private-group sessions for Healing through Storytelling. Since Corona, she has been running her Youtube
Channel and now is slowly returning to in-person storytelling. She is
happy to be part of performing groups. Contact
info Samatha.express@gmail.com Whatsapp
: +91 9489482860 Sandhya
is the Creative Head of Eloquens.
Eloquens offers Member, Chennai Storytellers. Shan is a Trainer, Mentor, Coach, Graphic
Designer, and Content Developer. He is a Design Thinker. Shan directs Artworkshop & Communication,
which provides training in Storytelling, utilizing Storytelling to teach and
learn the curriculum (lessons), business storytelling, and
presentations. He specializes in
training students in Design Thinking, Learning Techniques, and Mind
Management. He has trained over 15,000
students and professionals in Chennai and elsewhere in Tamil Nadu. Shan is -- 1) A Trainer in Soft Skills and Life Skills, NLP
Program Trainer for Schools, and Colleges. 2) A Consultant and Workshop Leader for the Times
Group (NIE). 3) A Resource Person and Content Developer for
Oxford University Press. 4) A Resource Person for Four NGOs in Soft skills
and Life skills. 5) A Resource person and counsellor for EDII,
Tamil Nadu Govt. 6) A trainer for the World Bank's "Vazhndhu
Kattuvom" Project and travelled around Tamil Nadu to promote
Entrepreneurs. 7) A Trainer and counsellor for Bharatiya Yuva Sakthi
Trust (BYST, CII) and its Chairman of the Mentor Committee for Tamil Nadu.
His Training and counselling along with Corporate Storytelling training
immensely help Startups and Entrepreneurs in their business development. 8) His scripts for Tamil Nadu Govt., Medical
Colleges (including Dr. M.G.R. Medical University), and Hospitals have been
made into documentaries. His creative
write-ups have appeared in many advertising campaigns and in news media. Link 1: https://youtu.be/CUFpmcvXXf0 Link 2: https://youtu.be/D4JW2nTZx_o Link 3: https://youtu.be/7n1NG4pd4F0 Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 73388 88542. 98845 02478. Email: artworkshop@gmail.com Website: https://artworkshoponline.com 44 Shifa
Mustafa. Shifa has vast experience as a corporate
storyteller -- training individuals, and facilitating and developing teams
and team projects, in corporate settings.
She is an expert in sales training in the Information Technology (IT),
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), and Hospitality industries. She is also a certified voice and accent
trainer. One of her specialities is
helping people to identify and develop their strengths, aptitudes, and
potentials. Qualities that help to
make Shifa an exceptional coach, trainer, and storyteller include her
leadership skills, and her logical and systematic approaches to problems. Shifa
has traveled far and wide to hear stories of different states, cultures, and
countries. She has been inspired and
mentored by the internationally-acclaimed Mumbai-based storyteller, Sherin
Mathews. She has participated in a
number of school projects with Sherin Mathews and Storynest. Shifa
is a co-founder of MAST (Madras Association of Storytellers), which is
dedicated in part to using storytelling to help educate children. A photo of Shilfa is here. Contact 9884276871 shifa26@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/shifa.mustafa https://www.instagram.com/shifamustafa26 Shital is passionate to learn,
and to help others to learn. Her motto
is 'Learning never ends.’ She holds
multiple degrees, including a Masters degree in Psychology. Shital started her carreer as a
Storyteller. She has come a long
way. Her academic career and her
versatile industry experience make her an excellent all-around choice for
students and parents seeking education and career guidance and advice. Shital has 14 years of experience in
teaching and training. She is a
certified Storyteller and Storytelling Trainer, and is also a certified
Phonics Teacher/Trainer. She has
conducted Career Guidance and Behavior Improvement sessions through
storytelling with pre-teens and teens.
She trains teachers and children regarding Storytelling, Phonics,
and English Improvement. In addition, she has the expertise to help
children to enact stories through drama.
She has done all of the above in many schools and playschools in
Chennai. Shital loves to work with special needs
children and to give them support in various ways. Her start-up, Eduminds ("Our passion,
their future"), is a counseling and coaching company for children aged
10 years and older. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 98400
91290 sheetalsmagic@gmail.com 46 Shyama Sridharan. Shyama
is a Storyteller, Mime Artist, Certified NLP Practitioner, and Corporate
Trainer. She is a freelance
Storyteller and Trainer with 3 years of storytelling experience in public,
and more than 30 years of experience in using stories in corporate
environmements. She has performed in
various platforms and conducted storytelling workshops in schools and
training institutes. She has
experience in telling stories in children's activity centres in Chennai, and
has been part of the team implementing storytelling in teaching by the Tamil
Nadu Government. Shyama is also an NLP
Practitioner and Life Skill coach using stories effectively to bring
transformation in lives. Storytelling-related Services offered
include: 1)
Power-packed sessions/workshops on the art of storytelling, along with
nuances of the art of miming and the way it can be used effectively in
telling stories. 2)
Fun-filled storytelling sessions for children using ventriloquism and hand
puppets. 3)
Storytelling sessions as part of Training the Trainers workshops. Shyama is a member of the Panace Valley
Organisation as a storyteller. 4)
Shyama provides customised workshops for professionals, college students,
teachers, and children. 5.
Shyama also provides ustomised workshops on Health and Fitness using
personal-experience stories for effective realisation of fitness in life.
(Shyama is a full marathoner.) A photo of Shyama is here. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 94441
72345 shyamasri66@gmail.com 47 Sivakumar Davamani (SKD). SKD is
an Entrepreneur turned Storyteller. He
founded an initiative called Go Green Guru, which he uses to promote Go Green
awareness with children and corporates.
He creates customised stories and training programs for people of all
ages to promote the Go Green concept. SKD is a graduate of the seven-session
Storytelling Workshop for adults conducted by Dr Eric Miller, Director, World
Storytelling Institute. Training from
Dr Eric polished his skills and helped him to discover the storyteller within
himself. SKD conducts Storytelling Workshops for
Teachers, Human Resource Professionals, Parents, Grandparents and Young
Adults. He often includes Technologies
and Innovations in Storytelling to increase the impact a story makes on
audience members. Contact
99419
88555 sivakumar.davamani@gmail.com 48 Sreelekha Ramachandran. Like
everyone, my story, too, began when I drew my first breath in this
world. I believe that in every moment
thereafter, we are part of some story being narrated. Our thoughts, emotions and experiences
translate into knowledge and understanding.
The entire creation in its totality seems like a beautiful picture
with nature being arts and forms – and people, animals, and circumstances
being the artists and actors. In its
summation, it’s a grand story of sorts broken down to smaller fables,
folktales, mythology, fairy tales, epic, et al. Graduating in business management and
then earning my diploma in pre-primary teachers’ training, provided me with
creative and intellectual strength that enabled me to intuitively handle the
curiosity of childrens’ imaginations in numerous schools. I first discovered the art of
storytelling while teaching kindergarten.
It quickly dawned on me that storytelling delighted and enlightened
adults and young alike. It was like a
form of therapy. In order to deepen my
understanding of storytelling and to develop a more critical approach to the
performance practice, I obtained certification in storytelling from Kathalaya
Trust. This laid a strong foundation
in the area of conveying ideas and stories combining visuals, tools, music,
and illustrations to audiences of all ages. A story is never time wasted. Listen, know, and share! I give storytelling performances (which
often include discussions) and conduct storytelling workshops especially for
children, and for seniors at old-age homes. A photo of me is here. Contact sreelaya80@gmail.com 72999
25965 49 Sridevi
Srinivasan. Sridevi
is a self-motivated and passionate Storyteller, focused on inculcating
reading ability, and the love for reading, in young minds. Sridevi is an IT professional,
metamorphosed into an Academician, Storyteller, and Trainer. The training on “Raising a Child as a
Reader” from Scholastic Publications (USA) was the moment of epiphany that
changed the course of Sridevi's journey, re-directing her to use Storytelling
to work with children. On returning to India, bubbling with
energy, she travelled around Tamilnadu with a bag full of storybooks. She transported children to the illusionary
world of stories through storytelling and exposed them more deeply to the
wonderful world of words. This journey persuaded her to use
Storytelling as the lifeline of her Reading Program. She worked in a CBSE school and developed a
Reading program. With her
multi-potentiality, she headed School Events, Dramatics Club, and Library
activities. Her work on innovative,
creative, and collaborative "Story Way" annual events was
applauded. The street plays, library
activities, and her involvement in organising foreign exchange programs, Tedx
events, Green School Programs, and other social initiatives were also much
appreciated. Sridevi's joy lies in the facilitating and
activating curiosity in her students, encouraging them to imagine, think,
read books, and tell stories. A photo of Sridevi is here. Training
and Certification *
Diploma in Montessori and Primary School Teacher Training. *
"Foundation Course on Storytelling", by Ms. Geetha Ramanujam,
Kathalaya, Bangalore. *
"Storytelling for Teaching" Workshop, by Dr. Eric Miller, World
Storytelling Institite, Chennai. *
"Storytelling as a Teaching and Educational Tool", by Ms. Marion
Kenny. *
"Teaching Through Stories", by Storywallah, Hyderabad. *
“Raising a Child as Reader,” by Scholastic Publications (USA). *
M.Sc. in Computer Science. Sridevi
provides the following workshops (all
online and in-person) -- Workshops
for Teachers *
Raising a child as a reader. *
Identifying and working on specific reading problems. *
Storytelling in teaching. *
Online Classroom management. *
In-person Classroom management. Workshops
for Parents *
Raising a child as a reader (0-8 years). * Ways
to inculcate reading and instil the love for reading in children (9-12
years). Programs
for Children *
League of Little Legends (3L). (3L is
a club that envisions to unfurl young minds inside out and create a community
of students, educators and parents.) *
Storytelling sessions for students. *
Train students to perform storytelling. *
Reading program for children aged 4 to 7. *
Customised classes for children with reading difficulties, ages 7-12, Contact 98408
02406 sridevi.srinivaasan@gmail.com 50 Srividya Veeraraghavan. Srividya Veeraraghavan was awarded as the best house
captain from her school, Kendriya Vidyalaya, IIT, and post graduated from
Madras School of Social Work. She has always been known for energy and
passion to perform at best any given assignment. She has worked for some of
the leading global organizations in the role of HR and Corporate Social
Responsibility professional. Post her quitting from corporate life in 2015 and
adding super stories from her rich experiences, she has currently marked her
unique space in the global oral storytelling fraternity. As a visual
storyteller since 2016, she is known to transport her audience into the story
without any complex words, props or fittings. Termed as one of the top 10
storytellers of Chennai as per Dina Malar exclusive coverage in 2018, she is
known to share her knowledge and skills widely to benefit and empower all
groups. She is the founder of an initiative Story Train
aiming to promote and inculcate the traditional oral storytelling system in
educational institutions, corporates and voluntary organisations to teach and
empower beyond the term entertainment. She has conducted numerous programs
and workshops for all ages under her banner. As a freelancer, she has also
worked with the some of the best global names, brands and institutions. She
has been featured in DD Podhigai, Radio Mirchi, Hello FM, All India Radio,
Indian Express, The Hindu, Dainik Jagaran, Dinamalar and other national and
local newspapers. Key Milestones / Recognitions Ø Recognized by honorable Prime Minister of
India Shri Narendra Modi who specifically mentioned about her contribution to
oral storytelling in his “Mann Ki Bath” series- September 2020. Ø Officially recognized internationally by
Northlands Storytelling Network USA with the “New Voices" Scholarship. Ø Featured in an exclusive Women Achiever’s
program in DD Podhigai, “Mangaiyar Solai”. Ø First Edition of her Story Book “Happy Box”
got its place in Amazon book shelfs. HAPPY BOX – YouTube: 1) Welcome
to Story Train - Happy path to success 2) Happy
New Year 2023. A Quick Recap Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 97911
19634 storytrain@yahoo.com Google:
Srividya Veeraraghavan LinkedIn: Srividya
Veeraraghavan - Professional Story Consultant/Story
Performer/Trainer/Voice-over Narrator /Founder Story Train Facebook, Story Train 51 Sudha Umashanker. Sudha
is a Senior Freelance Journalist with bylines in leading newspapers of the
country such as The Hindu, The Times of
India, The Indian Express, The New Indian Express, The Asian Age, and The Economic Times. She forayed into Storytelling about nine
years ago (2011). She enjoys telling stories
to children and adults and has used Storytelling to create awareness about
social issues like Gender violence, Infertility, Environment protection,
Personal safety, etc. She leads Heritage walks (sharing
stories about little known people and places) and conducts Storytelling
workshops upon request. Sudha founded Storycorner at Bookmine, an
organisation that promotes excellence in Storytelling, in 2015. She recently launched a "Read aloud
series" and a "Festival Storytelling series" on her YouTube
channel. Sudha received the Laadli Media award
for Gender Sensitivity in 2017. She
has also received the Probus Vocational Excellence Award. Her book on APJ Abdul Kalam was published
in 2018 by DK India. She served as a
Language Consultant for 1000 Useful
words Tamil- English (to learn and build vocabulary skills in two
languages), also published by DK India. Contact: 98402
47624 sudha.umashanker@gmail.com Storycorner-at-Bookmine
Facebook 52 Suriya Lakshmi. Suriya is very passionate about the
environment, and conducts storytelling sessions and workshops for children on
protecting the environment. She is
currently working on a workshop model to recreate traditional storytelling
methods with Storytrails. Over the
weekends, she conducts free book-reading sessions (in both Tamil and English)
for young children, which helps them to sharpen their listening skills and
imaginations. By profession, Suriya is
a business analyst in the banking domain. Contact info 98847 28412 suriyalakshmig@gmail.com Facebook,
Suriya Lakshmi 53 Uma Jairam. Uma is
a passionate storyteller. She believes stories are an excellent way to
connect with people quickly. Her
storytelling sessions include stories from Indian epics, folklore, and
history. A strong environmentalist and a Go-Green
practitioner, Uma encourages children through stories to grow up the Go-Green
way. Uma is an IT professional. She has done her
foundation course on storytelling from Kathalaya, in Bangalore. Contact
info umasinfo@gmail.com Vasugi Ram Manohar. Vasugi
is the founder-director of Madras Story Works. She has a post-graduate degree in
Literature, and has trained in Storytelling with Eric Miller (World
Storytelling Institute) and with Geetha Ramanujam (Kathalaya). Vasugi specializes in interactive
Storytelling sessions for children.
She believes that Storytelling can bring about wonderful changes in
children, making them creative, wise thinkers, great speakers and problem
solvers. Storytelling is an excellent
method to overcome shyness, excel in public speaking and develop
communication skills. Madras Story Works offers, 1)
Storytelling sessions with arts-and-craft activities. 2)
Storytelling activities at summer camps. 3)
Storytelling workshops for people of all ages. 4)
Storytelling competitions in schools, bookstores and children's activity
centers; for children, parents, teachers and early childhood development
personnel. 5)
Storytelling sessions on Saturdays for children (3-9 years). Online.
Please inquire for details. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact 98401
18590 vasugi83@gmail.com Facebook,
Madras Story Works 55 K.R. Vidhyaa. Vidhyaa
was a senior executive in a Public Sector General Insurance Company. In 2021 she took voluntary retirement to
follow her passion for storytelling. Vidhyaa has been writing a blog from
2013 -- now converted to a website, www.storibuzz.in
-- wherein she shares stories from Indian culture and heritage. Over a hundred and thirty stories have been
shared in this site till now. Vidhyaa has participated as a
storyteller in Kathalaya's Kathasangama.
From August 2020 she has been narrating weekly audio stories in
English and Tamil for an NGO for their channel in Telegram App. Earlier trained by World Storytelling
Institute in 2009, presently she is pursuing a diploma from the International
Academy of Storytelling. Vidhyaa tells stories for children and
adults. The stories she works with are
mostly from Indian heritage and culture.
She has started a story podcast in
Tamil and English. A photo is here. Contact 99405
57749 vidhyaa65@gmail.com 56 Vithya Dhanaraj. Vithya
narrates STEM stories (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and
Green Earth Stories in very child-friendly ways, along with related art and
craft activities, sing-along, music, and drama. She conducts age-appropriate science
experiments along with the storytelling, to make the whole a memorable
experience. New methods are introduced every week by
using different modes like puppets and handmade models, mostly made using
materials from everyday life. The
activities are designed to impart life-skill lessons and environmental
awareness in fun ways. These methods allow Vithya to become a
part of the learning processes the children go through. The children take home experiences they
will always cherish, while being enriched in terms of holistic learning and
development through fun and play (without gadgets). Vithya
was trained in storytelling by Mark Leach of the UK. She has 5 years of experience in IT, and is
also an MBA graduate. Working with
kids was something that always attracted her and henceforth she earned a
Diploma in Early Child Care and then stepped into storytelling. Vithya is the founder of S4Stories,
a platform for children to experiment and learn. She has performed in many places in and
around Chennai, including at schools, and has been featured in Illakiya
Darbar of Podigai TV. Vithya is also
an active member of Spring Board tales. Vithya is fluent in Tamil and
English. A photo of Vithya is here. Member, Chennai Storytellers. Contact
info 94873
38809 vithyad@gmail.com Facebook,
Vithya Dhanaraj Facebook,
S4Stories 57 Zarin M. Zarin
represents the women of Chennai who are aspiring to be self-sufficient and
who are taking challenges one at a time. Zarin has over eight years of experience
in the IT industry, specialising in Analytics. She has worked with multi-national
corporations such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Accenture, and
Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS).
She is currently pursuing a PhD in Analytics, and is looking to
venture into Educational Analytics in the future. Zarin began storytelling as an amateur
for children at home. She took a step
further to enroll in a Storytelling Workshop at the Word Storytelling
Institute, directed by Dr. Eric Miller.
She is certified as a "Professional Storyteller" by the
World Storytelling Institute. Zarin has told stories in, *
Chennai Storytelling Festival 2020 and 2021 (video recording). *
Madurai Children's Literary Festival 2021. *
Towson University (Maryland, USA) Story Fest 2020. * A
Feast Story Swap session in 2020. In addition to being a professional
Storyteller, Zarin is also a trained Artist. Zarin has now set up a centre named
Story Fills on OMR-Karapakkam, Chennai.
Story Fills provides workshops and other activities for children,
teenagers, and adults relating to, 1)
Developing English language skills. 2)
Storytelling. 3)
Puppet-making, Drawing (still life, landscape, portrait, illustration, etc),
Painting, and Crafts. 4)
Animation. A photo is here. Contact
info 99628
28065 fathimazarin12@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/tellatalecorner ______________________________________ Storytelling Organisations
in Chennai *** 1 Madras Story Works (directed by Vasugi Ram
Manohar) presents A)
Storytelling Performances with Activities for Children, Saturdays,
11am-12:30pm, in Chetput. B)
Storytelling Coaching for Children, Saturdays 4-5pm, in Mylapore. C) Storytelling
Coaching for Children, Thursdays 4-5pm, in Aminjikarai. For
details, please click here,
and call 98401 18590. *** 2 The
Narrative (directed by Indu Divya)
hosts monthly open-mic sessions of "Storytelling about Personal
Experiences, by and for adults".
For details, please call 98407 12328. Storytelling is at
the core of all services offered by The Narrative, including training,
coaching, and content development. *** 3 Tale Spin (directed by Asha Sampath)
presents Storytelling performances (and activities) for children. Every 2nd Saturday of the month, at
5pm. At Odyssey, Adyar. For
additional info, please click here and call
Asha at 98408 33953. *** 4 Eloquens (directed by
Sandhya
Ruban) frequently presents Storytelling Performances
and Classes for -- and Dramatic Productions by -- Children. Based in Ayanavaram. For details, please click here and
call 98401 77215. *** 5 Once
Upon a Time (directed by Kavitha Thyagarajan and Debjani
Bhaduri) frequently presents Storytellling Performances and Classes for
Children, in R.A. Puram. For details, please click here and call 99400 36390. *** 6 Fables N Tales
(directed by Banumathy)
offers Storytelling performances, with activities,
for children. A)
Saturdays, 10:30am to 12 Noon, at
Fables n Tales, No.1, Nithyanandam Street, VGN Mahalakshmi Nagar, Perumalagaram, Tiruverkadu, Chennai, 600 077. Admission is Rs 100. B)
Saturdays, 4pm to 5:30pm, at Virutcham Kidz Castle, 5069, Z Block, 12th
Street (near Chinmaya School), Anna
Nagar, Chennai. C)
Sundays, 10am to 11am, at Sastha Tution Centre, #270, Selvavinayagar
Koil St, Co-operative Nagar,
Tiruverkadu, Chennai, 600 077.
Admission is Rs 150. For
additional info, please contact Fables
N Tales: Stories for the Soul, at 80560 50606. *** 7 Katha Kamamishu (directed by Lavanya
Srinivas) offers Storytelling Workshops and Performances at numerous
locations, including the Gandhinagar Club, in Adyar. Katha Kamamishu
especially conducts Storytelling Workshops for pre-primary and primary school
teachers. The "Story Mantra"
series of Workshops occur in three levels: introductory, basic and advanced.
The Workshops are customised and conducted with a restricted batch size to
ensure effective communication and training, with a special focus on the
specific needs and challenges of each individual teacher. For additional info, please click here, and contact Lavanya
Srinivas, at 98844 72301, laavanyasrinivas@gmail.com . *** 8 Kalaa
Manjari and Alvin
"Storyteller for All" are offering Saturday Storytelling
Sessions for Children. These programs
aim at developing Oratory skills, Life skills, and Reading skills. The Poster is here. There are two batches on each Saturday afternoon: Batch 1,
for Children 3 to 6 years old, occurs 3-4pm. Batch 2,
for Children 7 to 13 years old, occurs 4-6pm. Venue: Kalaa Manjari, 6/12, First Street, Venus
Colony, Alwarpet, Chennai - 18 (near Tangerine Restaurant) For additional info, please call 044 2431 2676 , e-mail to kalaamanjari@hotmail.com , and see *** 9 Pumpkin Chariot is a Storytelling unit
founded by Sai
Pradeep Indhirran. Sai is the
Storyteller. Pumpkin Chariot helps children learn a variety of aspects of
communication involving values and morals and ranging from conversational
speech to stage speech, and from team skills to leadership skills. The method is to blend storytelling with
NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and TA (Transaction Analysis) techniques. Pumpkin Chariot has its first branch @ Sa Buu
3 Kids Play School, Navaneethammal Street (adjacent to Shoba Kalyana Mandapam
in Arunachalam Road), Saligramam. Day and Time: : Sundays 11:30am Pumpkin
Chariot has
its second branch @ Day and Time: Sundays 10am . Sai Pradeep, 98412 92063, Founder - Pumpkin Chariot For additional info, please call 98412 92063, e-mail to saipradeep.indhirran@gmail.com , and see www.facebook.com/PumpkinChariot . *** 10 Geetha
Kailasam conducts a Storytelling Workshop for children at Grandma and Grandpas, Besant Nagar, on
Wednesdays, 5pm to 6pm. This includes
Storytelling with Puppets, Mask-Making, and Arts and Crafts. For info, please call 99529 57031. *** 11 Genius Factory, directed by Sheetal
Rayathatha, provides arts-and-education
activities for children, including Phonics, Maths, Arts and Crafts, Dance and
Dance Composition (Choreography), Storytelling, and Event Management
(specialising in Birthday Parties). For
details, please click here and here, and call 98400
91290. *** 12 Kathalaya (directed by Geeta
Ramanujam), based in Bangalore, is developing a "Story Space" in Chennai. For info, please contact:
080 2668 9856, kathalaya@gmail.com . In
Chennai, Geeta Ramanujam is collaborating with Success Manthra regarding training educators in "Using
Storytelling to Teach English Language".
Info about this training is here. *** 13 Kadhai Kadhaiyaam
(KK)
is a Storytelling group based in south Chennai. KK believes in inspiring adults and
children through stories. KK conducts monthly
sessions in a Montessori school in Velachery, and also in other activity
centers, libraries, and schools by request.
KK was co-founded and is directed by three Storytellers: Subha
Hariharamahadevan, Ramya
Arivazhagan, and Subha Ramanathan.
Mohan
Krishnan is mentor of KK. For
additional info, please call 90032 53726, and email to
kadhaikadhaiyaam@gmail.com . *** 14 ReaderzForge offers Kathas by Uncle Kay
– Storytelling
performances for kids on Saturdays, 5-6 pm. At
Narthanam School of Performing Arts, Madipakkam, Chennai, and online via
Zoom. *** 15 The Chennai
Storytelling Association (CSA) has approx 320 members. Most CSA members have conducted and/or
attended multi-session WSI Storytelling Workshops. The CSA hold monthly meetings at 6pm on the
1st Monday of each month at Cafe Coffee Day Square (on Khader Nawaz Khan
Road), before the storytelling by and for adults sessions there. Info about these sessions is here. For additional info about the CSA, please
click here and call
98403 94282. *** 16 World
Storytelling Institute (directed by Eric Miller)
offers 7-session Storytelling Workshops for adults, on Sundays, 10am-12noon,
near Nungambakkam High Road. Info is here. WSI also presents a monthly "Storytelling by-and-for
Adults" open-mic event. This
occurs on the 1st Monday of each month at 6pm, at Cafe Coffee Day Square, on
Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Nungambakkam.
Additional info about these events (including links to articles about
them) is here. <end>
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