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Month: November 2022

Podcast Series #1 I Indian Sport Jallikattu I Student Ashmita Ray I Public Speaking Through Applied Storytelling & Theatre

By admin in Public Speaking through Stories on November 24, 2022

A writeup in a story cum information form on the indigenous sport of India-Jallikattu, written by our student Ashmita Ray.

Ashmita is 10 years old young performer & speaker from UAE. Performance is her passion. We are proud to have her as a student of the Little Kathakar Program, an Online Public Speaking through Applied Storytelling & Theatre Program under the mentorship of Trainer Khusshbo Chokhaani. We congratulate Ashmita for this exemplary true self-expression.

Jallikattu-An Indigenous Indian Sport

Mini couldn’t sleep.

Everyone in the house, and the village, was fast asleep, but not Mini. She was still lying awake in her bed at midnight. The moon was peeking from behind the curtains like a sneaky child and releasing a small streak of moonlight that cut the air like a silver blade. The air was there like a dead silence, and everything was dark except the moonlight. Mini was still lying awake and the story her grandmother told her that night replayed inside her head a thousand times. Today was the 14th of January and she was excited for tomorrow as it was a special day. It was Pongal. Her grandma told her a story about a sport that is played on the 3rd day of Pongal. It goes like this-

Every night, at bedtime, her grandma would tell her a story about India’s glorious history. Some nights, it would be the time for British rule, other nights, her grandma would tell her all about India’s historical ruins and the folklore behind them. They would watch pujas, ceremonial processions, wars, and battles without leaving the safety of their beds.

Today, during bedtime, grandma said, “Today, I will tell you the story of Jallikattu, the game played during the third day of Pongal”.

“I would love to hear it Dadiji. Please continue.” Said Mini

“Jallikattu was common during the Tamil classical period, around 400-100 BCE. It was mentioned in Sangam literature and was popular among warriors. It is also related to the Indian mythological stories and mentioned in the Bhagavat Gita, Where Shri Krishna Split himself into 7 parts and easily subdued 7 bulls not only to playfully defeat the seven bulls but also to show Princess Satya that she would not have to compete with his other queens, since he could be with all of them simultaneously at the same time. It is a popular sport in Tamil Nadu. There are many famous players of Jallikattu such as Modakathan Mani and many more. There are around 150 players in the game, players must hold on to the bull’s hump for 30 seconds and try to make the bull stop. In some variations, they attempt to untie a pouch filled with coins and tie it to the bull’s horns. Players are disqualified if they hold on to the bull’s neck, horns, or tail.”

“But Dadiji, doesn’t it mean cruelty to animals?” Mini asked.

“Yes, I quite agree, but since stricter rules have been imposed in this sport, not much cruelty is done to animals. In the 1990s, there were around one million bulls but now, it has been reduced to 15000. But it is still played in Tamil Nadu as it was an ancient tradition that goes back thousands of years back” said Grandma. Grandma suddenly stopped narrating the story and requested mini to sleep.

Mini was extremely excited for Pongal. Suddenly, her eyes began to droop. It felt as if a ton of bricks were weighing down her eyelids. Mini rolled over and went to sleep, dreaming about Pongal and all the fun she would have tomorrow…….

“This was an attempt from my side to share a short glimpse of the indigenous sport of Jallikattu. Hope you enjoyed the information in story form.”-Ashmita

Leave your valuable comments for encouraging our students to innovate, explore and express more.

Short Stories Collection #4 I Student Saurish Singh I Little Writers Program

By admin in Creative Writing, Original Stories, Short Stories on November 18, 2022

A series of original stories written by our student Saurish Singh.

Saurish is 7 years old young writer from Gurgaon. He is passionate about playing football and reading books. We are proud to have him as a student of the Little Writers Program, an Online Creative Writing Program using Applied Storytelling & Theatre tools under the mentorship of Trainer Khusshbo Chokhaani. We congratulate Saurish for this exemplary true self-expression.

Short Stories Collection #4 By Saurish Singh

1. “Joe’s Treasure Hunt”

Once upon a time, a boy named Joe was at his home. He wanted to go to the beach. He requested his mom and dad to take him to the beach. His parents agreed immediately. Joe was on Cloud Nine. His happiness knew no bounds.

When Joe opened his closet to change his clothes, he saw a treasure map. He immediately ran to his mom and dad, asking them to go for the treasure hunt and get the treasure chest. His parents declined immediately. They didn’t go to the beach only.

When it was night, he thought, “maybe I could go to the beach and get the treasure chest now”. He slowly and quietly went outside the house to the beach at night.

He looked at the map, it showed first go straight, so Joe went straight. Then the map showed go right he went right. Then suddenly he heard a voice from the sea. He looked back, it was a sharkkkkkk!!. The shark was about to pull Joe into the sea and eat him. He ran away from the sea.

Then the map showed a U-turn because there was a jungle in front of Joe. He walked forward and took a peek into the jungle; he walked a little forward, but he saw a dead end. Joe wondered why there would be a dead end there. He just stopped and thought about the treasure. He looked at the map and it said after taking a U-Turn go straight and then right, he went straight and then right, then he saw an “X” Sign. He thought “I must dig here”. When he was about to start digging Joe thought, “Did I forget something? Oh no!! I forgot my shovel”. Then he had to dig with his hands. He dug, dug, and dug with his hands. His hands got dirty. He continued to dig. Soon he found the treasure chest! He took it home. He opened the chest and, to his surprise, found books and more maps instead of jewelry and money. He hid the treasure chest underneath his bed with thoughts of reading those books which appeared magical and exploring those maps.

 

  1. “Happy and Sad”

Once upon a time, there were two boys. One was always happy, and one was always sad. Both of them went to a shop. They bought 10 vegetables from the shop.  But the boy who was always happy ate all the fruits and vegetables and felt grateful for such yummy and delicious fruits. The sad boy only criticized and cribbed about the fruits and vegetables. The boy who used to always feel sad felt sadder and sadder. The next day when both the boys came back from school the boy who was always sad felt a little sick. Their mom and dad gave medicines to him but still, he felt sick. The happy boy remained healthy and cheerful always.

The sad boy understood that he is feeling sick continuously because he is never grateful and happy for whatever he gets. He started expressing his gratitude to all things around and he was fit, healthy, and happy just the way the happy boy was.

  1. “The Helpful Dinosaur”

Once upon a time, there was a helpful dinosaur named Saurishsaurus. He used to live in a forest. He was a happy living being in the forest. He used to eat grass, wild berries, and all vegetation of the forest. The taste of the food was healthy and fresh. His dream was to make friends in the forest so that he has someone with whom he can play, dance, eat and enjoy.

But he was facing some problems while making friends in the forest. Everybody started running away from him because he appeared scary. But suddenly he got an idea to fix his problems. When any other animal was stuck, he helped them. This way slowly, slowly, he started making friends in the jungle. For any animal who used to be in trouble, Saurishsaurus used to be there to help them. He kept doing this and then soon the whole forest became his friend.

Leave your valuable comments below to encourage our young writers.

 

About Us

At Not Just Tales we dive deeper into our Indian cultural and heritage tales like Folklore, Jatakas, Panchatantra, Mythology, Hitopadesa to find solutions to our modern day challenges.
“Stories that you tell yourself either builds you or breaks you. Choose the right story for you and others. What story would you like to be remembered as? ”

Khusshbo

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