The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Around the world with stories

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Sunday, Feb 20, 2011
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Around the world with stories

Photo: S.S. Kumar

Cathryn Fairlee —

California-based storyteller Cathryn Fairlee is on an interesting journey to south India. For over two years she has been telling stories from Mahabharata to people in the U.S. “I am visiting Mahabharata storytellers in Kancheepuram to listen to them and see how accurate I am,” says Ms. Fairlee, who specialises in traditional stories about strong and clever women. She tells Liffy Thomas how she globetrots to gather epics, myths, legends, folk and fairy tales.

Tales from the Mahabharata are among the most fascinating stories Cathryn Fairlee loves telling and wants to research more.

“I have read four different versions of the epic and there is nothing boring in it,” she says. How princess Kunti had her first child is one favourite incident, she says rolling her eyes wide.

Interestingly, most of her audience are adults and the native people.

“I write out ‘Pandavas'- ‘Kauvaras' and explain them as the names are not easy to remember.”

Apart from folk tales of strong women, Chinese and Mexican stories are two other areas the storyteller has specialised in her career of 25 years.

Her MA thesis was on Chinese Teahouse Telling.

Biggest challenge

Language is the biggest challenge for any storyteller.

“To overcome this, I engage a translator. If I was young, I would have studied Tamil to get more clarity visiting places,” she says with a grin.

Her search for stories is also to engage a modern audience. “The more you learn about these countries, you know how similar they are,” she says.

Explaining how storytelling today is not just about rewriting old stories, but also using new means such as 3D and video conference, she says, the effect is still there as interaction is the key. “A good storyteller has his/her own vocabulary,” says Ms. Fairlee, who is a member of various renowned storytelling organisations.

Reviving art

Is storytelling a dying art? From the point of view of the U.S. audience, it is a reviving art.

While traditional storytellers existed everywhere, today people are looking for stories beyond their country, she admits.

“These are stories that have wisdom, they talk about growing up and how strong women were,” she says, emphasising the need for grandparents to keep story telling tradition alive.

The storyteller will give a performance on ‘Tales about strong and clever women' on March 5, which World Storytelling Institute (www.

storytellinginstitute.org) is coordinating.

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