Trying hard to be a Storyteller

It has been a year I wrote a blog. I didn’t find time to do so. Lame it is… as lame it can be.

What happened during these 12 months is a series of desperate attempts to achieve two primary objectives; first, be a better storyteller, and second, create a tribe of storytellers.

I achieved none.

I was excited to try social media to push my agenda across, without even guessing the target correctly, ever. My friend, a digital media specialist, suggested a laundry list and I was tempted to try each route. None succeeded.

When I attempted convincing the audience why storytelling is important, they nodded in agreement. But when I suggested the means to be a storyteller first, and then, a better storyteller; none agreed.

I asked them to stop talking and start listening; everyone seemed clueless how to respond.

I asked them to switch off their mobile phones while jogging or walking or while in the metro or being driven; they rejected me, subliminally.

I asked them to read comic books, they barely controlled their disbelief.

I asked them to join a theatre group to learn the act, they showed their disinterest.

I asked them to capture whatever they could see, hear, touch, even the silliest of events; it seemed quite unachievable to them.

So, I asked them, what are you looking for?

They said, how to be a storyteller?

I asked, why do you want to be a storyteller?

Because that’s the in-thing, they said.

No. It’s not the thing in vogue. They are being told by their employers that one must become a storyteller to succeed faster. Or something similar…

Storytelling got to be curated as a crash course with easy-pills, formulae, logic and solutions; to be applied as per prescribed events and situations.

It’s like the typical interview question, tell me something about yourself.

I am trying to find out a logic to rationalise it through quick-fix sure-shot formulae, when there are none.