A List of Storytellers in India

This is a list of storytellers in various cities of India. We regularly update this list. If you are a storyteller or know some who is a storyteller and would want your/their name in this list, please contact us.  For interviews with storytellers, head here.

Last Updated: 9th August, 2017

STORYTELLERS IN DELHI/NCR

Usha Chhabra – Teaching is a natural extension of stories and adopting stories in teaching, a natural process. Usha Chhabra is one such person who applies the ancient tenets of transferring wisdom through stories, to children. She is a proficient writer of children’s literature and a dynamic storyteller who conducts workshops for teachers, students and children. You can read more about her publications on her website, and more about her work in this interview.

Rituparna Ghosh – As a television producer, Rituparna was surrounded by stories. She realized that every person has a story to tell, and that she wanted to help them tell their stories. And to help people tell stories, one has to often start with a story. This brought out the storyteller in her, and YourStoryBag was born. Find out more about Rituparna and her work here.

Shalini Bansal – Shalini worked for 10 years with various organizations as an IT professional before she was exposed to new methods of conducting storytelling and Parent & Child programs during her stay in the US. She found a new calling in storytelling and this led to the birth of Under The Magic Tree. Find out more about Shalini and her work here.

Yuveka Singh – Every city is a potpourri of stories, waiting to be discovered and told. And when that city is Delhi, a city with centuries of history behind it, the stories carry every flavor of human emotion in it. Bringing these stories to people is what Yuveka Singh of Darwesh wants to do. Read about her work with Darwesh here.

Seema Chakraborty – A teacher who is highly passionate and enthusiastic about education, Seema’s love for teaching kids at primary school level, around the world, goes many years back. She has adopted storytelling as a primary teaching tool, with great results. Read how in this interview.

STORYTELLERS IN BANGALORE, KARNATAKA

Aparna Athreya – What did you do the last time a child came up to your car window asking for alms as you waited at a traffic signal? Roll up your windows? Hastily hand over the first change that you could find in the glove compartment and drive away? Or simply drive away? Aparna Athreya told a story. Read about her here.

Arthi Anand – Arthi used to scribble anecdotal stories on her personal blog, which were picked up Chandamama and published as a monthly serial-story. The success of these stories gave her the confidence to write and tell stories to children. Now Arthi is a published author with Tulika books and a reviewer on Saffron Tree. Find out more about Arthi and her work here.

Vikram Sridhar – While Vikram was always actively involved in theater, a workshop on storytelling, during an official trip to Atlanta, helped him find a new purpose in life. He started Around the Story Tree after he receiving requests for sharing his work. Find out more about Vikram and his work here.

Sowmya Rajan Srinivasan – A professional storyteller and educator for two decades, Sowmya uses theater, music and movement as an intrinsic part of her stories. She is a founding member of Bangalore Storytelling Society. Find out more about Sowmya’s work here.

Lavanya Prasad – A storyteller who believes that a story which is told with complete honesty is sure to create the desired ripple, living up the adage – “I am the story itself.” Read her story here.

Priya Muthukumar – A storyteller who is passionate about nature and strives to sensitize people towards environment through her stories, read the story of Priya Muthukumar here.

Falak Randerian – Falak left her corporate job as a Communication Trainer to start My Little Chatterbox, a venture to promote love for books and reading in August 2012 in Bangalore. She conducts book reading activities and phonic classes for kids between 3-10 years. Find out more about Falak and her work here.

Nisha and Deeptha – A mutual interest for stories and storytelling brought together Nisha and Deeptha and Ever After Learning was born. Ever After Learning works with a variety of audience, from small kids to corporates. Find out more about Ever After Learning here.

Vani Balaraman – Some things happen by chance. For Vani Balaraman, it was storytelling. Founder of Cuddles and Reads, storyteller and mom, Vani literally stumbled upon storytelling and found a vent to the storyweaver in her. Find out more about her in this interview.

STORYTELLERS IN AHMEDABAD, GUJARAT

Yogita B Ahuja – There lies a story within every person. And every time they share a story with someone, they share a piece of themselves. And one of the main tasks of a storyteller is to discover these stories and convert them into snippets that entertain or educate..or edutain. This is exactly what storyteller Yogita Ahuja has set out to achieve through her storytelling venture I Nurture Me. Read more about Yogita here.

STORYTELLERS IN CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU

Kavitha Thyagarajan – The storyteller who encourages music, art and craft through her stories, read the story of Kavitha Thyagarajan in this interview.

Priti Sudarshan – Ever wondered what stories may lie behind the vintage trains that you see when you visit the Railway Museum, or the architecture of a building you admire? Priti Sudarshan knows the stories and loves to tell them. Read more about her here.

Srividya Veeraraghavan –  Stories shape strong characters, and that makes a storyteller an indispensable part of a cultured society. Srividya Veeraraghavan of Story Train is a storyteller who believes in just this philosophy. Read more about her contribution to the world of oral storytelling here.

STORYTELLERS IN KANPUR, UTTAR PRADESH

Rohini Vij – A storyteller with a passion for revolutionizing teaching practices, Rohini employs storytelling actively in her educational space, Nutspace at Inknuts. Read more about her work here.

STORYTELLERS IN MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA

Geetanjali Shetty Kaul – Geetanjali tells stories with the belief that stories are the only medium that can touch and heal the soul. Her venture Secret Passages is right on track, telling stories to nourish the hearts of the young and the old. Read her story here.

Devaki Bhujang Gajare – Stories and the beauty of storytelling should never remain limited to one person or one area. So Devaki founded Little Readers’ Nook, which creates story-educators around the country. Find out more about her and Little Readers’ Nook’s story here.

Nidhi Bagaria – A storyteller with a focus on creative expressions which concentrates on the child’s language skills, imagination and confidence, this is the story of Nidhi Bagaria’s journey as a storyteller. Read it here.

Sarita Shetty – Storytellers create more storytellers. And that is what Sarita Shetty is doing with her storytelling venture – creating kids become storytellers themselves. Read her complete interview here.

STORYTELLERS IN NASHIK, MAHARASHTRA

Saylee Dashrath – A story-educator who wants to raise an entire generation of story lovers, read the story of Saylee’s journey as a story-educator in small-time Nashik here.

STORYTELLERS IN BHOPAL, MADHYA PRADESH

Nidhi Agarwal – Nidhi Agarwal is a person who has successfully walked the entrepreneurial road with her first venture. Her storytelling venture – Stories & Beyond, is her second foray as an entrepreneur. The company is leveraging storytelling to not only revive reading habits and an interest in classic literature, but also helps children pick up life-skills in a fun environment. Read more about her here.

Find more storytellers and their interviews here.

We are in a process of chronicling the top, as well as upcoming storytellers and storytelling organizations in India. Are you/do you know of a storyteller who should be on this list? Let us know in the comments below, or send an email to editor AT tell-a-tale DOT com.