Ameen Haque at an event in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 5: He is a master raconteur and spinning a tale comes to him naturally.

But storytelling for Ameen Haque is not just entertainment, it is a powerful tool of communicating with his audiences as varied as schoolchildren and corporate honchos.

No wonder The Storywallahs, the group he found three years ago, has been making waves showcasing this most powerful and envied skill.

The storyteller was in Bhubaneswar today to take the schoolchildren of the city to a world of imagination and tales.

The Storywallahs, which is based in Bangalore, aims at reviving the tradition of oral storytelling.

The team of six led by Haque conducts storytelling workshops for people of all ages.

They also conduct leadership-training programmes through storytelling techniques and impart extensive training to teachers at various places across the country.

When asked about why he took to the serious business of telling stories leaving an illustrious career in advertising, Haque said: “I was into theatre since my school days and it is one of the best forms of storytelling. That was one of the primary sources of inspiration. I was always fascinated by mythologies. I have read the Ramayan, the Mahabharat, the Quran and the Bible and they are all extremely interesting. Thereafter, I was into advertising but that was nothing but telling stories for brands. All of these came together and I comprehended that stories are the best way to inspire change, motivate people and teach.”

When asked from where story ideas came to him, the Haque said: “Our country is full of myths and legends, so many of my story ideas comes from there. There are a lot of untold tales across the country as well which I love to narrate. I also create my own stories. There are stories all around us, it all depends on the way we present it.”

Citing an example Haque said: “The animated film The Lion King was influenced by Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but modified for the kids. Similarly, it was adapted in Hindi for the adult Indian audience in Haider. So, stories can work across audiences, it depends on how one put it forth.”

Speaking about the power of storytelling, Haque said: “It allows one to imagine unlike movies or theatre where your thoughts, images or concepts gets limited.”

The 37-year-old narrator said there was a time when he had no listeners.

“Even after six months of establishing the organisation I did not get any work. I approached a number of schools and colleges to let me conduct storytelling sessions, but probably nobody had faith in the idea. So, I went to a few orphanages and special homes and that was where I found my listeners. Gradually, offers poured in and things began to fall in place,” said Haque, who is an alumnus of the prestigious Mudra Institute of Communications in Ahmedabad.

Initially, he also battled with sticky situations such as stage fright, lack of connection with the listeners and losing track of the stories.

“I kept telling stories and will keep telling them throughout my life,” said the optimistic narrator.