THE CHULBULI ZINDAGI


















“I think, there is a human instinct to tell stories,
no matter who you are and where you live.”
-     Sara Kay


Two days ago, I happened to see a video shared by my younger brother, Vivek. It was around 10.30 in the night, and I was all set to hit the bed. Vivek, perhaps, had shared this video with me, because he knew how much I loved spoken and written words… how much I believed in the power of emotions in our speech and writings. Or, perhaps, he thought it was appropriate to share this video, as the subject of the story was quite relatable in my life: Cancer and my Chulbuli Zindagi…






Spoken-word poetry is a great form of storytelling. Apart from the power of words, what makes this form terrific is the control, the evocative emotions, timings, subtle pauses, voice modulation, gestures and, the close - surprisingly, often, abrupt… leaving us gasping for more!

Yes, watching a video like this, in a way, may sound like not a sensible thing to do while hitting the bed. It had left me stirred and teary-eyed. But, ironically, I got a sound sleep immediately after that… Maybe, it had cleansed my heart, made it a lot lighter!


I have written about the power of emotions in our communication, many times before. To me, it’s the very soul of our communication. What use does our communication serve if it is bland, dry, robotic? Facts and figures are, normally, dry and boring. But, if they are conveyed through evoking feelings, they can go straight into our listeners’ hearts. Our hearts beat alike, they bleed alike, they rejoice alike, hope and despair alike… Childhood and adolescence, romance and heartbreak, health and sickness… old age, death, anxiety and fear… the heaven and the hell, the angels and the demons… yes, we all have them hiding in our hearts. A good communicator knows how to evoke them… set them free!

Sarah Kay has been one of my favorites. I show her videos, often, in our PD sessions to our young ones.






Last night, my wife and I watched many storytelling videos. In particular, we both loved this one from Rakesh Tiwari…







As I said, our hearts beat alike… they bleed and rejoice alike… They hope and despair alike… When we go to bed, all that we cuddle ourselves with is our kittenish life – the chulbuli zindagi… which, somehow, somewhere seems masked…

When unmasked, we are able to experience that priceless kittenish sleep, too!


GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.:www.flickr.com

Videos: 1. Tape A Tale  2. Scripps College 3. Tape A Tale

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