The Dastangoi presentation, conducted recently by Ankit Chadha, a well-known Dastango (story teller) who has dedicated himself to the revival of this ancient art form of Urdu Storytelling, revolved around the stories surrounding eminent personalities such Kabir and Dara Shikoh.
The latter was largely based on Supriya Gandhi’s biography of the Mughal prince that is still in progress. Both the presentations had similar themes centered around the questioning of religious identity and a thirst for leading a monotheistic way of life.
The presentation began with Ankit’s brief introduction about the art form in India. “Dastangoi, the art of storytelling is a combination of two Persian words — ‘Dastan’ (which means a long story) and ‘Dhai’ (which means to recite).
The art form originated in India during Akbar’s rule. The Mughal emperor wanted to be a Dastan (poet) himself, but couldn’t pursue it due to additional responsibilities,” he said.
“However, his fondness for the art form is evident through different versions of the Hamza Narratives which famously came to be known as ‘The Hamza Nama’. It included a unique, audio-visual manner of storytelling in which the narrators would read out from the text inscribed at the back of the paintings that would change accordingly, as the story progressed. This art form then slowly spread to different parts of the country, incorporating certain aspects of the Urdu language.”
Dastan Dhaai Aakhar Ki
The first event ‘Dastan Dhaai Aakhar Ki’ included anecdotes from the life of Kabir-The poet and Lover whose existence revolved around understanding and promoting love and humanity and finding the real ‘Kabir’ within oneself. It touched upon different aspects of Kabir’s life such as the everlasting debate about his religious identity, his compassionate nature when it came to helping people and how his stories always managed to capture the important element of truth.
“If love is considered to be a brand, there is no better endorsement for it than Kabir’s. This is evident through his famous dohas which epitomize the concept of love and bring out the purity of his devotion. Kabir always wore simple clothes which gave no identification as to whether he was a Hindu or a Muslim, and he himself believed that there was only one God that existed for everyone. He also proved to be a major influence in the lives of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.”
Although the narrative which was based on historical research and folklore focused upon various subjects of a philosophical nature, which could have been monotonous for the audience to comprehend, Ankit managed to engage his audience with some light hearted, humorous references.
A member from the audience sais, “the event was beautiful and meaningful in so many different ways and managed to strike a chord with me.”
Dastan Dara Shikoh Ki
The second event ‘Dastan Dara Shikoh Ki’ was based on the life of Mughal Prince, Dara Shikoh which revolved around various aspects of his life such as being the chosen heir to the throne of emperor Shah Jahan and his attempt to discover common elements between Hinduism and Islam with respect to the unity of God.
The latter is reflected in his translations of the Upanishads called Sirr-e-Akbar, where he boldly draws out parallels between the two religions. The presentaion also included the incidents that revolved around his fallout with his brother Aurungzeb.
“The resentment that Aurungzeb had towards Dara Shikoh, right from his childhood, since the latter was considered to be Shah Jahan's favorite, intensified as they grew up and gradually took an ugly turn which ultimately lead to his demise,” said Ankit.
The narrative that had a serious undertone to it, was a culmination of a collaboration with Supriya Gandhi, whose biography on Dara Shikoh aims at giving a diverse perspective to his personality in relation to the political and religious scenario that he was living in, along with his interests in literature and spirituality.
Ankit concluded, saying: “To revive this lost artform of storytelling and make sure that children can also relate to it as much as adults, I have brought in some contemporary content based on stories like Alice in Wonderland that even young audiences can enjoy.”