Celebrating the Power of Story in India

In Search of Katha — Celebrating the Power of Story in India
by Amanda Leigh Lichtenstein
Community Arts Network

Tell me a story.

That’s probably the most popular request of all time, in any language, in all parts of the world. Everyone craves a good story — to tell our own and hear others’ — as a way of affirming, challenging and shaping the meaning of life.

Stories speak to our need to know what happens next — to reflect on that which roots us to the earth and spins us out into the abstract of being human. Stories unite, teach, bind, warn, inform, transport, enlighten and entertain us. And we need them to survive. The act of simply telling our stories provides evidence of having lived a life here on Earth — story as declaration — politic — protest.

As a poet, I was born in search of story. With a jazz-piano-playing father and a mother who spins trash into treasure, I learned to turn stories inside out, to play with language and as a way of shaping meaning out of what sometimes feels meaningless. My love of stories led me to Chicago’s classrooms, where, as a teaching artist in Chicago Public Schools, I encourage young people to search for their own stories through the creation of original poetry, movement and performance.

Immersed in this work, I became curious about the way in which story manifests itself in arts integration and education around the world. What does story look like in other cities, in other classrooms? In what ways do writers and artists use story as a tool for global social change? How does story play a role in community development and progressive education reform?

And that’s when I found out about the Katha Institute of New Delhi, India (right here in CAN’s margins!).

So here’s the story.

Read the Story