I
vividly remember most of the stories
that were told to me in my childhood and believed them to be true. I may have
some doubts about the occurrences narrated and the exactitude of the portrayal
of the characters in those stories, but I have no doubt about what they tell
about life.
Having
received many stories from my parents, grandparents and teachers in my
childhood, I like to return many stories to my world, being extremely cautious
that I do not tell imaginary stories. I tell true stories that I could gather
in my life knowing full well that the children of today do not easily believe.
But, I feel myself to be a square peg in a round hole when I find that the
generation next does not like to believe the true stories. They say, “This does
not happen”. And, I have no means to
prove that they are not right.
My
young friends do not dislike me, but they do not like the stories I have to
offer. The characters of the stories I remember and try to emulate, real or
imaginary, could not accommodate untruth. These are the times when such
characters do not make interesting stories. These are the days when the
characters that are in popular demand have to be real, but what they seek must
be fanciful with no touch with dutiful reality.
The
stories we make, tell others or leave behind us have to be sourced from the
mirror inside us that we use for introspection. When we use too many external mirrors,
we can’t make stories that are live and full of life.
The
stories we are capable of creating and passing on to the generation next can
transmit the image of the future that we can dream of. Stories are the most
effective educational tool whose potential our ancestors had realized in full,
but we know little about.
PROMOD KUMAR SHARMA
[The writer of this blog is also the author of “Mahatma A
Scientist of the Intuitively Obvious” and “In Search of Our Wonderful Words”.]
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