Storytelling Tradition in Pakistan

Storytelling is an activity of writing or telling stories (Oxford dictionary, 2001). The tradition of storytelling is as old as human civilization. Traces of storytelling tradition can be found in every age and region. From pre-history to the modern technological age, storytelling tradition has evolved itself into a distinctive art form. It has been transferred to us from various mediums i.e. pictograms, stone-age drawings, paintings, poetry, music, dance, film, and oral, verbal, or written form. Moreover, all the revealed books like Quran, Bible, and Torah also include the stories of the journeys and lives of the prophets.

In the subcontinent, storytelling tradition is quite rich. Starting with oral literature in Sanskrit language, Rig Veda in the 1500-1200 BCE followed by Ramayana and Mahabharata in late second millennium BCE, it transformed itself rapidly and left traces in written form not only in Sanskrit language but in other languages too i.e. Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Gujrati, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Persian, and Urdu.

Storytelling has a universal nature. It attracts every age group or person but children are naturally driven towards it. Storytelling not only enhances the artistic and intellectual capacity of an individual but also inculcates moral values among the children i.e. The Hare and The Tortoise, The Thirsty Crow, The Ant and The Grasshopper, The Lion, and The Mouse. The same is the case with folktales which are famous among young people due to their romantic, colorful, heroic, and thrilling nature i.e. Heer Ranjha, Momal Rano, Sassi Pannu, Sohni Mahiwal, etc.

A major part of storytelling known to us has been coming through oral tradition. This specific art form is known as Dastangoi in the subcontinent. Dastangoi is a 13th-century phenomenon. It got currency in the 16th century (Dastangoi, n.d.).

Ghaus Ansari, an Indian anthropologist, suggests that the origin of dastan goi dates back from the Pre-Islamic Arabia following the Arab-Iran trail, after the spread of Islam, into the Delhi and later getting roots in Lucknow in the mid-nineteenth century. In Lucknow, daastan goi was famous among all classes and was performed at every c o n g e s t e d chowk, household and more interestingly opium houses (Affeem Khana) . The Opium consumers were so fond of storytelling that they made it a must activity in their daily activities. As mentioned above, the story telling was not only famous among the poor class but it had equal following in the privileged or elite class. The rich people used to have daastango (story teller) hired for their personal storytelling sessions (Dastangoi, n.d.). Another engaging aspect of storytelling tradition took birth within Sufi monasteries (Dargah/Khanqah) in India. The Sufis used to tell the stories to their disciples in order to shape their character and to enhance their spiritual insights i.e. Tales of Inayat Khan and vernacular translations of Hakayat-i-Saadi and Hakayat-i-Rumi (Mathnavi Shareef) etc (Anjum, 2011). Apart from this medium, another interesting phenomenon existed, the household tradition of storytelling which was primarily steered by the grandparents of the families. In the bedtime or in a dark night, all the children would get together around the grandparents and would demand to tell stories. The children would listen to their grandparents attentively and unknowingly they would develop an interest in literature and would expose themselves to the famous historic characters and exciting adventures and fascinating fairytales i.e. Dastan-e-Amir Hamza, Ali Baba Aur Chalees Chaur, Alif Laila, Aladin Ka Chiragh etc.

Over the years, the interest in storytelling has decreased. It used to be quite a thing in earlier centuries. There is a need to revive this dying art form. Parents and teachers should collaborate and make efforts to make the children interested in storytelling. Efficient policy-making is needed on the matter by relevant authorities in order to preserve storytelling from extinction.