Rishi at The Moth, Kolkata
Last night, I got to go to the first ever Moth Storytelling night to be held in Kolkata. It was hosted by Rishi Desai and his girlfriend Melissa and was absolutely great! I hadn’t heard about The Moth before my sister told me about it a couple of weeks ago, knowing I would be in town for it. I was pretty thrilled when I found out what it’s about. For those of you who haven’t heard about it, check it out here. And listen to some of the podcasts.
It’s a great way for people to tell stories and to hear stories – to keep the art of storytelling alive. This is an excellent thing, and I fully support it. As someone who is wants to read audiobooks, and who enjoys writing as well, I was especially fascinated. When my sister told me about it, she was amazed that I hadn’t heard about it already.
Rishi has been involved in this for quite some time, had been going to them and telling stories in the ones in the US when he lived there, actually. Now that he lives in Kolkata, he decided to get the ball rolling here. It was my incredible luck to be here to see the beginning of this particular chapter. The theme that they picked for this first evening was “Flight,” an interesting concept as there are many different ways one can go with it. Airplane flights, taking flight, flying high, etc. and the stories that people chose to tell were quite varied. People were supposed to limit their stories to 5 minutes, and to be sure to tell an actual story, rather than just come up and tell a joke or ramble on about themselves. For the most part, this really worked, and it was fascinating, and enjoyable. I even told a little story myself…
People crossing wall at a Park
I really enjoyed meeting Melissa as well. We had been corresponding through email a little before this evening because she works for a company called Sari Bari. I got to meet one of the founders, Sarah, last night at the party, as well as some other people who work there. I don’t know much about Sari Bari yet except that it works in the Red Light District of Kolkata with women who have left prostitution. Jayanthi connected us, hoping that maybe Melissa would give me a tour of their program or something like that. We have one planned for later this week! I’m very excited about it, and I’ll be sure to blog all about it.
Idle Idol in Park
I’ve decided to definitely stay in town until after Jayanthi’s student’s performance of the Wizard of Oz. I think it would crazy for me be all the way this side of the world and not see what she’s been putting so much time and effort into, even if the people at her school are doing everything they can to make it difficult for her and the students. The kids at the school really love having her as a teacher (I made a quick visit to the school when I first came to Kolkata, although I was a bit ill at the time) and I could see how much they appreciated both her and her teaching style.
Me at the Laughing Club Park
Alec at the Laughing Club…
I hung out some this week with Alec, which was nice. We went to a park midway between my hotel and his apartment. It was quite beautiful, is by the train tracks, and has a lake. Apparently, the laughing club meets there as well….
With my sister at The Fairlawn
One night, we all went out to The Fairlawn for beers (and a little impromptu singing). Unfortunately, I didn’t run into those people I’d met before. However, we did run into Melissa and Sarah from Sari Bari and one of the guys we met at Nishad’s party! It’s a small world.
Display at The Fairlawn, Kolkata
I enjoyed finally making it to The Fairlawn, where I’d had so many past memories with my sister, and this time, I went upstairs to the first floor, where they have information up about the hotel itself and about the filming of The City of Joy, (which I relate it with) based on the book by Dominique Lepierre, and a couple of other films it’s been in. The Fairlawn has been active in Kolkata for a quite some time. I enjoyed seeing those displays. It’s also fun seeing my sister with her friends. They really have a good time together and are really fun to spend time with.