A festival that celebrates forgotten folklore and oral story-telling

This year's audiences should be bigger, given that many big-name performers have been lined up.

Shaguna Gahilote, a master storyteller who has been weaving stories for 15 years, believes that folk tales cannot be narrated indoors. “The atmosphere is what brings the story to life,” she says. It’s fitting then that a performance meant to take one back in time is being staged at Delhi’s Sunder Nursery. The 16th-century park, spread over 90 acres, has a rich history and Mughal monuments, both big and small, to show for it.

Kathakar, a three-day storytelling festival dedicated to the narration of forgotten folklore and featuring artistes from around the globe, began yesterday. Started by Gahilote and her