Reviving the lost art of storytelling
India’s first female ‘dastango’, Fouzia Dastango, aims to bring back a love of literature across all generations
Fouzia Dastango grew up being warned by her mother not to cook up stories. Fortunately, she couldn’t stop herself, because today, she has mastered the art of dastangoi (storytelling), and turned it into a profession, making her one of the very few women in this male dominated world.
Though her Old Delhi background helps Fouzia give her stories real life ambience, it also works against her in a way.
Listen and learn
Fouzia’s biggest fear is losing her voice and forgetting her lines. It happened to her on one occasion during a performance, and it left her terrified. “Someone’s mobile suddenly screamed during my performance, and for the next 10 seconds, I was frozen and blanked out. Fortunately, I recovered soon, but the episode was very scary,” she says.
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