Childhood & Stories – The Lost Connection

Have you ever seen anyone “Busy without work”?

Puzzled??

Nowadays most people are busy without any significant work.

And because of this, we are not doing an important task with our kids.

The task is “Storytelling“.

 

Every minute when our phone vibrates, we rush to see if somebody has posted something which can’t be missed, or if the world is going upside down (for which we don’t even care).

If not phone, there are numerous TV series which are way more important than anything else in this world.

And that’s the reason we don’t find enough time to do that important task for our own kids.

 

Storytelling is dying in today’s world.

 

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In earlier days, grandparents used to narrate stories to the kids, but nowadays they are also busy with their modern lifestyle.

I have seen many parents who don’t narrate stories to their kids because of some weird reason.

• • Some don’t want to spend a single penny on books, not because they don’t have money, but because they have spent thousands of rupees on toys and now there is no space for books in their plush house.
• • Some have no interest in reading so they don’t want to read stories to their kids.
• • Most of them want their kids to learn English, so they only talk in English (correct or incorrect) to their kids and when it comes to storytelling they can’t translate all the stories which they heard in their childhood in the Hindi language 🙁

The crux is that storytelling has no place in today’s kid’s life.

Most of us know the numerous benefits of storytelling; here I am giving an example.

If I ask you the address of a famous monument which we were forced to learn in our school days, only a few of you might remember, but if I ask you the Harry Potter’s railway station address ( if you have read the novel or seen the movie), then you will  say :

“It’s King cross station, Platform no: 9 3/4.

 

Now if I ask you about chapter number 10 in your 9th standard physics book, then most of you probably will never recall (unless you are gifted), but if I ask you the ‘Product’ for which we saw the “Jalebi advertisement” in the ’90s, then 99% of you will definitely tell the correct answer.

It’s “Dhara Cooking oil”.

Source: Dhara cooking oil ad

 

Stories help to build an emotional connection and that’s the reason that our brain never forgets that great story.

Why there is no place for moral values in our education system?

I still remember, earlier in some schools there were moral classes, but they used to be cut short and slowly completely removed because of the huge syllabus and the competition.

We are forcing our kids to compete harder and gobble up all their syllabuses, so that one day they will also be a part of the rat race and will work for hours without knowing for what they are working for, and to become a mental slaves of big MNC’s, who will pay big bucks to buy lots of electronic gadgets, And then this vicious loop will continue.

 

Knowledge without any value is just information, which one can get from anywhere.

But with this information, we can’t live a peaceful life.

Our values will help us to understand the art of living; they help us when others are not able to help us.

And knowledge comes from values, which help us to stay strong in all kinds of situations.

Today our country is in dire need of values. With so many heart-wrenching incidents, we can see that moral values are diminishing from our society.

If a kid misbehaves, then we say that he must have learned it from his parents, and when the same kid grows up and does some heinous crimes, then what we will say?

Somewhere these criminal’s parents did not do their job at the correct time when it was needed.

Now it can’t be rolled back.

But we can always write a beautiful future for our new generation by inculcating good values in our kids, and stories are the best and simplest way to achieve this mission.

Narrate stories in whatever language you are comfortable with. But it would be best if you narrate it in your mother tongue, then you will be able to create the desired impact of the story in your child and both of you will be more connected.

Your kids will definitely learn any alien language from the outside world, but they will not learn values outside. So as responsible citizens it’s our responsibility to inculcate values in our kids.

 

“It is easier to build up a child than it is to repair a broken adult “

Hope this article could sensitize you to the importance of storytelling for your kid. So let’s revive this lost art and add more fun to childhood. If you like this post then share it to create awareness of the importance of storytelling to kids.