In a bid to help the children develop their language skills, ideas and values, Asam Sahitya Sabha is coming up with a storytelling programme. Similar programmes have also been initiated in foreign countries among the people from Assam.

The programme is being done with the collaboration of AIR Guwahati which will start from July 1.

President of the apex literary body of the state, Kuladhar Saikia, said that storytelling helps reaching out to the wonderful mindscape of children in enhancement of language skill, ideas and values.

“We have been thinking about similar issues for some time. How to use the stories for entertainment and also give moral value to the children…In fact this was the topic of my speech during the last Sahitya Sabha Convention. This will also help in affinity towards their mother tongue. This will also enhance their speaking and writing skills,” Saikia told The News Mill.

Saikia, former Director General of Assam Police, said that they will broadcast tales from old classics like ‘Buhri Aier Sadhu’ and others from July 1. He also said that similar practices will also be done in foreign countries among the people from Assam.

“It’s not only Assamese but also in other languages from different ethnic groups. The stories will be translated into Assamese and vice versa and will be told. Apart from that, we are also trying to form some storytelling groups which will travel to different areas in the city and apartment societies to conduct storytelling sessions,” Saikia added.

Asam Sahitya Sabha will also recognize the people in other countries who take part in this kind of programme. Already similar story telling initiatives have taken place in the US and Canada.

“Both parents and children have taken part in such initiatives. It has been greatly helpful for the second generation children who are born there,” Saikia added.

Saikia had published books like ‘The Little Sentinel’ to create awareness on social responsibility through storytelling when he was with Assam Police.

The Sabha has also initiated several steps towards the promotion and preservation of Assamese language across the globe. During the lockdown, the Sabha also conducted a webinar with its various branches across the globe for the first time.

Participants from Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Oman, Kuwait, India (Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru), Scotland, Britain, Netherlands, Canada and multiple states in the US had joined the webinar in May.

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The News Mill is a Guwahati-based digital media with focus on content from across Northeast India and beyond. We can be reached through [email protected]