Storytelling is an art. When the subjects are children, it is extremely delicate art. The child is more likely to relate and respond to something familiar than unfamiliar. Something familiar is something experienced. The sensory experiences. Sensory experiences are directly related to the local environment. So stories of desert has more impact for children growing in desert than children growing in jungle. Even single moral story should have different regional and local shades.
Instead of creative diversity, we have one syllabus for all. 🙂
Instead of local shades in stories, we have plots based on totally alien lands. 🙂
Stories have potent ability to act as growth therapy. Therapy to help child grow naturally with ever expanding senses. And so it plays critical role in child development.
No story = Limited intellectual and mental growth.
For story to act as therapy, the story itself—the characters, events, and settings—must speak to the common life experience of those listening, and it must do so in language that is familiar.
I really doubt impact and therapeutic effectiveness of stories based on alien setup and foreign language. So much stress and confusion for a child!
Local stories + Foreign language = English Ramayana => No
Foreign stories + Mother tongue => Not a best option. Doable if the plot is changed based on local environment.
Stories in mother tongue with familiar plots based on local environment, rituals and living standards – best therapeutic impact!
We don’t have one Ramayana. There are at least 300 versions of Ramayana. 🙂 And countless local language versions! 🙂
Now we have only version: Ramanand Sagar’s version 😉
