Traditional art of storytelling enthrals Dubai’s Urdu speakers

Sunil Mehra and Askari Naqvi perform in Dubai. (Photo credit: Poetic Strokes)

DUBAI: Dubai hosted an evening of enthralling storytelling on Wednesday, performed by artists from India who are contributing to the tradition’s revival.
Called “Daastan Goyoi” (storytelling) in Urdu, it is an ancient form of entertainment, and is considered the theater of language and oration.
Famous storytellers Sunil Mehra and Askari Naqvi performed in Dubai for the first time, and were lapped up by Indian and Pakistani expatriates.
“Daastan Goyoi” started in the Persian court and entered the Indian subcontinent during the Mughal era, moving from palaces to the masses.
With the advent of new forms of entertainment such as film, radio and TV, and with the rising influence of Western culture, “Daastan Goyoi” lost its relevance.
But in the last few years it has regained popularity, especially among Urdu-speaking communities worldwide.
At the Dubai event, Mehra and Naqvi narrated two short stories, “Ghar Wali” and “Mughal Bacha,” written by famous Urdu author Ismat Chugtai.
“Her stories carry all shades and range of emotions that make narration more interactive and indulging. Through her pen, she never writes, she almost talks to her readers,” Mehra told Arab News.
Naqvi told Arab News: “Both stories were written against the backdrop of partition and the fall of the Mughal Empire.”
He added: “India at the time was passing through a difficult social transition. Both stories depict these circumstances.”
Mehra and Naqvi are successful professionals who do this out of passion for Urdu literature. The former is a Delhi-based author, journalist and filmmaker, while the latter is a Lucknow-based lawyer and human rights activist.
“Urdu has always been a language of the masses, and is evolving every day,” said Mehra. “They (English people) told us, ‘Daastan Goyoi is useless. Watch our movies and theater, read Shakespeare.’ They undermine all those things that used to be the pride of our heritage.”
The two storytellers denied that millennials do not connect with “Daastan Goyoi.” “We’ve performed in many places where youths enjoyed it as much as the elderly,” said Mehra.
“If the story is good and the narrator knows how to connect, then everyone, regardless of age, will enjoy it.”
Yet Mehra and Naqvi can neither read nor write in Urdu. “It’s unfortunate… That’s why we’re planning to start learning soon,” Mehra said.