In 2017, dancer Ananda Shankar Jayant created and produced Natayrambha, a Bharatanatyam practice app (www.natyarambha.com) that has been well-received by gurus and digital leaders alike, and is now followed across the world.
Natyarambha, is also a digital platform, that has been creating unique content, on arts, inspirational videos, learning capsules, motivational talks, and sharing of Indic knowledge.
Natyarambha has now produced and presented Kutty Kahani - Eternal Stories , Young Storytellers. Kutty Kahani is a unique and game changing idea, in how India’s civilisational and cultural ethos, can be shared with children, and by children bringing together tradition and technology.
As adults we have often been concerned about young India’s disconnect with our civilisational roots. It is often noticed, that this important Indic cultural and civilisational knowledge connect, is side stepped due to punishing work schedules of parents, and formal school education not providing for this knowledge. And yet, the streams of enduring Indic knowledge continue to be taught and learnt, by generations of young Indians. A stream that begins, when young toddlers, learn of these tales, from grandparents and parents, and when some of them learn of this cultural ethos, as students of India's myriad arts.
Kutty Kahani with Ananda Shankar as its Creative Director was premiered on 20 November 2020, and will continue upto 31st December 2020 ( Season 1) with one video released every day
A series of short videos of stories from India, that aims to create a digital bank of Indian stories and storytelling, of Indic knowledge and wisdom, encapsulated in brief videos further embellished with animation and digital design - thereby connecting tradition to technology
A daily series of short video premieres, of stories from India, of India's timeless wisdom and knowledge, of storytelling and performance by enormously talented young children, (age 6 to 13 years)
A multi art, multi lingual, (with subtitles as needed) story telling by young storytellers from across India, Malaysia, UK and USA, bringing to us India's ancient wisdom, creating, ready to access digital Indic content for children. Kutty Kahanistories are from the spectrum of India's culture - stories from the epics, sthala purana of temples, rich tales on the origins of music and dance, handicrafts, folk tales, inspirational poets, Bhakti poets and poetry.
An absolutely new way of sharing India’s timeless stories and eternal wisdom; as understood and internalised by young children, through chanting, music, dance, poetry, puppetry, acting and of course storytelling; in short sized video capsules, (each video is about 5 minutes long) in a unique format, of short stories, told by young children, yet making it a must watch for child and adult alike.
Kutty Kahani showcases the possibility of a simple and digitally enabled way of sharing Indic content, a new way of how India’s eternal knowledge can be transmitted in a simple and easily accessible way, that will help the young of India to have their cultural and civilisational roots and yet reach for the sky.
Click here to view the episodes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhhNaKm0I10&feature=youtu.be