Chapter 1- The importance of storytelling in a child’s life

Chapter -1 The importance of storytelling in a child’s life When Swami Vivekananda was a child of 6 or 7 years old, the teacher in the classroom asked a question to everybody in the class.” When you grow up whom do you want to become” The students started saying one said I would like to become a doctor, said engineer, then a teacher and so on. When the turn came the teacher asked Naren (that was the name given to Swamiji originally) the question. Naren, what would you like to become when you grow up? Naren was very thoughtful. He replied I would like to become a ‘horse-cart driver’. All started laughing. Naren became very sad to came home in a sorrowful mood, his mother Bhuvaneswari Devi, noticed this she asked Naren What is the matter he narrated everything happened in the class room. Bhuvaneswari Devi laughed. She said.” Oh, Naren why do you become sad? You came and see how Sree Krishna has become a Horse-cart-driver. Saying this she took him to the pooja room and showed the photo of Sri Krishna who became the Parthasarathy; the horse cart driver of Arjuna. Bhuvaneswari Devi used to narrate the story of Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc to the children in the household. They grow up hearing the stories of great people. Thus, they develop their mind. Nowadays the parents have no time to tell the stories to their children and the children have no time to go to the grandparents to hear the stories. Hence Parents or grandparents must find some time to spend with the children and tell them the stories of great people. The stories in the Puranas or great men in the society. There are lot of social reformers in our country who inspired society by their greatness. The Children must know them. Then only they will grow up as good citizens of the country. In this context, I would like to say that teachers in the school can do a lot in this regard. There can be storytelling sessions in the classrooms.