Creating Memories Through Stories: How Storytelling Enhances Parent-Child Bonding

My wife Madhavi and I met as Management Trainees in Rourkela Steel Plant, fell in love and married. When our daughter Ankita was four, our son Aniket was born. Now Madhavi’s hands were naturally full, attending to her office duties, managing the household and taking care of the new-born.

So, she ‘motivated’ me in her own way. “You are useless at cooking – you can’t even boil an egg. You can’t sing lullabies and you can’t wash bums. You write satire and poetry, don’t you? Then why don’t you engage Ankita by telling her stories while I take care of Aniket.”

To her shifting from satire/poetry to children’s fiction was as simple as moving from the realm of the boiled to the world of the poached egg.

Anyways, I picked up the gauntlet. However, the egoist that I  am I thought why should I retell stories from the Ramayana, Mahabharata or the Panchatantra. I started thinking up little tales to tell my little one. I am a terrible singer and a terrific dancer and so my narration was a blend of cacophony, seamless jiving and of course loads of yarn spinning as well. I don’t know whether Ankita liked the style or the substance,  but she lapped up my stories and my confidence grew. Soon it became a tradition which continued even after my son,  Aniket, grew up and doubled the size of my audience. The stories liked by my kids found their way to the laptop and from there to the publisher’s desk.

However, here again I faced a major issue. The tastes of the two siblings were completely different.  Ankita loved the stories of tall, dark handsome Princes and sweet and charming Princesses who lived happily ever after. Aniket on the other  was a great fan of Bruce Lee. To him the ideal story was one which was filled with violence and gore. For me to balance the two completely divergent tastes was  a huge challenge but somehow, I managed and that’s how my own children became my greatest fans and strongest inspiration.

Our daily tryst with tales created indelible memories. Sitting on the bed, on long summer nights, cold winter evenings and rain drenched twilights we used to laugh, jump, sing, dance and yes sometimes shed a tear or two as we explored the world of magic and mystery, action and  adventure, sentiment and values. The tales created a gossamer fabric of trust and togetherness which, I am sure, we shall always cherish.

Even today, when the kids have grown up and flown the nest, I look back upon those precious vignettes of sharing and caring and my eyes grow misty.

RAMENDRA KUMAR