Nagpur celebrates an evening of Dastangoi

It is said to have originated somewhere in Iran in 13th Century, patronised heavily in Akbar’s court and later kept alive in the Nawabi homes in Lucknow and Rampur, before it lost its sheen. But dastangoi, the beautiful art form that traversed the distance from royal courts to elite parlours and near oblivion, is now being revived in the city by the youngsters, who are discovering the intrinsic beauty and latent charm of this evergreen art of storytelling…
Dastangoi sessions are organised in city homes, either at the host’s terrace or in the garden, with a small gathering of people, who share a deep love for stories, shares dastango and poet Hussain Rasheed.“Before each session, an old world aura is recreated to transport the audience to the era gone by. Dressed in a white angarkha with lamps placed on both the sides and almond water in front of him, to sharpen his memory, the narrator tries to captivate the audience’s attention through intriguing tales and impressive voice modulation,” shares Hussain.
This format of storytelling is quite dramatic, yet it is distinctly different from a regular play. This is what makes it stand apart, shares avid reader and theatre lover Anuja Rai. “Since Dastangoi is devoid of all the razzmatazz of lights, elaborate sets and the props that go with it, its success depends solely on the magical words uttered by the datango. I recently attended a session of this unique storytelling format and was immensely intrigued by Kabir’s dastan and the back stories, which made him a saint and an icon for all ages,” says Anuja.
While grandmothers love to give new twists and turns to their bedtime stories fine-tuned over the years, a dantango has to memorise the entire script before performing in front of an inquisitive and intelligent audience. Hussain endorses this as he says, “There is one particular dastan of Kabiriyat, on which I’m working for months and it is still a work in progress. Along with the Arabian Nights narrations, which dwell heavily on magic carpets, stunning shehzadis and the devil who can change forms at will, the city youngsters also like modern dastans including Mantoiyat, which reveal the anger, hunger and revolutionary thoughts of a great writer like Manto.”
The language used in these dastans is usually either Hindustani or Khadi Boli. At times youngsters find it difficult to decipher the meaning of certain words, a fact that also serves as a hindrance. Simplifying the tales and making them more relevant to the contemporary audience, will go a long way in popularising this beautiful art form, shares a young surgeon Dr Manmeet Meshram. “A dastangoi session was recently hosted at my brother’s place. Since I have been reading Urdu poetry for a while, I was quite comfortable with the language used, but if stories become more modern, without compromising on their historic roots, a lot of youngsters will be able to relate with them and it will help revive this dying art,” adds Manmeet.