👀 A venue for imaginary vacation

#186 | Reality is but mere suggestion

I’m not sure if you’ll view me as an old relic or reminisce with me about the days of yore when waiting for the latest episode of a story or play on Vivid Bharti was a thing.

For young Nikita, the radio was a bewitching little box whose crackling sounds echoed like a symphony in the ears. Anticipation would surge within me as I eagerly awaited the actors’ voices, sometimes just a narrator and the enchanted sound effects, painting a scene, not unlike a musical grand overture.

If you’ve been reading JOT for any length of time, you know I am a fiction junkie, and I can trace this interest back to storytelling on All India Radio. My memories of this time are fresh and clear, harkening back as they did to an era when storytellers had to use imagination and creativity to create an experience that was truly immersive. These days I don’t listen to radio much because it seems to be nothing more than shoddy copywriting.

I recently came across a Hindi podcast Kahani Suno by Sameer Goswami, and these memories all came back in a whoosh.

The podcast relives the glory days of classic Hindi literature, with stories written by the greats like Jaishankar Prasad and Munshi Premchand. And the best part? Goswami’s storytelling is short, sweet, and to the point – with some episodes clocking in at just three minutes! No need to dedicate hours of your day to this podcast; just a quick hit of literary nostalgia.

Give Kahani Suno a listen if you’d like a nice dose of culture and history with great storytelling, or maybe just a trip down nostalgia lane. 

Yours,

Nikita

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A friend recently told me that JOT is their daily dose of laughs, witty puns, and a whole lot of snark, along with new things to explore. Why do you read JOT? Write and tell us.