In early 2019, award-winning storyteller and puppeteer Usha Venkatraman founded the Mumbai Storytellers Society for a group of tellers who wanted to revive the ancient oral tradition of storytelling in the community. It's also when she started thinking about a festival that would put the city on the global map — Mumbai International Storytelling Festival. Today, the event will finally take shape at multiple venues, before travelling to Panchgani over the weekend.

The line-up of tellers at the three-day event includes scholar and author Arshia Sattar, Kaavad Katha performer Akshay Gandhi, Sheila Wee, referred to as the godmother of storytelling in Singapore, fusion dance proponent Rubena Sinha from Canada and award-winning teller from the UK, Stella Kassimati. But it is the theme of the fest that is truly significant today. "In an era of identity politics, it was time to look for common grounds and understand what it might convey to us about our commonality as human beings... Storytelling brings us together and helps build cross-cultural connections. Through stories, we bridge the gap between 'us' and 'them'," Venkatraman says.