[SPEAKERS DIARY]
Rajesh Seshadri
Book Review
AKHYAYIKAS
A
khyayikas is the modifi ed plural for
Akhyayika which is a Sanskrit word
meaning a fable, a chantefable, a
short episodic narrative or an anecdote. The
book itself is an anthology of short stories
and anecdotes, standing out amidst a medley
of self-help, technical, non-fi ction and fi ction
books which are the norm today.
Storytelling has been an intrinsic part of
Indian tradition, right from the age of Vedas.
Gavin Flood, in his book An Introduction to
Hinduism places the oldest of them around
900 BCE.
The best example is the Mahabharata,
which is not just a masterpiece of epic
54
storytelling, but truly a discourse on life
and living. Almost all of us, right from
childhood, have been enchanted and
entertained by stories. There is a reason why
stories have played such an important role
in our lives — they teach without appearing
to do so.
Learning happens through connection,
i.e. we learn by association, identifi cation
and through language. We make sense of
new information by forging connections
to something we already know; that,
which helps you to connect with what you
already know, reinforces the learning.
Stories do this through metaphors, similes
and analogies. A metaphor means to
| Vol. 9 Issue 6 • Sep-Oct 2018, Noida / Pre-Event Edition