Children of the city will see the coming alive of vivid characters from engaging story books at the 2-day Katha Samagam in Lucknow to be hosted from today. Taking place at the International Buddha Research Institute, the event aims at imbibing the almost extinct art of storytelling while inculcating a habit of reading among children.

A Katharang Foundation creation, the storytelling sessions and discussions will witness certain distinguished guests, including Hindi and Awadhi writer Padma Shri Vidya Bindu Singh, known for her diverse work in folk and children's literature. Among other preeminent guests are Lucknow's fiction writer Shivmurti and Delhi's Subhash Chander, the founder of Katharang Foundation, Nutan Varishtha, confirmed.

The aforementioned prestigious guests will enlighten the world of children by narrating short stories and folktales, in various languages, to the enthusiastic spectators and listeners. The audience is expected to comprise students from numerous colleges of the city.

Folktales scripted in languages like Urdu, Awadhi, Kannauji, and Bundelkhandi are aimed at acquainting children with the way around the age-old languages.

"Excessive use of social media is taking our children and youth away from our rich literary heritage. Our effort is to introduce the young generation with the art of storytelling and inculcate the habit of reading," Varishtha added.

The fun-filled event is scheduled to conclude with the narration of 'Milan', a story by the renowned author Sanjeev Jaiswal 'Sanjay'. Cultural performances by artistes here are also being looked forward to.

Stories have been an integral part of all our lives and the enlivening manner with which they used to be narrated have been forever etched in the memories of the listeners. This is why events like these are symbolic in representing how ancient arts like storytelling have outlived their span and still very well exist to continue enlightening other children's worlds.

Where: International Buddha Research Institute, Vipin Khand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow

When: December 28-29

-With inputs from IANS