Kashmiri folktales

Storytelling is not a tradition in Kashmir. The way we communicate is through stories’

Kashmir has many stories of its own to tell beyond the visible political ones, though these have not been brought to the forefront because of the way New Delhi has treated place and its inhabitants over the decades.

                 — Onaiza Drabu, "The Legend of Himal and Nagrai and Other Stories"

 

Onaiza Drabu, is an anthropologist, who graduated from Oxford University and whose research focuses on identity and nationalism in Kashmir. In her recently published book The Legend of Himal and Nagrai, she re-tells the folktales from Kashmir.

The following excerpts have been reproduced from an interview by Gokul S Prabhu for scroll.in. Drabu talks about the method of collecting these folktales, choosing the voice in re-telling of these folktales and reflections on the tradition of storytelling.

We invite the readers to share their thoughts on the interview and over nuances of storytelling and choosing the voice in the process.

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