Story Spark Day 2 Object Based Storytelling

Awesome, awesome. Welcome to day 2 of daily story Spark session. Welcome Rajesh ji, welcome Ankaj ji. So good to have you here. So I'm so excited. Let's get started. So, Walkaji, if you can switch on your video if possible. Now, today is day 2, and in day 2 we are going to do another quick exercise to ignite your storytelling skills. So a lot of time we think that we need to have a lot of characters, we need to have a lot of resources to have stories, but today you're going to do storytelling right where you are. And I'm going to give you an example, and then I'm going to ask you to actually look into where you are, and you will be able to find certain stories. So this concept is called object-based storytelling, where instead of just having people, you can also make use of objects nearby you, and you can tell a story about that object. For example, I was looking this morning, what is the object that I can share? And I found this diary. Now, Rajesh ji might remember this diary because when I visited India, she presented me. And let me tell you, this is a very simple diary which was given to me. And if I don't tell a story, you will perceive something. I want you to think in your mind what could be the perceived value of this one. It was April 2024. I was visiting India after a year, and I was so excited because I was getting to meet some of my community members. I had no idea what to expect, and when I went there, we went to a mall, and two of the community members, Rajesh Abuja ji and Minu Khurana, came and we met at a shopping mall. And just when we were about to Deep, she presented me a gift wrap. I had no idea what was inside that, but I gladly accepted. And when I went back home, I opened. This was this beautiful diary. Now, I wasn't sure what to use this for because this diary— I used to write a lot in diaries, but not any longer. So for few weeks, it was there lying on my table. And I'm thinking about what should I do with that diary. During that time, I was also making a big life decision because I was transitioning from being a full-time employee to now becoming an entrepreneur. And the very first step was to put my resignation, and I wanted to document that journey. And when I put my papers in my company, I thought I am going to record this And that's when this journey became— this diary became my journey of notice period. So as you can see on the front page, and this is where I recorded and I used to record. I'm gonna read probably the day 1. It's pretty long, 3-4 pages, but I'm just gonna read first paragraph. It's been a while since I did this, so I wrote it on 30th of April at 10:52 PM. And I'm gonna read probably the first paragraph. Hey, it's been a while since I did the actual journaling, but I think today is the perfect day to do so. I have finally put my resignation in TCS. It's been coming for so long, but I couldn't resist anymore. With the grace of the Almighty, things went more or less as planned in India trip. So the next planned step for me was to put the paper on 30th April, and I have finally done that. Yay! I'm not gonna read the whole 4 pages that I wrote. Having a diary could really lead to a reflection. So that's the example of object-based storytelling. Now tell me, do you think the value of this diary has increased in your mind or not? Right now It's time for you. I'm gonna play the music for about 1 minute, and I don't want you to go too far and running around in your house in the morning and, and freaking all the family members what happened to you, but just look around your room and see, are there any diary object? Any object doesn't have to be diary, could be any object. And can you recall any story? So let's Let's play music for 1 minute and I want you to just look into it. I'm gonna— yeah, even if you have the story, I just want you to frame a story in for 1 minute in your mind. How are you going to present the story? Don't just blabber, think about how you can put a structure and then we'll start in 1 minute. Okay, so let's play the music. Okay, 1 minute is up. So I see Alka Ji raised hand first, so go ahead, Alka Ji. Tell us what the object is and what's the story behind the object.

So this is lying in front of me. This is lying in front of me.

Yes.

And the story is that, um, about 1 year back I had been to Hyderabad to meet my dad's friend. My dad, he's about 90 and my aunt is about 89 today. So last year they were like 1 year less and I went to meet them because very close, I'm with them. And when I reached there, Hyderabad is famous for this pearls. So she presented to me this necklace, and this is only 1 year old, but I cherish the memories of my auntie and my uncle. They are still alive today, but even at that time of their life, when 89 and 90, they presented me with this, and I will always cherish this as a memory of yours in my life. So this is what I saw.

This—

awesome, awesome. And what could be the takeaway for this story? This last point is—

takeaway is the friendships in life. I— this is the most— this is the largest— I don't know what word— the biggest friendship I've seen in my life, because my dad and my mom are gone. But they still love me so much, and it is because of their love for each other that I am being loved today. So I feel that friendships are very important in life, and we have to, we have to be a good friend to have a good friendship. Something like this. I have to structure it better, I think.

Yeah, no problem. Be a friend to ignite the friendship. It could be something like that. Awesome. And Thank you. Story power to you, SPTI. Awesome. So next up is Ajayshi. Did you find something? Yes, go ahead.

Okay, it was, uh, like, uh, it was, uh, I think June 2021. Uh, it was like, uh, we were working from home due to lockdown. And I was completely occupied, like throughout the day I was on calls, on mails, and everyone was at home. In fact, I was not getting time to, uh, you know, to get up and cook for kids and all those things. I was completely into work. And that time, like, my phone, uh, it was, uh, it started giving some trouble. It was started getting hang and I was finding difficult to work from it. And my son, he was just observing me that yes, mommy is facing some challenge. So what she— what he did that one day, he, he was just, uh, opening his phone. I said, what are you doing? Why are you wasting your time? And he said, Mama, I'm not wasting my time. I'm just pulling out my SIM. You know, your phone is not working properly and we all are just at home. Do one thing, you take my phone and you do your work. And that day, like, when I listened to him, I was so surprised that it's not only that we care for our kids But yes, sometimes you don't expect, but there are people around you. They observe you, they, they can realize your pain and your struggle, and they do care for you as well. So that day I just felt so blessed to have son like him, that he's so caring, and, uh, you know, he was ready to offer me his phone. So I feel that love, care can just bring everything in your life.

Amazing. I mean, we love that. And, and do you realize that by telling stories, the value of the object, even though it is the same object, the same diary, the same, uh, the pearl that you have, or the same phone phone that you have, the value has increased. And this is the magical power of storytelling. I hope you are enjoying this series. So we have couple of minutes. So what was your takeaway from today's session?

You have to make a video.

Yes. What, what is my takeaway is that, uh, yes, stories, uh, they create magic in your life. Like, you cannot think it was so powerful, but when you, uh, make us realize— yes, uh, shared your incident, we realized, yes, these small things, after so many years, still it is like memories are the same, the feelings are same. And throughout the life, this story will make me cherish or feel happy. And same in, same in that case with Alka ji and you.

Absolutely, very well said. What was your takeaway?

Actually, what Rajesh is saying is so beautiful, you know. It is again the same thing for me. This is reminding me of the love and care that I received from my uncle and my auntie, and it reminded me of my parents' love. So love is something which is unconditional. Love is joy. I'm looking for a nice quote. With love. So that is the takeaway, that stories can bring value to your life, to the things in your life, to the relationships in your life, and meaning in your own life actually. Thank you so much, Haritosh Srivastav. Very nice.

You're most welcome. And as they say, Dr. Howard Gardner said that stories constitute the single most powerful weapon in a leader's arsenal. If you have stories You don't need to use your power most of the time. So I wish you all a very happy weekend and more story power to you. If you want to, you can create a video and post it in the group, but I'd like to keep this session 15 minutes, small packet, chota packet bharat hamaka. So have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow with day 3.

I didn't understand the quote that you mentioned. Stories have the power to what?

Stories. The code is story. Constitutes the single most powerful weapon in a leader's arsenal. So if you have stories, you don't need to fire people, you don't need to scold people. You can tell better stories and they will understand the message.

You can teach them with stories.

You can teach them with stories.

Yes, yes. Who has written this?

I will put it in the chat. It's called Dr. Howard Gardner.

Okay, thank you, thank you, Haritosh Srivastav. Thank you very much.

Thank you, you're welcome. Have a great weekend and see you tomorrow morning, and then we'll have mastermind session tomorrow evening. All right, take care, have a great day.

Bye-bye.