March 2024 Newsletter

Do you ever wish you could sound more confident, more compelling, more charismatic when speaking in public. Ever wish you could unite the passion you feel inside with the sound you hear outside?

Well, good news–you can. Your natural voice is typically richer, more responsive, more resonant than the voice you currently use day to day. On this fun, immersive workshop you will feel and hear the differences and you will leave knowing how to work to make these transformations permanent.

About Giles Abbott: Giles Abbott has been a Voice teacher since 2005 and works in drama schools, 1:1 with student and professional actors and also in businesses in person in London and online around the world. Giles has been a professional storyteller since 2000 performing to adult and child audiences all over the UK, in Europe and also in Egypt and India. Giles became a storyteller and Voice teacher in response to sudden and drastic sight loss in 1998. Now registered blind with less that 20% sight he says “I lost a thing I’d taken for granted and found things I didn’t know I’d lost, the joys of Story and of Voice. Let me reconnect you to your joy in both.”

Click here to find out more and to register. 

Online Stories Story Swap via Zoom hosted by

Australian Storytellers NSW

Join us to celebrate World Storytelling Day which has the theme of “Building Bridges”. We will enjoy a blend of folktales, personal stories, and historical tales. Narratives of connection, problem-solving, reconciliation, cultural exchange, understanding, and friendship can build bridges—both real and metaphorical. Stories connect the listener and the teller with each other, and there is power in those connections.

This is a free online event organised by the Australian Storytelling Guild (NSW) Come as a listener or teller. All welcome.

Wednesday, 20th March 2024

7.20 pm 9.00 pm AEDT Sydney, Australia (check your timezone)

For more details go to australianstorytellers.org.au/events

Register on Humanitix for your free link.

Celebrating Love in all its Forms

February – A month when the world celebrated love in the form of Valentine’s Day!

When my boys were in school, the school had a practice of exchanging Candygrams, and a popup store was set up that sold candies on Valentine’s Day. The students exchanged candies with a short note attached to it. Some years the boys came home feeling inflated with their sizeable loot of candy; on others they came home deflated as they had received little candy. How much of a beating their self-worth took when they did not get as many Candygrams as they hoped to get is something I never set out to find. Some years the name on the notes with their Candygrams read, “Much love from Anonymous.” I am certain that anonymous person was a teacher. Those heartwarming gestures of kind teachers who went beyond the call of duty to cheer up pupils who received few or no Candygrams.

To this day, I am still unsure, whether the joy was due to candy or the attached notes!

It is said that love is a many splendored thing. The love story of Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII is well known. King Edward decided to abdicate the throne to marry Wallis Simpson. He chose love over kingdom and power, and spent most of his life outside the royal family.

“We have been infected with this idea that love is an emotion felt between two people. But love is universal, an energy, a contagious force, a gift. To offer money to a homeless man is to love. To save a worm from the sun is to love. To smile at a stranger is love. To be grateful, to be hopeful, to be brave, to be forgiving, to be proud, is to love.” – A. R. Lucas

Although we think of Valentine’s Day as a celebration reserved for romantic love, let us try to remember the love and loyalty of our furry friends. As the saying goes, a dog is man’s best friend.

Let us explore love and loyalty through these anecdotes.

Hachiko

Hachiko was Professor Hidesaburo Ueno’s pet dog who lived with him in Shibuya, Tokyo. Prof. Ueno taught at the Tokyo Imperial University. Hachiko was born at a farm near the city of Odate, Akita Prefecture. Hachiko met the professor every day when he alighted from a train after his day’s work. Alas, one day the professor did not return, having died of a cerebral hemorrhage while at work. From May 21, 1925, until March 8, 1935, Hachiko returned to Shibuya Station every single day to await Ueno’s return. He waited for a total of 9 years, 9 months, and 15 days! He appeared precisely when the train was due at the station. Hachiko’s remains were cremated and his ashes were buried in Aoyoma Cemetery, Minato, Tokyo. It rests beside his beloved master Professor Ueno’s grave. His pelt was preserved after his death, and his taxidermy mount is on permanent display at the National Science Museum of Japan in Ueno, Tokyo. Hachiko continues to be celebrated to this day for his love and loyalty.

Dog’s Statue at Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, India

At a tiny, crowded marketplace, I spotted a statue of a dog outside a quaint little café named Kalyan Café. My curiosity was piqued, and I went in search of a story. I wasn’t disappointed. 

Kalyan Café was originally named B. Kalicharan and Sons, a pharmacy. In the early 1900s in India, pharmacists had the license to sell liquor.

The owner of the pharmacy did roaring business and invested well and soon became a rich merchant and one of the wealthiest men in that part of Himachal Pradesh. 

Where there is honey there are flies, where there is money there are marauders.

One night a band of thieves broke into the store to decamp with wines, liquor, cash, and whatever valuables they could lay their hands on. A black labrador retriever witnessed the burglary and attacked the robbers. The gang fled from the scene taking with them whatever they could. 

The thieves reached their den and heaved a sigh of relief. They each opened a bottle of liquor, took a few swigs of the golden liquid and amidst laughter and chatter began dividing their loot from the pharmacy. 

Our hero the dog was not done yet. He rushed to his master’s home, woke him up and led him to the den where the thieves were rejoicing at their good fortune. Their celebration was cut short. 

The furry friend became a hero overnight. An English patron of the shop sent a picture of the dog to a bronze foundry in North Devon in England. An endearing bronze sculpture took shape, and it was shipped back to Himachal Pradesh and installed as a memorial to that dog. 

Kampung Life

FS loved sneaking into an orchard to steal fruits. It was one of the joys of kampong life. He was young then and it was a prank he loved to indulge in.

The fruit orchard was home to the owner’s dog. On seeing FS, the dog would bark incessantly and alert the owner. A chase usually ensued and FS, being young and agile always managed not to get caught.

FS did not like the dog’s meddling and foiling his plans. He would pick up anything that was handy and fling it at the dog. The dog whimpered and yelped but his loyalty towards his master never wavered.

FS had learnt that the owner of the orchard was away and saw his opportunity. Late one evening when he hoped the place would be quiet, he sneaked into the orchard. It was getting dark, so FS could not see where he was going, and fell into a pond. He panicked; he did not know how to swim. He flailed his arms and legs. 

Just then, the very same dog appeared and barked its lungs out. It then rushed to alert some people around and seeing the dog’s persistence they followed the dog to investigate.

FS was saved that evening, saved by the same dog that he had hurt several times, the same dog he had pelted sticks and stones at!

He had learnt a thing or two about love, loyalty, and letting go of grudges.

References: Wikipedia

Kampung Life: Story reproduced with permission.