Growing up in an Indian household, since we are children, we are told that reading books will make us smarter. Almost as though this is like a medicine: take it and you will be okay, if you don't you will get sick. The correlation seemed frighteningly positive, so there was no choice but to read and lose ourselves in the wonderful world of novels, autobiographies, journals, newspapers and whatever else can be deemed as educational. But why were we not encouraged to tell stories to one another?
In the olden days (by olden days, I mean centuries ago) the concept of written text was rare, and story telling was the common form of both learning and entertainment. While taking this creative course, this idea has popped into my mind several times: the battle between reading vs. storytelling. Of course there are pros and cons to both, and of course I am happy that I have learned to read, and along with my health, consider this my deepest privilege and ability, but wonder what life would be like without that ability.
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