P atricia Narayan is in most of our newspapers these days. Patricia is the winner of this year’s ‘FICCI Woman Entrepreneur of the Year’ award, who, from earning just fifty paisa in the early 80’s continued to fight to overcome all hurdles to establish a chain of restaurants and now she earns at least Rs two lakh a day. Hailing from a conservative Christian family from Nagercoil, her marriage to a Brahmin caused an uproar in her family. Soon, all went downhill for Patricia who suffered abuse at the hands of her drug and alcohol addicted husband. At 18, Patricia was left to fend for herself and her two children. In an interview she confides: “I reached the crossroads where I had to choose between living and dying. I chose to live.” Where many would have just given up she persevered. Her passion for cooking only fuelled her will to survive. She started out by selling pickles, jams and squashes. From then on, there was no looking back and she set up a kiosk at the Marina beach, sel...
As a learning tool, storytelling can encourage us to explore their unique expressiveness and can heighten our ability to communicate thoughts and feelings in an articulate, lucid manner. These benefits transcend the art experience to support daily life skills. In our fast-paced, media-driven world, storytelling can be a nurturing way to remind us that spoken words are powerful, that listening is important, and that clear communication between people is an art.