Some stories never age. Forever travellers, they possess the magical power to live through generations. The story of the goose and the golden eggs is one such story that fascinated young Atharva beyond imagination. 

A bedtime story for every little child. In many privileged homes, a picture book, a story, a storyteller are things of the ordinary. Often a chore, a to-do! But in some tiny homes that don’t make enough to home books and stories, it is a luxury. 

Young Atharva expresses gratitude for being able to grow up around stories. Largely, due to access to a school where stories were a way of teaching and learning. He shares, “Since childhood I have enjoyed reading or listening to stories. Especially those written in English.” His imagination met joy when he realised he could watch stories too. 

Speaking of his favourite one, he says, “At school, during the eLearning class, we are often shown stories in video format. I remember the story of the goose who laid golden eggs from one such class. The family is initially overjoyed by this discovery and is happy to receive one golden egg each day. But then, greed takes over, they want all the golden eggs at once and end up taking the goose’s life in the process. This story was an important lesson in my life. Greed doesn’t get one anywhere.”

Apart from stories, Atharva also finds a taste for history, which can be a lot of information to absorb, if restricted only to reading and remembering from text books alone. Digital learning enabled at his school through ILF - Empowering Education program ensures that subjects are given equal attention through interactive and engaging formats. 

“Digital learning has made history even more interesting for me. During history class, we were shown videos that helped us learn more about world wars. How it caused so much destruction everywhere. And then an organisation was formed to ensure that such fights and wars are avoided in future. United Nations,” he states.

Atharva’s fondness and grasping of stories reinstates faith in this quote by Jimmy Neil Smith, founder of International Storytelling Centre: “We are all storytellers. We all live in a network of stories. There isn’t a stronger connection between people than storytelling.” And then what better way to introduce this world and its way to its future generations than stories well told.