Stories do not only transport listeners to new worlds. They also instruct and lead them to reflect on and engage with the world around them in meaningful ways. The Storytelling Stream at HLF 2025 offers multilingual narratives and performances that will appeal to all ages and tastes, drawing the listener into historical or contemporary themes, or personal experiences. The second edition of Hyderabad Stories segment continues this year, reflecting the rich cultural and historical ethos of a city that is home to a tapestry of communities.

Highlights:

• Neelesh Misra, India’s ‘leading and most loved story teller,’ journalist, author, radio storyteller, scriptwriter and lyricist will engage and entertain with his stories on all aspects of life, love and governance!
• The enchantment of listening to stories is an act of interactive imagination. Vayu Naidu brings stories from the Ramayana in her session The Enticement of Epic Tales: Storytelling Oral and Written, with readings from The Living Legend, and shares the process of writing myth and fiction. 
• Readings from selected stories translated from the two languages in focus this year, Lithuanian and Sindhi, into English, by the popular Hyderabad-based Little Theater group, with the stalwarts of the Hyderabad theatre scene, Shankar Melkote, Prakash Burra and others.
• Theatre group Abhivyakti, with Dr. Rajshree Duggar, Arvind Sharma and others bring to life Usne Kaha Tha, the very famous story by Chandradhar Sharma Guleri, about sacrifice, memory and love.
• Classical and contemporary dancer Neha Khaitan performs sustainability story, dwelling on the effects of collective and individual behaviours on the ecosystem. She will be accompanied by Sai Kolanka on the violin and Srikant on the Mridungam.
• And last but not the least, well-known Hyderabadis by birth or by adoption will keep the audiences enthralled with stories highlighting the multicultural and globalised history of Hyderabad.
• Dilnaz Baig, curator of food festivals, founder of Dastarkhan-e-naaz and secretary of Shaam-e-ghazal presents Slice of Life. She will talk of the everyday as well as the gourmet dishes that make up quintessential Hyderabadi cuisine, as well as little known facts of Hyderabadi culture.
• Yunus Lasaniya (Hyderabad-based journalist associated with News Minute, and previously, the Mint, The Hindu and Siasat) narrates These Walls have tales!  focussing on the stories behind some of the architectural structures of the city, the idea being that the history of a city is made up of stories as well as facts, and that both can be part of it.

So, come and be regaled by the myriad themes, languages, and performances awaiting you at the Storytelling stream of HLF 2025!