Stories popular on radio, now in book format

Poignant tales of love that are already popular on radio storytelling show 'Yaadon ka Idiot Box' are now available in book format.
Titled 'Bas, itni si thi ye kahani...', the book has been published by Nine Books - a joint imprint of Content Project and Vani Prakashan, and is an anthology of 14 hindi stories, most of them set in the fictional town of 'Yaad Sheher'.
The book has been edited by popular storyteller and journalist Neelesh Misra, the mellifluous voice behind the radio version of these tales.
"From long time with filmy music, saas-bahu tele-serials, mobile-phone, internet and the milieu at shopping malls around us, we seemed to have forgotten that one habit, hobby and interest that has transcended to us from the times of Upanishad - storytelling," Misra writes.

"It seemed the time for tales was a thing of past. But it turns out that we were at fault, who had forgotten the art to weave stories and the art to narrate it to the younger, contemporary generation.
"Over the past four years, the Mandli has been working on stories that have been part of the radio show 'Yaadon Ka Idiot Box with Neelesh Misra' on 92.7 BIG FM and garnered positive response and connected audience across the country," he says in the preface of the book.

Besides Misra's four stories, writers Aazam Qadri, Akbar Qadri, Kanchan Pant, Durgesh Singh and Aayush Tiwari have penned the other recitals with 'love' and 'perchance meeting between strangers' remaining the common element in almost all of the tales.

"The book is dedicated to 'Daadis' and 'Naanis' of Hindustan who taught us the art of narrating and listening stories, and to the grandchildren of the new generation who have to tell lot of stories in future," Misra writes.
Priced at Rs 199/-, the 222-page 'Bas, itni si thi ye kahani...' is the first among a series of publications by Nine Books which will be printing in other languages, Hindi apart, too.