Neelesh Misra recalls stories from train journeys for a new podcast

Neelesh Misra

On the countless train journeys that Neelesh Misra has undertaken as a journalist-author-radio storyteller, there's one that stands out. "I used to study in Nainital and would come home to Lucknow whenever I could. At the time, I was fascinated with the idea of finding a stranger, a female, on a long-distance train and hoping that a story would evolve around it," he recalls. One of the first things Misra would do before boarding the train, was scan the list of passengers and look for the three names around his seat. "I would be thrilled if there was a girl around 20 years old, and be crestfallen on discovering that there's an elderly aunty or uncle next to me. I think that was a defining part of the journey for every young male passenger," he says. If at all, he did get lucky and there was a female co-passenger, he had to ensure that he wouldn't come across as a 'lafanga' during conversations. "I never tried to share food because there were chances of the girl getting offended. I was aware of where to draw a line and also had an idea of what might work. But, for all my efforts, none of the stories got anywhere," he laughs.

These anecdotes have made their way to Kahaani Express, a new audio storytelling show hosted by Misra on Saavn, an audio entertainment streaming platform. While he has tied up with the platform for shows like Qisson ka Kona and Time Machine that revolve around love and relationships, in this segment Misra explores the lives of people, stories of emotional goodbyes, new beginnings, chance meetings and life-altering train journeys. Launched two weeks ago, each story is divided into four segments of 15 minutes each, airing four days a week from Monday to Thursday.

Tapping into nostalgia
The choice of railways as subject, he tells us, was determined by the nostalgia value and the fact that most Indians would be able to relate to the stories told. "Railways are the heart of India and most of us have a train story to tell. What makes the journey engaging is the momentary flirtation, the intimacy and ordinariness of it. The idea that you can spend some time in a closed room and can leave that world and never have to come back again," he explains. For him, as a storyteller, the railway journeys are a throwback to what was beautiful about growing up in a changing nation, where people, relationships, small moments and conversations were important. "These days, you could be sitting with five people in a room and all the heads are buried in the phone. So, this project is a reminder of all those encounters."

Interestingly, this is the longest format of storytelling that Misra has attempted. Until now, the longest story that he has narrated has been 24 minute-long and the shortest is two minutes. "When you have stories set in and around trains, it offers you a limited frame, but that's how you need to rise to the challenge. Like a TV show, you have to ensure the listener comes back tomorrow for the rest of the story. In today's age when the attention span is small, it's a challenge," he admits.

The stories that go on air are collected in what Misra calls mandalis or informal gatherings that usually take place on video conference with people from various parts of the country joining in several times during the week. While there's an elaborate procedure of shortlisting entries, what Misra looks for in a story are universal emotions, visual writing and "no show-off". "I must confess that I don't go through the entire story sent in. I don't have the time. I usually read the first 300 words and if there's promise, we shortlist it," he says. For Misra, it's not the story that's important, but the capability to write. And, the one thing that he doggedly steers clear of is stereotyping on basis of gender, caste, creed or country of origin. "If you have to write well, you need to be a good person as well - in that you have to be the other. As a storyteller, I become the other person every day. In a country that is so divided, a lot of our hostility exists because we don't understand the other," he says. Currently, Misra has writers from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar who bring in nuggets of their culture that fit into the jigsaw of memories presented.

While his foray into radio storytelling was unintentional, the efficacy of the medium has made him stay on. "When we started, people wrote us off saying nobody listens to stories on radio. But it has worked. The fascinating aspect is that you can connect to people across age groups, geographies and social strata. You have somebody listening in from remote Kashmir as well and from Cuffe Parade. This is creative destiny," he says.

For now, Misra has a lot in his kitty with plans of penning bedtime stories, horror tales and turning his books on reportage like Once Upon A Timezone (2006) and End of the Line: The Story of the Killing of the Royals in Nepal (2010) into audio books. "I think everything has a shelf life and there might come a time when people get bored of listening to me. Until then, I want to keep entertaining."