New Delhi: Teenagers, college students, and young working professionals gathered at the Little Theatre Group Auditorium in Delhi’s Mandi House not to see a comedian, singer, or magician perform, but to hear Divya Prakash Dubey tell a story for 90 minutes.
He is one of the top-selling Hindi fiction writers. His bestsellers like Musafir Cafe are inspiring the younger generation to set aside Instagram reels and read a book instead. And now, Dubey is experimenting with storytelling sessions through Storybaazi.
After a successful show in Mumbai, he brought Storybaazi to Delhi for the first time on 22 June.
“My publisher and I were exploring ways to promote my book by holding an event, and we ended up with this show,” said Dubey.
The story he chose to narrate was drawn from his short story collection, Sharten Laagoo, and was autobiographical, but Dubey was not the main character. Instead, the hero was Kitti Bhaiya, his neighbour.
“Sabki life mein Kitti Bhaiya hote hain (Everyone has a Kitti Bhaiya in their life),” he started, and the audience leaned forward in unison.
Who is Kitti Bhaiya?
Dubey proved as good a storyteller as he is a writer. He had the audience in splits with his one-liners in one moment and moved them to tears in the next. He spoke about how Kitti Bhaiya helped him find a ‘writing’ job, having discovered his passion.
“Kitti Bhaiya found my diary and read my poems. He took me to an ad agency, where I was asked to write an ad. Kitti Bhaiya gave me money for this and told me, ‘I am giving you money so you can see that you can earn money by writing’,” said Dubey.
Kitti Bhaiya was Dubey’s ‘superhero’ during his teenage years—and a pillar of support when he started adulting. When he was lost in the maze of entrance exam preparations with dreams of getting into the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), it was Kitti Bhaiya who reminded him that there was more to life.
“Kitti Bhaiya used to say that life is meant to be enjoyed,” said Dubey.
Kitti Bhaiya got him admitted into a coaching institute for free, stopped others from bullying him, and supported him after a breakup.
“In Sharten Laagoo, I dedicated an entire story to Kitti Bhaiya,” added Dubey.
Dubey’s growing popularity
Apart from students, actors, and journalists, AAP MLA Dilip Pandey and Hindi writers Nilotpal Mrinal and Rishabh Pratipaksh were also in attendance. Many from the audience were accompanied by their children.
“Every night I read stories to my son. I wanted to show him how this is becoming part of our new culture now, like stand-up comedy,” said Sarita Goswami, who attended the storytelling session with her son.
Dubey’s Musafir Cafe inspired a café revolution across the country. Often called the Chetan Bhagat of Hindi fiction, he has more than 1.6 lakh followers on Instagram.
Dubey’s books would have never made it to 20-year-old Priya Jaiswal’s bookshelf, if not for his social media popularity. Having studied in English-medium schools and colleges, she never imagined that she would develop a love for Hindi literature.
“I had never read any Hindi books before, but a few years ago, I read Musafir Cafe and fell in love with it. After that, I read two other books by him, and now finally I will listen to him and meet him,” said Jaiswal at the start of the show.
At the end of the 90-minute storytelling session, fans lined up to meet Dubey. They surrounded him with books and photographs for him to sign and took selfies with him. Dubey made sure to talk to everyone, telling them that there is no such thing as a fan—he’s friends with them!
“Are fan-wan kuch nahi hota, hum log dost hain.”
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)