Ankit Chadha


Ankit Chadha was an Indian writer, story-teller, oral narrative performance artist, researcher and educator. He specialized in research-based narratives performed in the centuries-old Dastangoi form of storytelling. His writing varied from biographical accounts of personalities like Kabir and Rahim to Dara Shikoh and Majaz. He had spoken on Dastangoi globally, including at Harvard, Yale and University of Toronto.
Ankit had worked with non-profits to weave modern tales on sustainability, technology and hunger. Additionally, Ankit had innovated the form of 'Musical Dastan', uniquely bringing together stories and music. Ankit had also worked on Dastangoi performances for children, adapting classics including Alice, The Phantom Tollbooth, and The Little Prince. He was the author of the award-winning books "Amir Khusrau - The Man in Riddles" and “My Gandhi Story”.
His latest book “Toh Hazireen Hua Yun.. Dastan-e-Ankit Chadha” tells Ankit's story through his work. It is a collection of 16 Dastans written and performed by him over the last seven years. The book includes ‘Praarthanaa’, a musical dastan which is based on Ankit's years of continuing research on the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. Undeniably, this dastan was very close to Ankit's heart and was the last dastan completed and performed by him.

Early life and education

Ankit was born in New Delhi to a middle-class family. He did his schooling from Tagore International School and Cambridge School. He went on to pursue his love for History at Hindu College, Delhi University. This is where he also pursued his other love for dramatics. He was the president at Ibtida, the dramatics society of Hindu College.

Career

Ankit spent 4 years working in the corporate world in the digital marketing space before he found his calling for Storytelling.
Under the mentorship of Mahmood Farooqui, he learnt the art of Urdu storytelling known as dastangoi, an oral form that revolves around the dastango or storyteller, using their voice to conjure up an elaborate cast of characters, transporting audiences to distant worlds and making them think about their own immediate reality. In 2012, he also delivered a talk at TEDx on Dastangoi.
After he perfected what his ustaad had taught him, Ankit began to boldly experiment with the form to create new stories from his wide reading and fierce curiosity. He went wherever his heart led him, and collaborations rapidly shaped up with singers, scholars and storytellers.
He experimented with scripting on contemporary themes like mobile ecosystem, corporate culture, digital divide and nomadic pastoralism in dastangoi. He performed at major festivals in India including Old World Theatre Fest, Repertwahr Fest, Sunday to Sunday Theatre Fest, and Kabir Fest. He was also a speaker/performer on Children's literature at the Jaipur Litfest; Bookaroo, Srinagar; Kahaani Festival.
While Ankit received tremendous media attention for his capacity to hold audiences spellbound, his work as a peace educator merits more visibility. In 2013, he was selected by Seeds of Peace, a peace building and leadership development organisation in the US, to participate in a two-week programme for educators called ‘Making History’. His association with the organisation deepened further, and he was part of a follow-up programme in Jordan. On that trip, he also visited Jerusalem, and came back with stories that had seeped under his skin. He was later awarded the New Visions for Peace Fellowship, which took him to Cyprus. Ankit was in the process of developing Project Agora, which would explore how history can be taught through creative means that encourage critical thinking.

Performances

He drowned in a lake near Pune, Maharashtra on May 9, 2018.
As mentioned in a statement released by the Kabir Festival Mumbai, “Ankit was out for a walk near Kamshet lake, outside Pune, when he and his friend slipped and fell into the water. His friend managed to get to safety and scream for help, bringing local villagers to the spot. Since it was past sunset, it was difficult to locate him in the dark water. When they did manage to retrieve him two hours later, it was too late.”