What is a story? Well. Allow me to share one. This one comes from a small courtyard in Samnabad, Lahore, Pakistan. It’s the story of a milkman and Layla. The milkman was my dada jaani (paternal grandfather).

‍Dada jaani would often gather us kids in the courtyard to tell us stories about Layla as he enjoyed his evening doodh patti (sweetened milk with tea leaves). His old bones were always achy from delivering milk door to door from sunrise to sundown. Days he gathered us we knew he was feeling nostalgic, and it would make for the best of story times.

Layla, he would begin, was stunning. Her big brown eyes and long eye lashes were admired and envied by those near and far. She smiled every time she saw dada jaani. Layla was wise, intelligent, and playful. So very playful. Dada jaani claimed she knew how to get away with a lot. His face would light up every time he talked about her. Layla had navigated so much conflict in her life, he would say. And with each conflict came more wisdom that Layla just seemed to collect and channel and nurture her path with. Layla was so wise that sometimes she was even asked to help others see better, find a path forward. Layla always did so with compassion and patience. Then he would laugh as if recalling something sacred. Sometimes Layla had to be more assertive than she liked, but she knew that this was important to keep her community together.

One time Layla was confronted with a particularly difficult issue. A young, widowed father wanted to marry his young daughter Aliya off to a much older man because he couldn’t afford to provide for Aliya and the older man had agreed to not take any dowry. Aliya had come to Layla and cried for days. Her tears breaking Layla's biggest of hearts. Aliya's little heart was terribly scared and confused. She wept and wept and wept some more, promising to Layla that she would never disobey her father, but this man was so old, and little Aliya was scared. She promised she would never eat again so her father didn’t have to worry about providing for her. She just wanted to stay in her home and take care of her little brothers, if she didn't, who would?

But what could Layla do? Could she hide little Aliya and protect her? But then her father would come looking. Could Layla talk to the old man and ask him to shoo away and leave little Aliya alone? Could Layla talk to the poor father and find a way to support him in raising little Aliya?

‍Dada jaani would fall silent and look at us. Gently, he would say, ‘nikki duniya, kee karay Layla?’ (my little worlds, what should Layla do?). One by one, me and my cousins would pipe in with what seemed fair to our little minds. Our solutions ranged from sending firecrackers and roaches and frogs and lizards to the old man’s place to scare him and leave little Aliya alone, to bringing everyone together to help the young father, to making room for little Aliya in our charpois under the stars. Every solution would result in reactions from all the others and much conversation, sometimes laughter, sometimes fury, and everything in between. Eventually, as one can expect with a group of pre-teenagers, our solutions would keep getting more and more absurd, with giggles and laughter taking over. Sometimes dada jaani would join in the laughter and other times just shake his head.

And then, tired of our shenanigans he would tell us what Layla would have done. And we’d be left in awe that Layla’s solution was indeed the wisest of all.

‍Dada jaani loved Layla. So dearly. He missed her. We all knew that.Layla was his mare.

We all wanted to be Layla.

Of course, much of dada jaani’s stories were of him finding solutions to conflicts in his community. Layla, the wise horse, is who he channeled; Layla is who he went to talk to, confide in.

And with that story, I welcome you to sit in this beautiful circle of Kahanee.Kahanee translates to Story in Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi (and I’m told possibly other languages as well!). I thought it would be fitting to start Kahanee’s journey by talking about what stories are. Over the weeks to come, we’ll explore together the power of stories in peacebuilding, the beautiful dance between a storyteller and story listener, how stories can other, un-other, and much more.

A Kahanee (story) is a narrative, true or fictional, in prose or verse, designed to interest, amuse, or instruct the listener or reader. It's a way of structuring and conveying narratives, which can include a series of events, characters, settings, and conflicts, leading to a climax and resolution. Stories are a fundamental way that humans communicate, share experiences, and transmit cultural and moral values. Stories are how lessons are passed on from one generation to the other. Depending on your worldview, stories can be intricately tied to identity where knowledge, customs, rituals are passed down through ‘blood memory’. Stories can be found in various forms such as novels, short stories, fairy tales, myths, legends, movies, and plays, songs, spoken work, and more. Through stories, we can explore complex ideas, emotions, and the human experience itself, often gaining insights or lessons that can be applied to their own lives.

So, as Kahanee begins its journey, let’s gather, hearts and mind open, and explore together. Let’s listen together. Let’s listen to each other, in earnest, in humility, in peace.