EP-415 | Ramayana & Mahabharata in Urdu, and Art of Storytelling | Fouzia Dastango

ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash · May 18, 2026 · 58m

In this edition of ANI Podcast, Smita Prakash speaks to India’s first female Dastango, Fouzia Dastango, about Urdu, theatre, storytelling, women in traditional art spaces, and her journey of keeping the 16th-century art of Dastangoi alive in modern India.

She explains why people should not have any problem with her reciting the Ramayana and Mahabharata in Urdu, and how the art of storytelling must evolve with the current generation.

00:00 - Introduction

01:04 - What is Dastangoi?

03:08 - Kathavachak vs Dastango

04:37 - Real Identity of Urdu

05:32 - Ramayana & Mahabharata in Urdu

09:14 -…