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

An episode of [ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1646927006), 18 May 2026, 58 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/fa8ad6f8/podcast/play/120148516/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-4-18%2F5aba9695-13e0-eeef-bfd8-46e52cf5dab4.mp3

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 - Fouzia Dastango’s Story 15:05 - Feminist Elements in Stories 22:53 - Choosing Stories Based on Audience 28:47 - Classical vs Folk Art 33:14 - Inspiration Behind Performance 37:05 - Gen Z Connect with Dastangoi 42:03 - Hardest Emotion to Portray 46:46 - Cultural Home of Dastangoi 51:48 - Advice for Younger Generation

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.