Kopal Khanna Takes You On A Journey With Stories On - Tape A Tale

Kopal Khanna, 25 years, as she puts it is a “story finder cum teller”. She lives and thrives on stories; sometimes they are her own and other times they are stories of others. At the end of the day she feels life is coming together of multiple stories for each person.

There are so many stories within her and she aptly says, “That’s the crux of it all; I am a writer on most days but on others I am a filmmaker, photographer, travel junkie, entrepreneur, nerd and stargazer. I don’t excel at any of it but, I like to explore everything that comes my way; some things stick, some don’t and these are the few that I have.”

Kopal was born in Lucknow, completed her schooling from Loreto Convent, and then went on to study history at St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi.

Studies, media and traveling have always been her first love which led her to pursue a double masters degree in global communications - first at the London School of Economics and then at University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of communication and journalism. After graduating, she worked for a short while in New York at a storytelling organization called The Moth.

But even before leaving for London, she knew India is where she wanted to come back to and make an impact. As a person she had this sheer realization that each day counts and there is so much to do with one’s life. She became aware of the fact that she was more privileged than others and it was imperative to create a meaningful and positive impact however little it may be with her own life.

Navigating her way around people, it made her more determined to create more value with her own life. She realized it is important to follow what you preach and do what you say. Her biggest strength is her ability to enjoy ordinary things. She captures it well, “I don’t believe in doing anything that I don’t enjoy or I am not fully invested in. If I am given a task that I know I won’t enjoy, I like to find fun ways of doing it. I think this really helps me at work too. “

Kopal published her first book in 2014 called Almost Whole - the story was inspired by her experiences working in a women’s prison in Lucknow. The book revolves around an 11 year old wonder seeker and a 23 year old free spirit and their infinity in confinement. It’s a work of fiction but is set against the prison backdrop.

One of her biggest learning in life even at this young age has been that sometimes you just gotta make that jump. Just spending too much time thinking about the “what ifs” can mean you miss the boat.

Less than a year ago she shifted to Bombay to join her current organization. Her day job as the Head of Communications at the Asian Center for Entertainment Education is with a niche and cool company that specializes in entertainment education i.e. empowering and educating people using entertainment.

Also, Read - Love Storytelling? Here’s how you can make a business of it

In March 2017 she is launching her dream project; Tape A Tale - it’s an online platform where anybody can submit an audio recorded personal story for the world to listen. On pondering why she decided to launch this platform, she concludes “I think this platform is just the closest I have come to being who I am since it brings out both the storyteller and the storyfinder in me. I think there is a certain kind of magic in spoken word that’s missing when you read stories about people.”

This platform will bring to you stories narrated in first person by the people themselves. They say reality is stranger than fiction and I realize it every day while curating these stories.”

 

Tape a Tale is a result of months and maybe even years of thinking and answering a poignant question, “What do I really want to do with this life?” and the answer she found to that is to tell and share stories that matter and can have an impact. So here is a platform where you can just send an audio recorded story and we’ll try our best to ensure the world listens to you. “

Find out more and tape your stories at Tape a Tale