MEET ROHINI
About Rohini Vij
Storyteller. Children’s Author. Educator. Trainer
I’m Rohini Vij, a Melbourne-based storyteller, children’s author, early years educator and trainer. For more than 15 years, stories have shaped the way I teach, write, perform and connect with children, educators and communities. I create spaces where people can find the confidence to share stories of their own.
Today, my work spans interactive storytelling, Story Theatre, creative workshops, author visits, professional development and adult storytelling workshops.
But storytelling wasn’t something I discovered through a carefully planned career.
In many ways, it was something I found my way back to.
WHERE IT BEGAN
Perhaps I was always going to be a storyteller
One of my earliest memories of performing is from when I was about three years old, dressed as Kabuliwala for a fancy-dress competition.
Kabuliwala is Rabindranath Tagore’s much-loved story about an Afghan dry-fruit seller and the friendship he forms with a little girl in Kolkata. The story was also adapted for film, and one of those adaptations was a favourite in our home.
We had watched it so many times that, even at three, I knew much of the dialogue by heart.
So my mother dressed me as the Kabuliwala — complete with turban, beard, moustache and a little bundle of dry fruits — and sent me onto the stage.
Apparently, I was very happy there.
Through school and college, the stage continued to be the place where I felt most at home — plays, debates, extempore, dramatics, public speaking and creative writing were all part of my growing-up years.
But somewhere along the way, that performer became quieter.
REDISCOVERING MYSELF
Finding my way back to Stories
For a while, life took me in other directions.
My professional journey moved through public relations, children’s publishing, corporate communication and work in the disability sector. I was still surrounded by words, books, people and ideas — but storytelling itself had moved quietly into the background.
Then motherhood brought stories back into my life.
Reading aloud to my son reminded me of what happens when a child enters a story completely — the questions, the repetition, the voices, the laughter, the imagining, and the inevitable request to hear it one more time.
I began to see stories differently.
Not simply as something to entertain a child, but as spaces where language, imagination, thinking and connection could grow.
That curiosity led me to undertake professional training in storytelling. Soon afterwards, I gathered a small group of mothers and children for my first storytelling sessions in Kanpur, India.
Those sessions eventually grew into NutSpace — an education initiative built around the idea that stories could help children develop literacy, communication, creativity and life skills.
What began with a few children in a room gradually became something much larger.
STORY BECOMES PRACTICE
When storytelling became a way of teaching
What began as storytelling sessions soon grew into a much wider exploration of how stories could support learning.
I began developing story-based programs, working with schools, creating curriculum and training educators to use storytelling more intentionally in classrooms and learning spaces.
Over time, storytelling became more than performance. It became a way to support language, literacy, imagination, confidence and communication.
Through NutSpace and my work as an educator and trainer, I have worked with schools, publishers, education organisations and community groups, developing story-led learning experiences for children and practical training for educators.
To date, I have trained 7500+ educators across the globe in using storytelling and story-based approaches in their work.
Along the way, my practice also expanded into phonics, curriculum development, children’s writing and audiobook narration.
The roles may sound different, but to me they have always been connected.
They are all, in different ways, about finding meaning through stories.
a new chapter
Finding my place through Stories
Moving to Melbourne meant beginning again.
I arrived with years of experience behind me, but in a new country I had to listen again, connect again and slowly find the communities and spaces where my work could belong.
Storytelling became the bridge.
It took me into schools, libraries, festivals and community spaces, and introduced me to children, families, educators, artists and organisations from many different cultures.
Today, my Melbourne practice brings together performance, education, multicultural storytelling, community engagement, facilitation and training.
I have performed at events including the City of Melbourne’s Firelight Festival, St. Kilda Festival and the Glen Eira Storytelling Festival, and my work with Space2b Social Design and the City of Port Phillip has allowed me to contribute to multilingual storytelling and community programs that connect children and families through language, culture and story.
This chapter has also taken me beyond performing — into training and mentoring emerging storytellers, developing story-led resources and projects, and exploring how storytelling can support early literacy, confidence, belonging and community connection.
Melbourne reminded me that stories can help us enter unfamiliar spaces, find common ground and begin to belong.
AT THE HEART OF MY WORK
Finding my place through Stories
Move. Predict. Question. Laugh. Repeat.
I don’t believe children need to sit silently for a story to be meaningful.
They can become the wind, the rain, the monster — or the tiny mouse who decides to be brave.
They can wonder what might happen next, or what might have happened if someone in the story had made a different choice.
For me, storytelling is at its most powerful when the audience has room to participate, respond and imagine.
That is also why I often work with minimal props and visual aids. I like to give children enough to open the door into the story — and then leave space for them to build the rest in their own minds.
It is to make them want to know what happens next.
a new chapter
Stories on the page & in the voice
Stories have found their way into my work in many forms — not only through live performance, but also through writing, books and voice.
ON THE PAGE
As a Children's Author
As a children’s author, I have written stories inspired by Indian communities, cultures and everyday experiences. My published work includes Regional Stories of India, which brings together stories rooted in different regions and communities of India.
Writing gives me a different relationship with story. On stage, a story changes with the audience in front of me. On the page, I have to imagine that audience before they arrive.
IN THE VOICE
As an audiobook narrator and voice artist
I also work as an audiobook narrator and voice artist, bringing stories to life through voice alone. My narration work includes children’s books, biographies and other titles, including works by authors such as Sudha Murty and Devdutt Pattanaik.
Writing in australia
Homecoming
Shortlisted — Williamstown Literary Festival, The Adas 2025 Anthology
My own writing continues to evolve too, giving me another way to explore story beyond performance and children’s literature.
Writing in australia
Rohini at a Glance
Connecting the World with Stories
15+
years of experience
Across storytelling, education, publishing and communication.
7500+
educators trained
In storytelling, literacy, phonics and story-based learning.
Storyteller • Educator • Author • Narrator
A multidisciplinary practice built around story, voice and learning.
English • Hindi • Bilingual Storyteller & PD Trainer
Storytelling and facilitation in English, Hindi and bilingual Hindi–English formats.
Melbourne-based • Available for bookings across Australia and internationally
SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS
Selected Melbourne Highlights
A few moments that have shaped my Melbourne chapter — across festivals, libraries, community programs and media.
FESTIVAL
City of Melbourne — Firelight Festival
Interactive stories shared with family audiences as part of one of Melbourne’s major winter festival programs.
FESTIVAL
Glen Eira Storytelling Festival
Part of a multilingual storytelling showcase celebrating folktales told in multiple languages including Hindi.
COMMUNITY
Space2b + City of Port Phillip
Multicultural storytelling, storyteller support and community programs that bring families together through language, culture and story.
MEDIA
SBS Hindi
Featured in 2026 for my work using Hindi and English storytelling to connect children with language, culture, imagination and learning.
RECOGNITION
A few milestones along the way
My work has also been recognised in India by FICCI FLO, the women’s wing of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, a national network supporting and recognising women professionals and entrepreneurs.
Outstanding Woman in Education
FICCI FLO Women Awards of Uttar Pradesh, India
2018
Outstanding Woman Entreprenuer in Arts & Culture
FICCI FLO Women Awards of Uttar Pradesh, India
2023
my purpose
Still telling Stories
That three-year-old Kabuliwala could never have known where stories would eventually take her.
From childhood stages to classrooms, children’s books, libraries, festivals and recording studios — storytelling has continued to change shape around me.
It has become a way to teach, to perform, to write, to connect with people, to find belonging and, sometimes, to understand my own place in the world a little better.
But one thing has remained constant.
I still believe in that extraordinary moment when a story leaves the storyteller and becomes something shared.
And I’m still curious about where the next one might lead.
Book a storytelling session for your audience
I offer storytelling sessions for schools, kindergartens, libraries, festivals, council programs and community events.
Sessions can be tailored to suit your age group, audience, setting and event goals, and can also be curated around a particular theme, celebration or topic.