One of Spark’s core defining factors has been the columns and interviews we have published in all our issues over the last three years. This exercise has been an immensely rewarding and a spectacular learning experience for us in many ways, including but definitely not limited to gaining a deeper understanding of how people approach their areas of expertise, realising that it is their passion, intelligence, persistence and a certain humility that has taken them to where they are today, and of course, receiving our biggest reward—that of Wisdom – that’s something we have received in copious amounts during our interactions. We felt nothing would be a more befitting tribute to all the wonderful people who agreed to share their thoughts with us than bringing out a compilation of the best of our conversations. Not to mention, a small gift to all our dear readers who have read and supported us through the last three years. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting joyfully —the best of what they said.
Some of the featured personalities of 2012 share their thoughts on Spark and convey their good wishes on the third anniversary.
The narrator waits longingly for his friend Jo, and is drawn into a flashback that involves lost friendships and disappointment, until Jo came along to make a difference. Anjali Krishna tells us the story of a warm relationship.
Trains are an integral part of any image of Mumbai, and being able to efficiently navigate this convoluted system is a mark that you now ‘truly belong’ and are a ‘Bombay girl.’ Vani Viswanathan describes her journey to truly belonging to the city of dreams.
In a poem that explores a very interesting theme, Arun Anantharaman captures his perception of the happenings in an apartment complex’s association meeting. Read on.
Anupama Krishnakumar shares the elation of Spark’s third anniversary with her five-year-old, who in his own way, makes her value the little milestone even more.
Four different places, four different pairs of people – one common setting. Two chairs across a table and a solitary object between them. Parth Pandya writes four small stories around this theme.
How would life have been if everything looked the same? Expression would lose its meaning, and adjectives just wouldn’t matter. Thankfully, reality plays its game differently, and life is made beautiful because variety floods it. S.Harikrishnan captures some of the variety we see in the world through his lens.
A multitude of ideas and characters from Jeevanjyoti’s earlier stories make an appearance in his special story for the anniversary issue. Read on to rediscover Bincuus (from “The Dream Bandit”, June 2010), the idea of characters telling authors their stories from a different world (from “Requesting an Extension”, July 2010), and Nuovo SPARK (from “‘Autumnal’, Heard of it?”, May 2010 and “Nuovo SPARK”, January 2012).