Vasco, the young seafarer from Lisboa, dreams of reaching Hindostan and forcing the mighty Arabas to share with the Portuguese the valuable spice route and its trades. The evening before he is set to sail to history, he requests his tutor and lover Lidia for a favour. Will Lidia oblige? Tapan tells the story.
Radhika is the host on a cookery show, though that’s not where she wants to be. Vani’s story is about whether Radhika manages to break free.
Geeta receives a papaya as a gift and can’t bear to see it go to waste. She decides to make some jam even if it is the last thing she does.
As spring blooms, so does hope! This issue of Spark celebrates hope in its myriad forms and colours, with fiction, non-fiction, poetry and photography. We hope you enjoy the issue as much as it inspired us!
This poem by Agbaakin dissects the anatomy of hope and the sacrifices involved in wanting to live again in a world haunted by blood; which is letting go all hurts and dark memories.
This is an unlikely story of motherhood, by Debleena. What happens when a mother doesn’t feel like one? Does motherhood bring further dissent into her life or a glimpse of hope?
Saikat Das’ poem presents the flickers of hope that is still there in the Rohingya community, typified in a little girl amidst the death, desolation and destruction of the entire community by forces antithetical to basic human values.
Working under the shadow of his illustrious family, an artist vacillates between hope and despair. Malcolm Carvalho tells the story.
