As we get ready to celebrate India’s 71st independence day, this issue of Spark is a tribute to the graces, flaws and confusions that make India. Get set for an interesting milieu of poetry, fiction and non-fiction!
Noor is having a bad day. But she wants to end it well. According to her, a perfectly spiced chicken biryani should do the trick. But as she sets off in the direction of the biryani place, something diverts her attention. Will the day still end well? Sarah tells the story.
Sarba Roy’s poem is a country’s voice, prodding us to remember what we’re losing and what we can have. It’s her way of reminding how she is the greatest provider, sustaining us even in the unlikeliest of places and the unlikeliest of ways.
Think ‘India’ and what jumps to your mind? For Pulkit Singh, her country is as much about food as about all the other metaphors that define it. She looks back at all the gastronomic experiences she has had and shares her stories with you. And yes, she is talking about more epicurean delights than just the insanely famous butter chicken.
Anupam’s poem is a lament, a call to the people of a country perceived to have potential for greatness but ridden with flaws that forever keep that greatness a dream. Out of many such flaws, this poem focuses on our inability to overcome differences in geography and mind.
An old man struggles to adjust to life in a city he’s not used to. As the day breaks, he experiences evil and kindness one after the other, all too quickly; perhaps there is hope left in this world? Kousalya tells the story.
Indian societies are unbelievably sensitive towards and hushed up about most discussions around sex and pleasure, but Vani Viswanathan enjoys seeing how the internet is making it a little better – especially for women.
Chandramohan Nair, belonging to the first generation born after Independence, finds little solace in the current state of the country but hopes that we might yet rediscover the idealism of the independence movement.
THE LOUNGE | INNER JOURNEY At one point, we must start our own lives and accomplish our responsibilities as adults. Do we ever stop and think of our good ol’ days as kids, when we were free to think about the stars and believe in tooth fairies? Anna’s piece delves into the difference between these two worlds and how these mould our picture of the ‘real’ world.