In this essay, Srinivas explores his relationship with summer. Though the relationship has been a long one, going back to his childhood, it has changed as he has grown older, and it has become strained, as he has accumulated experiences of summers close to and far away from home.
Summertime is mostly characterized by harsh and unforgivable weather. In this poem, ARTOHUS explores the oppressive nature of summer and equates it with that of our present times.
As a hot summer day unfolds, life unravels in mysterious ways for four people. Anupama Krishnakumar writes a story filled with sugar, chilli, pepper and salt flavoured moments.
With a few exceptions, Chandramohan Nair’s summer experiences have been stressful. He recounts some of them in this piece.
Parth Pandya writes a poem about the season of summer and what it does to tormented souls.
For a child between three and twelve years of age in a metropolis, no summer is complete, it seems, without a stint at a summer camp. Laxmi Sivaram wonders if the proliferation of summer camps around us saying something about our miscalculation as parents.
In Sarba Roy’s story, a young man goes through the monotony of a normal summer night, only to retire with a chill of hope.
Silence is all around us. At different points in our days and lives, we embrace it or run away from it. But all said and done, silence evokes thought, and thought often evokes writing. And in this issue of Spark, we feature poetry, non-fiction and fiction on the theme ‘Silence’.
Silence, to Ayaan, for a long time, meant an undefinable fear, as every silent second reminded her of the fact that her child was speechless. But with time, silence became a beautiful language instead, for her and her family to communicate with each other. Ayaan writes about this journey here.