An ageing teacher and his students in a school that is in a Maoist insurgency-affected area are engaged in an interesting discussion on Ahimsa. Hari Ravikumar tells the story – based on real life incidents – of how the boys’ nuanced understanding of the subject informs their response to violence.
Parth Pandya offers a sarcastic take on the human spirit by presenting some shining examples of daily heroes in our lives.
A Hindu family and a Muslim family find themselves caught in riots in Calcutta in 1946. Based on true events that involved her grandparents, Chidambarakumari tells the story of small but life-altering events of courage that embody the human spirit.
With the year wrapping up, let’s take a few moments to step back and reflect on the times gone by. Spark’s December 2015 issue is themed ‘Nostalgia’, and our poetry, fiction and non-fiction will take you to times past, to dig into your own memories and celebrate, laugh and long for them, or be thankful you crossed that particularly difficult phase.
Many a time, we travel alone both metaphorically and otherwise, and whenever we do that, we tend to ruminate over the quality time spent with our loved ones. M.V.L.Narasamamba writes a poem about how we try to fill the gaps that are within and next to us.
Bangalore, to Shruthi Rao, is an individual in her own right. She’s known her for decades and loves her even now as much as she did then, in spite of what Bangalore has now become. This passage is an attempt to understand why.
It was July 2013. The Telegram service in India had been closed down. Rajagopalan was transported back to the summer of 1955, when he had sent a telegram from Jabalpur to Thanjavur. Raghu Sarangarajan tells the story, based on true incidents, of the telegram’s message and the aftermath.
‘The 7 to 9 Funk’ is Sneha Sundaram’s nostalgic ode to first loves, Mumbai monsoons, Shah Rukh Khan and reminiscing about dancing in the rain.
A mother misses her baby girl, now an angst-ridden teenager. Sudha Nair tells the story.