Shreya Ramachandran is one of the youngest writers we have on board. She has been associated with Spark since December 2010. She is a versatile writer who has dabbled with fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her work for Spark has spanned themes like love, relationships and women. What we like about Shreya’s work, particularly her stories, is her attention to detail and her ability to turn the reader’s attention to mundane and taken-for-granted things through her words. She succeeds in making you see these things in a new light because of her descriptions.
An interview with Shreya Ramachandran.
P.R. Viswanathan is one of our senior writers and has been a part of Spark since March 2010. He is one writer who makes up for his occasional breaks from writing with one striking piece. We love his language that’s classy and smooth, the characters that he creates which are so likeable and familiar and the love, passion and concern he pours out for his country in his writings on India. His articles for our editions celebrating India and his stories set in Bombay are our favourites.
An interview with P.R. Viswanathan.
THE LOUNGE | TURN OF THE PAGE ‘r2i dreams: for here or to go?’ written by Parth Pandya, Ramya Sethuraman and Subashini Srinivasan, draws you in right from the beginning with its personal connect, says Vani Viswanathan, in her review of the book that deals with the eternal question that plagues the minds of Indian immigrants in the U.S. – Should we return to India or stay on?
It’s November and we can’t believe how fast time has flown this year! We hope you had a lovely festive season. We are pleased to present to you the November 2014 issue of Spark on the theme ‘Childhood’. The word childhood evokes fond memories and the joys that a child can bring while also making one ponder about parenting, particularly in today’s world. This issue presents many of these perspectives to you, dear reader, including an interview with children’s author Anu Kumar and a Social Lens feature on providing therapy to Child Sexual Abuse survivors. Click here to access the November 2014 issue on the e-reader, ISSUU.
Anu Kumar, Author, talks to Anupama Krishnakumar on what it means to be a children’s author, including what fascinates her about writing for children, what’s the sort of research that goes into her books, who her favourite children’s authors are and what’s her favourite from her own body of work. Plus there is a beautiful reading list that she recommends for children too.
SOCIAL LENS | Therapy for child sexual abuse survivors is an aspect often ignored when it comes to responding to abuse. Shreya Sen, with the Therapeutic Intervention team at Arpan, an organization that works to prevent child sexual abuse, talk about the various ways therapy can help heal.
A mother’s fashion accessories become a little girl’s source of fascination and temptation. Fashionista is the fashion (mis)adventure of that child. Shloka Shankar captures it in a poem.
Big-eyed, looking ahead or focused… children are just curious! Maheswaran Sathiamoorthy captures the curiosity through his lens.
A wristwatch from childhood, bought under rather strange circumstances, continues to hold a special place, even though many costlier and flashier watches make their way into the narrator’s life. M. Mohankumar’s poem is a tribute to that wristwatch.