When we discuss Carnatic music, there are very many experiences out there that queue up, waiting to be heard. This month, we have three people sharing their thoughts and views on this form of music. While Ramya Shankar writes about two of her favourite ragas and Bhairavi Vaidynathan talks about the lukewarm response to live concerts, particularly those performed by upcoming singers, Jenani Srikanth discusses what Carnatic music means to her.
“Fields of Gold” by Sting is one of Nandeenee’s favourite songs since the time she was a kid. The melody no doubt is one of the reasons for her love for the song. But what strikes her too is the visual appeal of the song, particularly the lyrics that prompts her to dream up vivid images. The phrase ‘jealous sky’ fascinates her in particular. She tells us just why so in poetic prose.
The learning environment for classical music and dance has traditionally been rigid and conditional, forcing students to feel a lot of pressure rather than joy when they enroll for such classes. Deepa Venkatraghvan discusses her perspective on this tradition and tries to figure out where it’s all going wrong, taking instances from her own life. Creative inputs from Priya Gopal.
THE LOUNGE | THE INNER JOURNEY A newspaper article that talks about how cultivating one’s memory is neglected these days and how the virtues of memory are now entrusted to gadgets, prompts Viswanathan Subramanian to look within and explore a valid question – “Have we misplaced the role of memory in our lives?” Read on.
THE LOUNGE | SLICE OF LIFE Songs can do wonders: Gauri Trivedi tells us how one song made her feel more accepted in her foreign land.
THE LOUNGE | STORYBOARD | FILM FREAK This month, Yayaati Joshi picks two films to illustrate how movies in the ‘action’ genre need not be all about gore and violence but could also be about nuanced and subtle filmmaking. He insists that people who do not tolerate ‘action’ as a genre and dismiss many good movies that broadly fall under this category, indeed miss a lot by not watching such films. Catch him discussing Bronson and Violent Cop.
We have a lovely issue lined up for you this month. Are you ready to get drenched in our rain of words? Presenting the June 2012 issue themed, ‘Rains…’ that approaches the lovely topic through short stories, non-fiction, art and poetry. Our featured writers this month are Shikhandin and Sonnet Mondal, two widely published writers whose works have appeared in many literary journals across the world. For the first time in Spark, we feature works of fiction and poetry by featured writers. Then, there is some lovely stuff up in ‘The Lounge’ too. Also, this happens to be our 30th issue. A reason for us to smile. So, there you go! Click here to read the issue on our e-reader, ISSUU.
WRITER OF THE MONTH | SHIKhANDIN A mother and daughter share a poignant moment during a rainy afternoon. Flash fiction by our Writer of the Month, Shikhandin.
WRITER OF THE MONTH |SHIKhANDIN A wet monsoon day is also a day of loss. Here’s a poem by our Writer of the Month, Shikhandin.