The smile that comes with the first pay. The sense of independence, a bright ray of hope and a million little dreams. Priceless. Art by Amrita Sarkar
One of the major developments as far as the global economy was concerned in recent times, was the S&P downgrade of U.S.’ debt rating from AAA to AA+. While stock markets world over felt the effect, many questions have been plaguing the commoner’s mind. Deepa Venkatraghvan lists some of these questions and answers them in an easy-to-understand fashion.
In today’s world, money management is not just an important life skill; it is a lifesaving skill. With corporates paying huge amounts as salaries and the younger generation making more money than ever, isn’t it the responsibility of the adult world to teach the little ones how to handle money?, asks Priya Gopal, who feels that it is very important to talk money with children and include Personal Finance as part of school curriculum.
Inflation. We come across the word ever so often in our day to day lives. But have you always been left with a vague understanding of what inflation is and how it works? Then this tutorial is for you. Viswanathan Subramanian demystifies this important economic indicator that is linked in a big way to your hard-earned money.
Dear Reader, It is never easy to talk all about India in one issue. However, what we have done is to earnestly try to bring in as many perspectives as we can in the August 2011 edition of Spark themed, ‘India Decoded’. We have a wide variety of contributions this time too – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, art and photography! And very interesting interviews with four bestselling Indian authors! The bonus this time is the smashing new PDF that we have designed for the issue. It’s a MUST see! Click here to read our issue on the e-reader, ISSUU or to download the PDF.
At Spark, one of our constant endeavours has been to get good authors talking to us about the art of writing, the effort that goes into writing a book and just what their writing world is all about! So, this month, for the first time ever, we feature four authors together. And they are no ordinary authors, mind you – they have been cracking the bestseller charts in India. And we couldn’t think of a better theme than ‘India Decoded’ to present some young Indian authors who are taking the Indian English literary scene by storm. What’s more – all these books are set in India or are about India. Introduction and Interviews by Anupama Krishnakumar.
Here’s something that will awaken patriotism in you. The Road to Freedom is a poem by R.Seshan that reminds us how hard-won India’s freedom is and tells us that it is our duty to make our nation proud.
Same time last year, P.R.Viswanathan conjured Mother India with his words. She had beamed with pride and had spoken at length about her centuries-old story and had talked in a beautifully nostalgic way about the many children she had nurtured on her soil. This time, Mother India returns, springing to life with P.R.Viswanathan’s words– only that this time, she is here to lament the way things have been with her soil and children in the last one year. Here’s one piece you should read!
One of the things that comes to mind when we think of India is the beautiful landscape at different parts of the country. Nilesh J.Bhange captures some of them through his lens.