Introductory Note by Anupama Krishnakumar
Is this introduction required? This is the question I have been grappling with over the last week. Would a small editorial note do? Or should it be something more? It is yet another of those instances where I have had trouble making up my mind. But now, after listening to some inspiring music and reading some absolutely beautiful responses from our contributors to our questions on a variety of things including their creative journeys, I have come to the conclusion that this write-up has to happen. Afterall, art inspires art, isn’t it?
Folks, December 2014 is our 60th issue. 60th – Wow. That does sound special. Allow us to feel the pride for a moment :). Damn, that feels great. Definitely. It feels like there’s something worthwhile that we have done. Oh well, numbers do cast their magical spell. I say that because the phenomenal five is already ringing inside our heads like serene, delightful temple bells. We are at it, next month. The fifth anniversary.
But for now, let me come back to the splendid 60th. This has been such a fulfilling creative journey. I know we have said that so many times in the past. But what’s the point of this journey if we had done it without the people who have made every issue possible? Spark was never meant to be such an initiative. I keep going back to what Sathya Saran, writer and journalist, told me once in an interview – she said, “I think I learnt that one does not own what one creates. Be it a magazine, a job, a child. Some of it belongs to others and is given to you to shape; others are yours to create and then need to find their own paths. But being able to create is valuable, I treasure the opportunities. And reaching out with what one creates: that is a gift from God!”
How much sense it made back then and even now! How beautifully this sums up what I want to say. Spark is nothing without its contributors. Five whole years and 60 issues later, when we look back, I can say for sure that Spark would have been just a void without the work of every single contributor who poured their creative energy into this widening pool whose depth we can never fathom. It’s just grown wider and deeper. Our job has been to trigger the spark and keep it alive.
It’s always a matter of great intrigue to find out what runs in the mind of a person who creates art – be it writing or painting or photography or any other creative medium such as music, dance or theatre. At Spark, we have had the delightful company of some such artistic creators who write, photograph or sketch or paint, inspired by life, people, science, politics, spirituality and a multitude of themes that fuse together to form a whirlpool of ideas.
So, this issue, we decided to set the creations aside momentarily and focus on the creators. This edition, dear reader, is a celebration of the contributor –the one who has most definitely given Spark its shape and form. We feature interviews with ten contributors, each of whom have had a major role to play in Spark’s growth over the years, at some point or the other. Although we haven’t met them personally, they have grown to become an integral part of the Spark family – individuals we can count on and be assured that they are going to do their bit for an issue, not for money, but out of sheer passion.
The interviews were revealing for reasons more than one. For instance,
What makes them that passionate about writing or art or photography?
“Writing is my voice,” says Gauri Trivedi, “Over the years, writing has helped me put things into perspective. Writing gave me the crucial support and solace while I struggled to build a new life abroad. I found a friend in my own words.”
Says Maheswaran Sathiamoorthy, “I find it easy to express myself using photography. While a picture can convey a thousand words, I think four pictures can convey more than four thousand words…. and with every shot I took, my passion for photography kept growing stronger.”
And just how do they do it?
Like P.R. Viswanathan says, “’India : Timeless Kaleidoscope’, ‘Train to Madras’…all these, I have written with total involvement, often with tears in my eyes.”
“I only write or sketch when the feeling seizes me,” points out Sandhya Ramachandran, “…only stuff that really overwhelm me end up as art.”
For Parth Pandya, once the spark strikes it’s a process of thinking through ideas. “A lot of my writing happens away from the laptop. I think through the initial ideas when driving to work or patting my kids to sleep. Those thoughts take a more definitive form when I start typing,” he says.
But what’s creativity without inspiration? The sources are many.
As M. Mohankumar puts it, “I am overawed by the sublimity of life, and amused by the bathos of it. I look for the extraordinary in the quotidian….I have no desire to dazzle or perplex. I want to write accessible poems…”
Or as Preeti Madhusudhan points out, “It is not always a particular incident, but most often a phrase or a train of thought….(but) even if it is just a chance utterance that starts a story, it is a collection of personal observations that supplies the details.
What do they believe is their biggest reward?
For Jeevanjyoti Chakraborty, “to know that people have actually read and enjoyed one’s creation,” is what he feels is his biggest reward. But he also believes that the “pure personal joy” of having created something of value is a reward in itself.
For Shreya Ramachandran, having made the connect with the reader is her reward. ”I really love it when people tell me my writing made them feel emotional and connected to it,” she says, “it makes me feel emotionally rewarded.”
Vinita Agrawal’s words would probably best summarise the passionate thoughts of a true creator. “I’d like to touch people’s lives and hearts through my writing. …I would like to publish more books, that’s for sure, but most importantly, I would like to write till my last breath.”
By celebrating these contributors, their creativity, their ideas, we celebrate each and every person who has contributed to the Spark journey. This one goes out to you, Spark contributor! We cherish your association. Thank you for choosing to walk with us. We hope you enjoy the interviews as much as we enjoyed doing them. You are sure to find each one of you in their words. As for you, dear reader, if you have relished our writings, art and photography, there can’t be a better way to gain an insight into how the creative mind works! Enjoy this issue!
It is undoubtedly a novel idea to bring out a special edition of SPARK in celebration of the writers, whose contributions have been outstanding. It merits wholehearted compliments. Three cheers!
Thank you for your wishes, Mr. Danda.
– Editors