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Spark – February 2019 Issue

Life revolves around relationships – with people, things, food, places and memories. This February, we explore ‘Relationships’  of many kinds through fiction, non-fiction, poetry and photography. Read, reminisce, enjoy and share! 

Vestige

A teenager witnesses life through the eyes of his ailing grandmother over the course of a day’s stay. He comes back bearing testimony to the effects of negligence and the power it possesses over lives built around years of care and hardships. Sarba tells the story.

Maggie and Me

There are some obvious human relationships: parent-child, siblings, lovers, friends. Then there is the kind Vighnesh Hampapura elucidates in this essay: one with an actor removed in time, land and language becomes the guiding lamp to an aspiring theatre performer.

Little-Endians and Big-Endians

M. Mohankumar’s verse focuses on a relationship gone awry – it speaks of two factions engaged in a pointless dispute, as in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.

Balu

Chandramohan Nair can’t help feeling that he didn’t measure up to the affection and loyalty displayed by his courageous pet dog.

Photography Spotlight

Our photo feature for this month puts the spotlight on old people in different kinds of relationships and features photographs taken by Shruti Parthasarathy and Sriram Sabhapathy.

A Poem Speaks to a Poet

Structured in the form of a monologue, a poem speaks to the poet who has ‘created’ it. The poem has a number of questions by asking which, it attempts to understand its relationship with the poet, his world, his other creations, and its own sense of self-worth. Verse by Srinivas S.

A Sip of Filter Coffee

As she lifted the container, brought it close to her lips, and took the first sip, a gush of vivid memories came alive. Anusha Singh discovers the true reason for her love for filter coffee.

A Failed Escape

Not all relationships are happy. Some are abusive where damaging things are said and done in the name of love. Shalu Bhati captures one such relationship in her poem.