It’s highly likely you have, in the recent past, come across a lone person on the road running, earphones on, pushing themselves forward with determination. Running is fast picking up in India, and many are signing up to run in various categories that are being held regularly across various Indian cities – and some venture abroad too. Many runners also choose to tie their runs to a cause they are passionate about. Vani Viswanathan gets talking to three such runners: Ram Viswanathan, founder-president of Chennai Runners, Ajay Gupta of Team Asha, and Jessu John, who, within seven months of starting to run long distance, is getting ready to run her first half marathon and raise funds for a charity through it. Spark is delighted to support them in their cause – please see the end of the article for the fundraising links of the three runners.
A discussion at an interview Rajani conducts has her questioning her approach to life, which she passes on to her young son. A M Aravind pens a story which begins with the mother observing her son walk on someone’s footprints on the shore.
A 29-year-old woman moves into a beautiful, breezy apartment, and finds that it has a strange relationship with mirrors. It’s all amusing until forces she can’t rationalise take over. Vani Viswanathan tells the story.
When Parth Pandya revisits the city of his childhood, Mumbai, he realizes as he steps into the footprints he made, things around have changed. And the thoughts come rushing and take shape in a poem.
Anjali is hit by an epiphany when she gets over her fear of the ocean and walks across the shore. Harish V tells her story in a piece of flash fiction.
A man plagued by loneliness and lost in thought has a new visitor and perhaps a new friend. Mickyso Kutti’s poem reveals more.
THE LOUNGE | SLICE OF LIFE For a cricket fan who worships Sachin Trendulkar, what could be better than watching a high quality test match where the God plays on his home turf? Cricket maniac Parth Pandya chronicles his day watching the second test of the India-England series in Mumbai, with photos from his camera.
THE LOUNGE | STORYBOARD | FILM FREAK An advantage to an underdog film can be the underdog status of the protagonist, says Yayaati Joshi, on why Rocky manages to capture our hearts.
THE LOUNGE | TURN OF THE PAGE ‘Move aside Jhumpa Lahiri, Ms. Chung is here. Or is she?’ wonders Gauri Trivedi in this book review of Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung. Rich in descriptions about Korean culture, the book however misses one key aspect Gauri considers vital to books about the life of immigrants. Read on to find out more.