05 January 2011 Dear Reader, This is indeed a proud moment for us as we present our 'first anniversary' special issue. We celebrate creativity and creation this time. We thank you for your wonderful support through the last one year and hope you will continue to encourage us in the future too. Flip through this issue for some wonderful interviews with people who have undertaken passionate, creative journeys like us. And, meet our regular contributors too in this issue, as they speak about themselves and their journeys with Spark. As a way of celebrating this special moment, Spark will now on be available in a new domain 足 http://www.sparkthemagazine.com, which will give you immense flexibility in terms of browsing each issue as individual posts. We have also moved our older issues to this new format. So, don't forget to check out the new site and let us know what you think! Of course, we would love to hear what you thought of our anniversary special issue too. Do send us your comments to feedback@sparkthemagazine.com or leave your comments at http://www.sparkthemagazine.com. We will catch you again next month with yet another interesting edition! Cheers, Spark Editorial Team
THE SPARK TEAM 足 JANUARY 2011 ISSUE Amrita Sarkar, Anupama Krishnakumar, Jeevanjyoti Chakraborty, Maheswaran Sathiamoorthy, P.R.Viswanathan, Sandhya Ramachandran, Swetha Ramachandran, Sundar Balasubramanian, Vani Viswanathan, Varsha Sreenivasan Guest Column 足 Deepa Venkatraghvan, Featured Blogger 足 The CowGirl Special Feature : Agam, MoodSwings Jewelry, Bhojan, Version One Dot Oh Concept, Editing and Design: Anupama Krishnakumar, Vani Viswanathan Coverpage Photograph : Maheswaran Sathiamoorthy
Picture by Shrini Photography
We dedicate this first anniversary issue to our beloved readers and contributors and to our loved ones. Thank you for all your support!
Inside the January 2011 Issue of Spark..
A Sparkling Journey Nonfiction by Jeevanjyoti Chakraborty
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Celebrating Creativity and Creation Cover Feature by Anupama Krishnakumar
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Musically Yours.. Agam Interview
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Art at its Wacky Best Sketches by Sandhya Ramachandran
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Mastering Wealth Creation Guest Column by Deepa Venkatraghvan
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Featured People of 2010 Feedback
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The Joy of Creation Nonfiction by P.R.Viswanathan
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Exploring Creation Architecture Photography by Maheswaran Sathiamoorthy
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Exploring Creativity Photography by Maheswaran Sathiamoorthy
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For the Woman MoodSwings Interview
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Waiting Poetry by Varsha Sreenivasan
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Interview with the CowGirl
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Beyond Snobbishness Nonfiction by Vani Viswanathan
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Food Delight Interview with Bhojan
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Reader's Feedback
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Back the Old Alley Art by Amrita Sarkar
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The Nature and Nurture of Creativity Nonfiction by Sundar B
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My Window to the World Poetry by Swetha Ramachandran
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Entertainment, Enlightenment Interview with VODO
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I am doing my PhD at IIT Kharagpur in Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, specifically theoretical Electrokinetics, after obtaining an Integrated Degree of B.Tech and M.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the same place in 2009. In my spare time, I love collecting and learning English words. I used to write very sparingly until I wrote my first article for Spark. Since then I have found that I really liked writing – poems, science fiction, nonfiction, the whole shebang! To know more about me, visit http://sites.google.com/site/jeevanjyoti4/
And this is what the Spark Editorial Team has to say about Jeevanjyoti: Intelligent, wacky, highly creative pieces. The master of words and brilliant plots, Jeevan has surprised us with each of his contributions, and we gladly throw them into the mixed bag that Spark is. Here’s hoping he will continue churning out brilliant plots and descriptions that keep us guessing! Great having you in the team, Jeevan! JEEVAN'S NOTE ON HIS ANNIVERSARY ISSUE CONTRIBUTION: I started writing a piece "On Muses and Creativity", but two paragraphs later, I realized that all I wanted to write was the journey I have had with Spark in the last one year. So I wrote "Sparkling Journey" instead. It is slightly personal but I am sure the basic feeling will be shared by most contributors.
Non足fiction
A Spark足ling Journey Picture by FlyZipper
Why now?
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It all started way back in January, 2010 when I chanced upon a Google Talk status message of an old friend S. Maheswaran. It was a curious link to some bloglike site. Click. (Thank God I clicked!) And there I was in that fresh and peaceful looking place of the world of 'Spark'.
The idea of a “free” online magazine might not elicit any endearing approbation from publishing puritans, but it is in keeping with the age when a Kolkata kid finds it easier to find his way around Manhattan compared to Madurai just because there happens to exist a more detailed Google map of Manhattan; it might, however, provide guilty relief to the occasional journeyman writer. 'Spark' does just that, and then some more. Very few pieces of good writing, if any at all, are products of random ramblings twirled out of thin air and conjoined skilfully. Behind every piece of writing there has to be that spark of inspiration. The ultimate struggle of writers and poets is not so much with the writing or the composing as it is with that initial spark. Writers need their Muses. Period. True, the intensity of that spark which is needed to provide that indescribable literary “high” varies from the occasional journeyman to the true devotees, the inveterate perfectionists and the ultimate literary geniuses. Yet, would it not be a perfect world for (wo)men of letters to be served, on silver platters every month without failure, the food for thought and inspiration to write on? The team of editors at Spark have, consistently, throughout these twelve editions, provided exactly that inspiration by selecting excellent themes, broad enough to capture a whole range of thoughts and feelings, yet optimally bounding to evoke a feeling of happy continuity. In this respect, the editors themselves have become, in some way, the Muses for the contributors!
It is perhaps fitting on this delightful occasion of the first anniversary issue that I briefly describe the excitement which surrounds our beloved Spark every month and the joyous journey I have had with it in the past one year. Donning the autobiographical coat might be the easiest way to fake one’s way as a writer. Paradoxically, none else is more honest than this shady ruse.
The Journey with Spark
Jeevanjyoti Chakraborty shares his experiences with Spark over the last one year. He dedicates this piece to the Spark editorial team. Read on.
It is perhaps fitting on this delightful occasion of the first anniversary issue that I briefly describe the excitement which surrounds our beloved 'Spark' every month and the joyous journey I have had with it in the past one year. Donning the autobiographical coat might be the easiest way to fake one’s way as a writer. Paradoxically, none else is more honest than this shady ruse. It all started way back in January, 2010, when I chanced upon a Google Talk status message of an old friend, S. Maheswaran. It was a curious link to some bloglike site. Click. (Thank God I clicked!) And there I was in that fresh and peaceful looking place of the world of 'Spark'. Although it was hard to tell in those initial moments, there was something nice and inviting even in those initial glances. Of course, back then, my conscious glances were restricted to finding where Maheshwaran’s name was. Finally, I found the “pdf” and saw Maheshwaran’s photographs. No surprise there. I had seen so many of his photographs before. They were, as usually, not just good but delicately intelligent. What grabbed my attention, however, was the page after page of fiction and nonfiction that I had to wade through to reach his photographs. What were these?! Who wrote them? And what exactly was this thing – 'Spark'?
Selfmotivation is best feasted upon hot. I immediately “pinged” Maheswaran and asked him about 'Spark'. It transpired that the January issue was the first ever issue of this online magazine. And people, ordinary people – they, whose job was not writing, could contribute here. I took in that last piece of information with lipsmacking anticipation. Casually, I asked if I could contribute, too. Go ahead – was his signal. I decided to poke around a bit more on the site and soon finished reading almost every word that they had written about themselves on all the links. It was indeed true that they had just started. I learnt that the theme for the next month (February) was Romance. I had never written anything on that topic but, by now, the urge to send in one of my pieces had started to overpower me. I spotted one sentence in the open invitation for contributions that the editors would accept articles written on offthetheme
topics too. That was it! I shot off one email with my precious little piece as an attachment. I checked and rechecked all the protocols that they had mentioned on sending articles, ensuring that each instruction had been followed to the letter. The aftermath of clicking the “Send” button consisted of manyamoment speculating the reply. It is one thing to know for a fact that one can write good answers in public examinations; it is another to be deemed even acceptable on a public forum that is devoted to the written word. Be that as it may, the reply came a few days later. It was a thrilling moment. They had, at least, read my article. It soon became clear that they were almost appreciating the piece. Aha! I noticed that the whole piece had undergone two scans of scrutiny from two different editors. They had taken the utmost care not just to make sure that no piece of my message was lost, but had also taken painstaking measures to look into each and every punctuation mark! This was meticulousness at its very best! I incorporated all the changes and sent in the revised version. A few days later, another mail arrived from the 'Spark' team apprising potential contributors about the theme for the next month. Now this was good professionalism! Things were happening fast and I seemed to have become part of something exciting! Finally, on the fifth of February, the new issue of 'Spark' appeared. My piece was there! Yo! You have got to experience that feeling to know what it is. No amount of blogging, where the publish button is under your command, can match this. I showed as many friends and relatives as I could. And, thus, started my very own Sparkling journey. Each month brought with it the challenge and excitement of a new theme. The challenge to write something worthwhile and befitting. The challenge to explore various forms – poetry, nonfiction, science fiction, open letters, fantasy. It was a learning experience – all in the name of a hobby. Culminating, usually on the fifth day of the next month, with the excitement of finally seeing my brainchild in published form.
Together not only with the highquality contributions from fellow amateurs but also with interviews and viewpoints from established writers/bloggers/filmmakers. It was really fun! Let us not forget that no amount of pretension will suffice to establish my credentials as a writer. I am not. Limitations of ability abound. Time crunch takes its toll. And in those times, the editors have stood by. Understanding. Encouraging. Nudging on – like shepherds. If the contributions are the meat that makes up Spark, they are the skeleton that holds it all together firmly. I am no prophet either. But buoyant optimism and dreaminess is poignantly overpowering. Somehow, I want to believe that the Sparkling journey will continue. Long and to distant times. And then, gray haired, with a soft chuckle, I will remark to myself, “I, too, am part of your history”.
Picture by BrightMeadow
I graduated in EEE from BITS, Pilani in 2002. After a brief stint in the IT industry, I decided to pursue something close to my heart and did a course in Online Media from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. My career took a different turn from there on. After four years as a financial writer, I have now taken a break from work and am busy telling stories to my three year old son, building my bookshelf, writing, painting and leading Spark.
And this is what Anupama has to say on her journey with Spark: When I sit down to write a few words about Spark and my journey with it, I draw a blank. When you are deeply in love with something or someone, words generally fail. Silence indeed becomes golden then. I draw a deep breath and that sort of helps. Spark is a dream and then something more. Spark is a child that I have been so proud of, a child that I have nurtured with all devotion and positive energy, a child whose sole purpose from the beginning has been to enhance the lives of others through words, ideas, creative expressions and information, however small the change may be. And I would like to believe that she has been that through the last one year. She has toddled into the wide world into the hands of those who have loved her and has turned around and smiled at me every time足 Look, they are happy and I am doing my job. And every time that she has gone out and returned, she has only grown closer to me in ways inexplicable. And her life and purpose are purely not my effort alone. I can't thank enough, those many people who have embellished her in their unique ways in the last one year. Journeys are fun, for reasons more than one. But, this journey with Spark has been truly special, for with her, not only have I grown and evolved, I have also come to enjoy that wonderful feeling of having been useful to this world in some little way. I only hope and pray that this journey continues for many, many years to come!
Isn’t it such a wonderful feeling to be able to create something? Ask anyone who creates a product out of their passion and they will tell you what joy it is. The delight we have felt every time that we have put out an issue of Spark is precious. When people come back to tell us that a certain article or a piece of art or a photograph made their day, it has, time and again, brought a smile on our lips. If something that one created can warm someone’s heart, light up a smile, bring a tear, lighten a burden, and ultimately can make someone feel one with the creator at some point, then the fruits of creativity are reaped and the job of a creation is done. On this memorable occasion of our first anniversary, we are proud to present to you four such creative visionaries – people who have, just like us, embarked on a journey to use their creative passion and their resultant ventures to bring joys to the lives of others and, in the process, have sought to derive the blissful pleasure that creativity and creation can bring to one’s own self. They are our celebrities of the month. We are delighted to feature Agam, a Bangalorebased music band that creates some wonderful music that is a mix of Carnatic music and classical rock. We are also pleased to present MoodSwings Jewelry, an initiative by Benaazir Muhammdunni, who designs jewelry that celebrates the real spirit of women. The third in our list is Bhojan, a food catering service run by Swetha Parthasarathy and Tarandeep Narula in the U.S. Finally, we have great pleasure in featuring ‘Version One Dot Oh’, a Bangalorebased theatre group that started off as an initiative to pursue a passion for theatre and has been around for eight years now. At the end of it all, we realized, the many things in common that all these people share including the passion for what they do, the way they have strived to balance their jobs and their ventures and the enthusiasm with which they look forward to the future. And the greatest and most wonderful revelation of this exercise is of course, we realized how much we, the Sparklers, have in common with each of them. Spark wishes each of these initiatives and the people behind them the very best in their journeys forward. Catch the features and interviews spread out through the rest of this issue.
Background by Pareeeica
Cover Feature
Agam 足 Musically Yours..
Agam
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"Every time that I look at the logo of Agam, the music band from Bangalore, I feel there’s something intriguing about it. And perhaps that describes the motto of the logo too. To me, it conveys the essence of the music they produce – mystical and soul touching. Agam’s music is characterized by a mix of Carnatic music and classical rock."
Music. How often we run to it like a child does to his mother! For many of us, music fills the creepy void that sometimes gobbles up our insides. And to be able to create that music, which more often than not, remains a soothing balm, is indeed a Godsent gift. Agam is one effort in this direction.
What’s in a name, one may ask. Much, I would say. The name Agam too, isn’t here without a reason. Agam is a Tamil Word that means ‘Inner Self’, a name chosen to substantiate the band’s journey to identify with their inner self through music.
Every time that I look at the logo of Agam, the music band from Bangalore, I feel there’s something intriguing about it. And perhaps that describes the motto of the logo too. To me, it conveys the essence of the music they produce – mystical and soul touching. Agam’s music is characterized by a mix of Carnatic music and classical rock. What’s in a name, one may ask. Much, I would say. The name Agam too, isn’t here without a reason. Agam is a Tamil Word that means ‘Inner Self’, a name chosen to substantiate the band’s journey to identify with their inner self through music. Swaminathan Seetharaman (Swamy), Agam’s band manager and a poet, musician and keyboardist in his own might, excitedly shares Agam’s beginnings. Harish Sivaramakrishnan (Agam’s lead vocalist) and Ganesh Ram Nagarajan’s (Agam’s percussionist) jamming sessions together in early 2003, which was essentially a continuation to what they had done as a part of their college band, indeed turned out to be the beginnings of what is now Agam. These jamming sessions were ones during which the character of Agam’s music began to take shape. When the duo met Swamy during a live performance, Agam’s journey took a definite direction. Soon, compositions by the band included lyrics and vocals too. But, the real turn to their story came in during 2007, when the band, which had grown to a sixmembered team by then, registered itself for a band hunt reality show that was to be judged by A.R.Rahman. The name ‘Agam’ was officially born then and as Swamy proudly states, “Agam went on to win the competition and the genre of Agam’s music started to get even more refined and defined.
Introduction and Interview by Anupama Krishnakumar Pictures Courtesy: Agam
The band recently collaborated with noted playback singer, Shreya Ghoshal, for a Breast Cancer awareness initiative.
There has been no looking back since then – Agam went on to play several shows and generated a steadily growing and committed fan base.” And, true, there seems to have been no looking back since then. For, the band recently collaborated with noted playback singer, Shreya Ghoshal, for a Breast Cancer awareness initiative. When I ask Swamy what are some of the most memorable moments in Agam’s journey so far, he cites the birth of Brahma’s Dance, their first ever single and the birth of Lakshiya Paadhai, the song that helped them win the A.R.Rahman judged reality show ‘Oohlalala..”. As part of winning the contest, the band got an opportunity to record their single at A R Rahman's studio.
Agam We have sustained the commitment to Agam for quite some time now and we strongly believe that this trend will continue as this is the quest that we are collectively going after in our lives.
The interview revealed so many more interesting thoughts and perspectives. Catch our interesting and revealing conversation with Swamy here. I guess everyone in Agam is balancing a fulltime job and a creative passion. Do you think you are able to do justice to what you have established and sustain it? How do you manage to give Agam the time it may need? Yes, everyone in Agam is into a fulltime job. Life in itself is a balancing act and it has been one heck of a balancing act for us filled with sleepless nights and personal sacrifices. We have sustained the commitment to Agam for quite some time now and we strongly believe that this trend will continue as this is the quest that we are collectively going after in our lives. How does it feel to be able to create something on your own? The idea of playing and composing original music was always something that excited us. Every time we create something new, we feel like we’re infusing life into an emotion or myriad of emotions. What do you feel are some of the best points of being able to create your own music? I think it is the freedom to express ourselves and paint our emotions and thoughts through music. What do you think are the challenges? Being stereotyped? This can be a big challenge but we try to infuse different sounds into our music and hope no two songs of ours sound the same. But we still make sure that the soul of our music remains intact. Commercial compulsions? That could be a challenge. But, luckily for us, in all our ventures, we have been given complete liberty and freedom to do our stuff. What does it mean to work together as a team? How exactly do you coordinate ideas? Do you discuss and dispute often? Each individual understands their role very well and team effort is an integral part of Agam's DNA. Though every band member brings in a different perspective, at an abstract level we converge on a common plane. As a band we are very open to new ideas and we discuss, dispute and criticize our own music more often than not.
With writers, we often talk about 'writers block'. As a musician, do you experience that block sometimes too? What do you do then? We consciously try to experiment and we derive our inspiration to create something new through strong social themes and also by listening to some great music. When do you feel you are at your creative best? We are at our creative best when we jam. For, that’s when the melodies and riffs take shape. The magic of playing together brings the best out of everyone in terms of creativity. Finally, what does Agam aim to achieve in the years ahead? We look forward to taking our music to the international space. We also wish to convey positive reinforcements to the community through music. We would like to explore more genres and would also be keen to venture into movies. Relevant Links: Agam on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/agamtheband Agam’s Website: http://www.agamtheband.in Here are some resources showcasing Agam's work: Dr. AR.Rahman on Agam : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBq67Puxd2o Shreya Ghoshal on Agam : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9rDv9zDjBQ Agam's Brochure http://www.agamtheband.in/agambrochure.pdf Agam's Music Productions http://www.reverbnation.com/agam , http://www.reverbnation.com/studiof6 Breat cancer awareness initiative in collaboration with Shreya Ghoshal http://www.liveagain.in/
I am an aspiring filmmaker from the National Institute of Design who believes that globetrotting might just help me find the meaning I am so desperately searching for, in life. When I am not talking philosophy, doodling or writing, I am spinning some airy dreams.
And this is what the Spark Editorial Team has to say about Sandhya: Here’s one lass gifted with brilliant imagination. Be it poetry that strikes a chord or those grungy sketches, Sandhya’s contributions have added a fresh, offbeat side to our magazine. Not just that, Sandhya has been a constant source of feedback as far as the magazine’s design is concerned. Thank you, Sandhya,for all the wonderful suggestions you have given us and good luck too, we look forward to seeing more of your brilliant contributions!
SANDHYA'S NOTE ON HER ANNIVERSARY ISSUE CONTRIBUTION: When Anu and Vani wanted me to do a series of illustrations on 'Creation' for the anniversary issue, I was tempted to do something wacky and nonsensical. We take art, and life, too seriously. Creation, somehow forcefully, has begun to need justification. Art is a vent of frustration, of emotion. And mostly our emotions are so muddled and layered, we barely realize what prompted a particular art to emerge. So like Oscar Wilde says in his preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray, "All art is quite useless." The result, you will see here. :)
Art at its Wacky Best Sketches by Sandhya Ramachandran
ROUTE MAP TO MY HEART
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS ARE FOR WASHING CLOTHES!
FOOD FOR COLD
VEILED RE足VEILED
MY PURSE LIES ON THE TABLE
FACT 56
LOVE THYSELF, WOMAN 足 PIMPLES AND ALL!
Guest Column by Deepa Venkatraghvan
Mastering Wealth Creation When we talk of creation, can you imagine something as money in the picture? Well we could and we call it wealth creation. Have you ever thought of making investments as an act of creation? Here is an interesting take on the art and science of wealth creation. Deepa Venkatraghvan will tell you more.
Deepa Venkatraghvan is a Chartered Accountant. She is also the author of the CNBCTV18 Bestsellers “Everything you ever wanted to know about investing” (which was later updated and released as, “Everything you wanted to know about investing in difficult times”) and “What your financial agent will tell you and why you shouldn’t listen”.
f you had bought 100 shares of Wipro at the rate of Rs 100 per share in 1980, they would be worth Rs 200 crore today.
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If you had invested Rs 10,000 in Infosys shares in 1992, you would be richer by Rs 1.5 crore today. If you had invested Rs 1,000 in Ranbaxy in 1980, you would have got Rs 1.9 crore today! Some guy out there knew this. Today, he is laughing all
"Many of the world’s wealth creators are school or college dropouts."
the way to the bank. So what was the magic strategy that made this fellow so rich? Read on. Nobody taught me how to be rich Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work. ~ Robert Orben, American Magician So what does it take to become a ‘really rich’ person or to become ‘wealthy,’ as I would like to call it? Our
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school and college imparted to us all the skills needed to make money. Unfortunately, they forgot to teach us how to manage it. Little wonder then, that many of the world’s wealth creators are school or college dropouts. They not only knew how to make money but also knew very well, how to manage it. Something that school wouldn’t have taught them anyway! Wealth Creation (or Personal Finance, or Financial Planning; by whatever name it is called) deserves the status of a separate subject or course in our education system. But since it is not so, most of the knowledge of wealth creation is passed on by experiment (or trial and error) and other people’s experience (or inexperience),
Picture by IncurableHippie
neither of which one can trust one’s money with, especially in this rapidly changing world. However, in the past few years, there has been a crusade of financial awareness and education from various quarters, especially by the financial regulators and the media. And that crusade gathered much steam in the aftermath of the global credit crisis of 2008. That crisis, though a ripple in India as compared to the storm in the West, taught us all some useful lessons or rather revised some forgotten lessons. It reminded us among other things that pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth were indeed the deadly sinful byproducts of wealth creation.
Wealth creation: Art or science? Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think. ~ Ayn Rand, Author. Dictionary.com defines science as “a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws.” It defines art as “the principles or methods governing any particular skill or ability or branch of learning.” Given that, the answer to the question ‘Is wealth creation an art or science?’, obviously, is not clearcut. Wealth creation, because of
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its very nature, deals with numbers and mathematics, which are obviously scientific. Yet, the rules and principles of wealth creation are not necessarily facts or truths. For instance, if you invest Rs 5000 every month for 20 years in an equity mutual fund, you are most likely to create a corpus of around Rs 70 lakh. But this is not a fact or truth. This is based on an assumption that your investment will grow at 15%, which in turn is based on empirical studies. Nevertheless, I would tend to lean on the side of wealth creation being an art. The art of taking a small sum of money and turning into large amounts of wealth;
of cherrypicking the best investments from the vast number of financial instruments around; of having the patience to wait and watch the wealth grow. Analogically, to me, wealth creation is like gardening. It’s a long term process; the richness of the fruits depends on the quality of seeds and the nature of care. No wonder money plants are considered lucky! How to create wealth – mastering the art Now, how do you go about creating your wealth? Remember to dream big, think longterm, underacheive on a daily basis, and take baby steps. That is the key to long term success. ~ Robert Kiyosaki, Author of ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ Kiyosaki pretty much sums it up here, but allow me to elaborate: i. Dream big Don’t allow money (or the lack of it) to come in the way of your dreams. Modern day financial advisors encourage you to dream big and then make a plan to fulfill it. And by following the other principles that Kiyosaki mentions, it isn’t too tough.
time to grow! iii. Underachieve on a daily basis I would interpret this as living modestly on a daily basis and spending wisely on everyday habits. The key is to spend ‘wisely’ and not ‘miserly.’ iv. Take baby steps Often, the common excuse for not investing is that you don’t have enough left at the end of the month to invest. Investing needs no more than Rs 500 a month; setting that aside month onmonth is a great way to build wealth. A 20year old investing Rs 500 a month, every month, in an equity mutual fund can expect to retire with a corpus of at least Rs 1 crore. The key here is ‘every month.’ If those are some of the things you need to know to master the art of creating wealth, here are some traits you need to be a good investor.
doing the selection of your investments and stocks yourself. Assuming that you will have a financial advisor who will tell you what best to do, you still need some of these traits to follow your advisor’s advice. For instance, the stock markets may crash and all your friends around you maybe selling their investments. Your advisor may tell you to hold on; it does indeed take nerves of steel to follow that kind of right advice. Here are a few traits that might go a long way in helping you create wealth: • • • • • •
Patience Moderation Self satisfaction Discipline Passion Common sense
Be Informed and Educated An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. ~Benjamin Franklin
Nerves of steel Only buy something that you'd be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years. ~ Warren Buffet, Investor
ii. Think longterm Wealth is always created in the long term, that is, at least 710 years and above. Just like gardening. Equities are the best wealthcreating investment tools and they give best results over the long term.
If Kiyosaki defines the method, investors like Warren Buffet, Benjamin Franklin, Peter Lynch, etc., often talk about the ‘art of being an investor.’ In most of their books or speeches, you will hear them talk about several characteristics an investor must have and their importance.
What then, goes without saying, is that you must start investing early and give your investments
Of course, they talk about all the characteristics that you must have if you are going to go about
I started out by highlighting the importance of personal financial education in school and college. Since that development may be a while away, the crusaders of financial awareness can only urge the layman to get educated and literate in matters of money. There are enough people out there who make a fortune by selling ‘money’ (like banks, mutual fund distributors, insurance agents etc.) And you happen to be the buyer. So take care of your wealth and your wealth will take care of you.
Our featured personalities share their thoughts on Spark..
“Spark features an interesting and thoughtprovoking range of topics and genres. It’s a publication which has great potential to create change through social media. Well done to the team. Onwards and upwards!” Bhavani Prakash, Environment Activist
"Spark is one of the most beautiful online magazines. Many journalists have interviewed me but I felt the feature covered by you in Spark sparked a lot of enthusiasm amongst the kathalaya readers and was thought provoking and interesting to read. The feature was crisp and to the point. The colours added the right aesthetics. Wishing you the best for your first anniversary and hope you reach great heights in future." Geeta Ramanujam, Executive Director, Kathalaya Trust.
"I am very impressed with the range, quality and content of Spark. From my perspective, I was happy to be interviewed by Spark, as it is always nice to have a forum to reach out to people. It is also important that we, as academics, get the word out on the importance of the historical past and archaeology." Dr. Michael Petraglia, Senior Research Fellow & CoDirector, Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art & Culture, School of Archaeology, RLAHA University of Oxford.
"Spark is a great attempt, and makes for fun reading. I wish Anupama all the best and am sure she will continue to create sparkle." Sathya Saran, Author, '10 Years with Guru Dutt: Abrar Alvi’s Journey' and 'From Me to You' and Former Editor, Femina.
"With an increasing amount of gibberish on the world wide web, bludgeoning readers from everything from politics to pot roast, this publication is a welcome space for a variety of creative and original thoughts. Congratulations on your first anniversary!" Dr Anita R Ratnam, Danceactor and Cultural Activist
"Nice layout and design Fantastic articles. Spark is a work of passion and lot of hard work. Putting together a magazine is a monumental task and I am glad that I was featured in this wonderful magazine. I wish the team of Spark, a huge success in all their efforts and good luck to keep bringing quality stuff. All the best!" Arun Vaidyanathan, Filmmaker.
P.R.Viswanathan
I am a born and bred Mumbaikar, a career banker and now a consultant in microfinance. In the workaday world of a banker, my writing was limited to those notes that one had to put up from time to time on various subjects. After retiring and setting up as a consultant working from home, I have indulged my passion writing. The subjects that interest me are parochial politics, microfinance, terrorism and deficit financing and above all India. I have also written a few short stories and have in mind two long stories. I have reached a stage in life when the effort to get my work published, the effort to prove myself is beyond me. So I used to share my writings only with immediate family. Then Spark just happened some 10 months back and I now find my pieces coming to life with the splash of colors, the sketches/photos added by the imaginitive Spark team. And then there are the beautifully written teasers.
And this is what the Spark Editorial Team has to say about P.R.Viswanathan: Calling him a gifted writer is an understatement. One of our favourite contributors, Mr. Viswanathan can conjure images in front of your eyes like magic with his words. His stories are warm, his characters absolutely believable – you’re likely to have known or heard of someone similar – and his poetry can send a chill through your spine for the emotions it evokes. Our personal favourite of all he has written is his ode to India in our August 2010 issue. It is a masterpiece in its own right! Thank you for taking the time to write for us, Mr. Viswanathan. We are privileged to have you on our team!
The Joy of Creation
Picture by Blentley
What exactly does creativity mean in our lives? Is it something that is restricted only to the arts? P.R.Viswanathan shares some interesting thoughts on creativity and the joy of creation.
by P.R.Viswanathan
Nonfiction
O
One can be an artist simply in the way one lives. And creativity! What shall we say of creativity? It spans art and science. It can manifest itself in any aspect of life.
One of the most profound statements on creativity occurs in Somerset Maugham’s “The Moon and Sixpence”. Charles Strickland is a dull stockbroker in London till age forty when he suddenly ups and runs away to Tahiti to paint. He indulges his passion with abandon. At the same time, he shows himself up to be one of the most inconsiderate and selfcentered of human beings. Some years after his death, the author visits Tahiti to gather material to write about the artist. He is astonished to find among the people of Tahiti, particularly one Captain Brunot, a kind of sympathy and understanding of the artist, which was totally missing back home in London. This is how Captain Brunot explains his great feeling for the artist: “Did I not tell you that I, too, in my way was an artist? I realized in myself the same desire as animated him. But whereas his medium was paint, mine has been life.” One can be an artist simply in the way one lives. And creativity! What shall we say of creativity? It spans art and science. It can manifest itself in any aspect of life. It is the overarching theme of all life. You read about Edison’s invention of the incandescent lamp or of Bell’s of the telephone and revel in their creativity. Or you look at R K Laxman’s cartoon early morning and it makes your day because he has made just that perfect comment on the state of affairs that was lurking in a million minds like yours, unexpressed.
Picture by SiskaFlaurensia
What is creativity? Here is a definition given by one Rollo May in “The Courage to Create”. It is quoted in the piece entitled “What is Creativity?” by Linda Naiman that I found on the internet: "Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being...creativity requires passion and commitment. Out of the creative act is born symbols and myths. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. The experience is one of heightened consciousnessecstasy." The outstanding feature of all creativity is that it occurs in a moment; it is sudden and unexpected, like a flash of lightning. It lasts no more than a few seconds but then it illuminates every dark nook in the vicinity. Men have sought to create divisions between science and art, portraying art as dealing with the emotions, the work of erratic genius, while science is all reason and system. But think about it: the scientist, most often, stumbles upon a creation like Roentgen did on the Xray. A scientist may grapple with a problem, work towards a creation most systematically with stepbystep reasoning but the solution or the creation happens in a flash – in a moment of “eureka”. All the prior reasoning then seems irrelevant. And yet again, wonder of wonders, that prior process, that slogging, the systematic reasoning, the 98 per cent perspiration that Edison talked of, is an essential prelude to the moment of flash, the 2 per cent inspiration. Why does creativity – in others and even more in ourselves give us that pure, unadulterated joy as nothing else can? I have often wondered. The answer, I believe, is that in every act of creation – big or small, ranging from a scientific invention to the perfect solution that hits you to a seemingly intractable problem in office or the telling repartee – you see a revelation in yourself of something of the Creator himself. The difference, ironically, is that you take the creations of the Ultimate Creator for granted because you were born in their midst – air and water and vegetation and life itself. But moments of genius, of creation, in even the most creative amongst us, are rare. What you feel then is sheer fulfillment for you have attained the highest form of selfexpression. And that is a feeling worth any sacrifice.
Maheswaran Sathiamoorthy
I graduated with a B.Tech degree from IIT Kharagpur and I am currently a graduate student at the University of Southern California. My interests include counting bokehs and taking out of focus shots. Well, I don't really like to limit myself to a specific set of interests, because I try to try my hand at everything! The truth is that two years back, I hated my friends who wasted time behind a camera during trips, until one day I ended up with a DSLR and decided to give it a 'shot'. I have been a 'good student' and have contributed photos for every issue of Spark in the past and the journey so far has been pretty good, since taking theme based photos for the magazine generally forces me to use my otherwise idle brain. If you are interested in doing me a favour, you are welcome to buy me a Canon 5D Mark II or check out my work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/madiator/.
And this is what the Spark Editorial Team has to say about Mahesh: Mahesh’s contribution to this publication cannot be stressed strongly enough. A solid contributor for every single issue so far, Mahesh has used his lens to give us some food for thought, make us chuckle, ponder, and (very often!) stare in awe at his work. He has the knack of positioning even the most ordinary objects in interesting situations and lighting to tell a story. An extremely talented photographer, it’s been an absolute pleasure to work with Mahesh. We eagerly expect his photographs every month and this year will be no exception(no pressure, Mahesh! ;))! MAHESH'S NOTE ON HIS ANNIVERSARY ISSUE CONTRIBUTION: I chose architecture as my subject to explore creation. I didn't want to bore readers with pictures of buildings, so I decided to do something different Architecture in monochrome. I have also clubbed images that are somewhat similar. My second series of photographs are on creativity seeing things in a different light.
The charm of the domes..
The elegance of the delicate curves..
Piilars of strength..
Perspectives that are awe足inspiring..
Shades of Light..
Originally, a lamp shade.
Patterns in the air..
Originally, the Brooklyn Bridge.
Glow..
Originally, the CFL light.
Cover Feature
For the Woman
MoodSwings I wanted a name that is representative of all women, which even a man can relate to, a name that could bring a smile. I thought what better a name than ‘MoodSwings’
A
"As you might have guessed by now, creating MoodSwings was much unplanned, almost forced. In a short span of one month, I set up MoodSwings."
If you thought creativity was all about music, dance, writing, theatre and painting, then think again! Here’s a woman who has gone an extra mile to pursue her passion for designing jewelry. I really found Benaazir Muhammdunni’s initiative a celebration of the true spirit of passion. I loved the wonderfully creative name that she has given her venture, ‘MoodSwings Jewelry’. I quiz her about the reason behind her name and back comes a wellreasoned, intelligent response. “I wanted a name that is representative of all women, which even a man can relate to, a name that could bring a smile. I thought what better a name than ‘MoodSwings’.”
Introduction and Interview by Anupama Krishnakumar Pictures Courtesy : Benaazir
What’s more fascinating is that Benaazir quit her sales and marketing job to pursue her passion for jewelry! We bet you can’t wait to catch the interview. Here it is! How did MoodSwings Jewelry come about? I grew up watching my grandmother make various handicrafts, embroider, and even hand draw jewelry designs and then instruct a goldsmith to create pieces. As for me, I have always felt happiest when I make something, be it a dress, a new dish, a flower arrangement or even marketing collateral. I quit my sales & marketing job to pursue my passion for travelling and jewelry. I took a short course in jewelry making and started making stuff which I would often wear. I started getting looks of appreciation, then requests. I made few pieces for friends. The word began to spread. Unknown people were visiting my place and it was embarrassing without a name for the jewelry line and a business card. As you might have guessed by now, creating MoodSwings was much unplanned, almost forced. In a short span of one month, I set up MoodSwings.
by a Woman Benaazir Muhammdunni
Could you tell us a bit about why the name MoodSwings Jewelry? My designs stand for real women, someone who has her own mind, is rebellious and independent; someone who doesn’t fit in but sometimes tries to; someone who speaks her mind but is sometimes shy; someone who has a sense of style and individuality; someone who is vulnerable, feminine and tough; someone who loves and hates all the same time. I wanted a name that is representative of all women, which even a man can relate to, a name that could bring a smile. I thought what better a name than ‘MoodSwings’. The name has many facets. One, I wanted to communicate directly with every woman; two, the designs are not onedimensional; three, you can pick a design for each mood; four, they speak about my different moods. What does creativity mean in the context of jewelry? Which areas exactly do you put your creative instincts to work in as far as jewelry designing is concerned? Creativity in jewelry is not limited to the design and making of it. One of the most creative aspects is how one wears it.
I put my creativity into designing, figuring out innovative ways of making, making the piece easy and comfortable to wear and making it affordable. I also advise my patrons how to wear them. Do you work on all the jewelry in your collection? How exactly do you plan your work? I design each and every piece in my line. Since I thoroughly enjoy making jewelry, I am making them almost all the time. I do make them on orders as well. We do see a lot of players in the trendy jewelry space. What do you think sets you apart from your competitors and the bigger players? Bigger players have bigger expenses and bigger targets and hence have a constant pressure to sell. For me, jewelry is my passion first. Even though there are a lot of players, there would always be a place for uniqueness catering to a niche / general segment and this is true for all creative fields. The differentiating factor about my designs is the design itself and the fact that it is easy to wear. I have also priced my pieces carefully making it affordable. My designs are also made in extremely small numbers, sometimes one and at the most five.
What are some of the marketing strategies that you employ to sell your products? I completely rely on word of mouth as I do not believe in hard or overly onyourface selling. Since shopping for jewelry is a very personal thing, I try and make the experience as personal as possible. What do you feel is the most wonderful thing about being able to do something on your own? What do you feel is the biggest challenge? The most wonderful thing about being on my own is the pace, space and peace it offers. The challenge is to constantly reinvent myself and make designs worth the money, which I believe is an ongoing thing. Let’s end the interview with your future plans. In the long run, I wish to work on some traditional art forms giving it a contemporary touch and hopefully provide employment to as many artists as possible. This is not limited to jewelry. MoodSwings on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/MoodSwingsJewelrybyBenaazir
Waiting.. Poetry by Varsha Sreenivasan Perched in
“Not in the mood
“i am
one corner,
to write?”
the pen,
pen on paper,
asks She;
You are
clueless me
i turn around
the words;
counting the hours,
sheepishly.
i..the instrument You use
until we meet.. “that’s the question
to execute
me and Her. i..
Your work” have for You “child,” Mother,” “I see”
breathes the wind, comes the
says She
“..what’s the matter?” quiet reply
if I
continues as my answer. the voice
am the Doer
of Mother Nature.
and not you.. She turns then why Her head, don’t you
not a word She looks
give up?
out of the pen, at me;
you have
not a word “What does
nothing
to account for that mean?”
to lose!”
many hours spent She asks worrying about cautiously. the blank
“exactly,”
assignment.
i say
i have
i wonder
to remember..
nothing
at the icebergs
what did i
to lose,
melting inside..
wish
and everything
is it summer
to ask Mother?
to gain,
already?
suddenly i fish out
if i play well,
i jump
a question
this waiting game
in sudden joy.
for Her, this beautiful world,
that You taught me O Mother dear..
“i hope
this immaculate creation,
i will always remember
to gain
this perfectly coordinated
when You said,
some answers
play of
“child, nothing
dear Mother.”
space, time and matter..
but waiting
eyes meet
what
is
the gaze
is the meaning?
the real thing,
of Mother Nature,
what is the point
by which
the One
of it all
one gains
who always
o Mother?”
everything.”
teaches Her children..
“child,”
“So what
never ever
i hear
do you
shy away from
Her gentle laugh,
hope to gain
asking your question.
“as the child you ask,
dear child?” She asks
“ASK,”
as the Mother
turning to me
She commands
I offer,
Her blazing eye.
i try
but for a while
puzzle called You from now,
a dream?
Don’t worry
I ask
i wonder
about race, class
to reverse
and smile;
or gender;
this order;
as the church bells
But when you
I will meet
chime,
give,
you here,
i hurry along,
Give
same time
to the study where
like a True Mother.
next year
in the dream
will solve itself; Give to another that smile that heals the scalding burns of a thousand hells. Don’t wait and when
i had gone;
Give; to heal another,
I ask
papers on the table
don’t bother Don’t wait
you
pen in my hand,
what you to strengthen another,
this question,
i address
get for yourself, and when you
you will have
to myself
When You are give,
finally
my assignment.
discovered your answer.”
“Give first,
whole Give
you’ll know,
like a True Mother.
like a thousand
ask later,
rising Suns, Give
Rubbing my eyes Give unconditionally
your light to another
i sit upright like
will show, that missing piece,
was that a True Mother;
everything the jigsaw you were giving to,
Varsha Sreenivasan has been an active contributor to Spark since August 2010. She is an exmedia professional currently involved in the field of filmmaking. She prefers to describe herself as a student of Nature like everyone is. She believes, as such a student, she is still learning. She dabbles in 'juvenile poetry' and prefers rhyme to reason.
were the missing pieces of One puzzle called You”.
Special Series on Anonymous Bloggers
The CowGirl On the occasion of our first anniversary, Spark has decided to pay tribute through a series to one very special group of bloggers – the anonymous ones. A bunch of very talented, witty writers, these bloggers have managed to amass an immense fan following despite their anonymity.
The first in the series is The Cowgirl (http://maatuponnu.wordpress.com). Cowgirl is English for maatuponnu in Tamil – which is how the layperson refers to the maatru penn – ‘the other daughter’, or daughterinlaw. Although she has only been writing anonymously for some six months now, maatuponnu has already built a substantial following.
B
Blogging has brought out talents from across the world that I’m sure many of us have been thankful to, for the endless hours of entertainment they provide us. They have saved us on many an occasion of utter boredom at work, provided a distraction when we’re drowning in studies, and made us realize and celebrate the fact that there are quite a few like us out there that we can connect to. On the occasion of our first anniversary, Spark has decided to pay tribute through a series to one very special group of bloggers – the anonymous ones. A bunch of very talented, witty writers, these bloggers have
"Introduction by Vani Viswanathan. Questions by Spark Editorial Team "
managed to amass an immense fan following despite their anonymity. In a world with social networks where we try to know people we don’t know, these bloggers reach out to a wide audience that appreciates them for the identity that they create through their words. The first in the series is The Cowgirl. Cowgirl is English for maatuponnu in Tamil – which is how the layperson refers to the maatru penn – ‘the other daughter’, or daughterinlaw. Although she has only been writing anonymously for some six months now, maatuponnu has already built a substantial following. If you understand Chennaiism, you’ll understand it when I say
maatuponnu is like waking up to M.S. Subbulakshmi, filter coffee and The Hindu. In other words, it’s an authentic experience of Tamil culture, told from the author’s scrutinizing eyes. Maatuponnu manages to capture the weird balance that is quintessential of many a Tamil (and Tamil Brahmin) family – progressive in many ways, but particularly insistent on maintaining one’s ‘culture’. This is apparent in everything, ranging from the topics she picks – drinking parties, margazhi season kutcheries, the TamilEnglish balance from our parents’ generations, typical protagonists from Tamil movies, diamond studs, intellectual snobbery, the Tamil+English that she has generously sprinkled across her posts, U.S for MS and engineering college talk. Maatuponnu’s writing is so reminiscent of everything home for a Tamil girl that reading her blog has often left me swimming in nostalgia (and even homesickness!) and longing for turning back time to when I lived in Chennai.
Picture Courtesy : CowGirl
Maatuponnu has graciously agreed to an interview from Spark and obliged our questions on anonymity, humour and inspiration, among other things. Ok, cowgirl. Before anything else, why did you decide to write under a pseudonym? And why the decision to be called 'daughterinlaw'? :). Did you think about the name for too long? The idea of starting a blog was in itself not new. I have been writing prose, poetry and fiction for a while now, and have a couple of publications as well. I wanted a break from what I had been writing and wished to try something new. Since I had never tried humour, I wanted to give it a shot. It is easier to say outrageous things under a pseudonym. I wanted to be Miss Maami first, but then somehow the maaminesson top morphed into Cowgirl, which also conveniently translates into Maatuponnu. I did not give it much thought, really! Talking of the blog itself,
why this decision to do something so Tamil? :) And in a way, so Tambrahm? Humour works best when you pan something you know. It's easiest to poke fun at yourself. Maaminess and Tamizhness are in my blood, so that’s the way it is! Does it worry you that the actual intent and joy of your posts may not reach out to the nonTamil readers? Do you plan to work around that? I have not thought about it much, really. Considering what I have written so far, one facet is humour, the ability to laugh at oneself and be critical in the process. The other is the simple joy of identification, bringing up what is familiar. Not many people outside can really identify with the texture of ‘more kozhambu’. Let's see, if I ever find the need to reach out
more, I might become more inclusive. The Tanglish and Tamil words you seem to have generously sprinkled them in all your posts. Do they come with the flow? It's pretty much the flow. Tam brahms of my parents' generation, to paraphrase the writer Sujatha, think in Tamizh but speak and write in English. We think in English more often than not, but there are some 'untranslatables' that we have to use Tamizh to express. Just as the thinking in Tamizh is the hallmark of the generation, so is the familiarity with the catchphrases heard just by being around people. It is evocative of the essence of maaminess, which is all I want to achieve.
The CowGirl
If we were to ask you five points of inspiration for your posts, what would they be? Each of my five aunts. Like Wodehouse, I have five formidable aunts, each worth the salt of her diamond mookuthi maaminess! We love the subtle (and occasionally slightly loud) humour that underlies much of your writing. Are you the type that always jokes around? Do you laugh too as you write just as your readers do when they read? We would love to know that expression on your face when you write! I am known to be a silent, serious person with a so called 'intellectual' bent of mind. It kind of tickles me that people like my humour, because what can be more entertaining than proving conceptions wrong! :) I have always had a dose of cynicism (my ancestors are from Thanjavur) , so that helps. Humour is probably a
balance between cynicism and compassion cynicism, the ability to identify the false and hypocritical; compassion, the ability to recognize that it is human and live with it. If we were to ask you what the equation between creativity and humour is, what would you say? Humour is the ability to state the notobvious. It is lateral by definition; it has to be clever, original, and certainly creative. You have a substantial following, and I’m sure a few people are dying to know who you are. How do you deal with that? ;) The following is honestly something I did not expect, but altogether something I am growing to like. There's 'writing for oneself' that I've always been a fan of, and the writing for an audience. This is turning out to be a lot of fun. The best part is the people I meet among others, homemakers, filmmakers,
entrepreneurs and professional linemaroers, all bound by the common thread of familiarity with maaminess. As far as I am concerned, Maatuponnu is just an avatar, an alterego. There is a certain attraction towards the unknown and the mysterious, kind of like how geishas painted their faces white. Perhaps one reason for the popularity is just the mystery! So, no, I am not going to kill that for now! What are the sort of creative experiments we can look forward to from Cowgirl in the months and years ahead? I am getting better with using photoshop, so perhaps a few sight gags.
I work as a Public Relations consultant in Singapore. I have been a resident of the city for over six years now, and yet I find out something new about the place ever so often that amuses and surprises me. A graduate of Mass Communications, music and words are my biggest passions. I love to read, write, sing, swim, and travel and dabble in photography.
And this is what Vani has to say on her journey with Spark: When Anu and I thought of Spark one lazy afternoon in 2009, I was incredibly excited about having our own literary magazine – our niche space in the online world – but was skeptical about how much time I’d be able to devote to it as I was working full time, what kind of contributions we’d get, and how our magazine would fare in the crowded online mag space. But as we worked on the first issue, trying out this and that, lapping up and editing the lovely contributions, and finally put it out on 5 Jan 2010, the feeling that came about put to rest all my above doubts. Here was something that we had created from scratch, our own baby. As the months rolled on, I watched Spark grow, like a proud parent, intrigued and flattered by the feedback it received, patiently going through trials and tribulations to push the issue out on the 5th of each month, and waiting with agony to see what kind of response this particular issue would get. When the first celebrity agreed to do an interview, I did a little celebratory jig, for that meant they thought Spark was good enough to spare some of their time for. Every time I came across one reader who was kind enough to drop us a word about the issue, I was touched, thankful and proud. As more people started reading it, as more diverse contributions started coming in, I was only encouraged to do more and do better. I can’t believe it’s been a year with Spark! Personally, it’s been a very fulfilling journey. I feel extremely happy about having something more than work occupying my life. It has been a serious avenue to further my own skills in writing, editing and working with likeminded people. And thanks to Spark, I’ve had the good fortune to come across the works of and interact with some brilliant, really talented people. As we kick off another year, the proud parent is hoping her baby goes even further, scales new heights and touches the lives of more people. Thanks for being part of an incredible journey!
Beyond Snobbishness Nonfiction by Vani Viswanathan
Vani VANI'SViswanathan NOTE ON HER ANNIVERSARY CONTRIBUTION: A recent, sudden revelation on judging creativity inspired this article. Fine, we all have different tastes on what’s good and what’s bad, but how right are we in putting down someone’s work just because it doesn’t fit into our definitions of brilliance and creativity? After all, pop fiction is read by a massive number of people too – in fact, it is read more than what the ‘elitists’ would consider good literature. And so began an internal debate… one that ended on a diplomatic note that is typical of me! Every one of us has some bit of intellectual snobbery inherent in us. Culinary tastes. Music. Travel, art, cigarettes, wine. And one that comes up often, is books. And I’m guilty of this one. I blatantly judge people by their tastes in books. Not that my behaviour to them is going to be altered in any obvious way, but it’s just a weird curiosity. My justification: given that books occupy a large part of my leisure time, thoughts (and money), understanding someone’s reading tastes help me steer my conversation. If they are restricted to Stephenie Meyers, Dan Browns, Chetan Bhagats or Robin Cooks, or don’t read at all, I have to move to another topic (or person ;)) to talk to. But this article is not simply about my snobbishness. There’s more to it. As a kid, I was proud that I read Gokulam, with its short stories, rather than
'You read these?'
comicbased Tinkle. I was proud of my library of abridged classics while other kids – if at all they read – were probably still reading fairy tales. I was immensely proud of my father’s collection of literary classics, waiting to grow old enough to greedily devour the works of the Bronte sisters or Austen, while most were engrossed with Agatha Christie. Of course, that’s not to say I didn’t go through the usual stages of preteenhood and teenage. I had my fair share of Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie and Hardy Boys, and eventually grew up to reading Dan Brown, Chetan Bhagat, Jodi Picoult and Paulo Coelho purely to understand what the hype is all about. I did read them. Those books are ridden with clichéd lines and emotions that make you cringe (‘My chest fills with lead and my legs melt beneath me.’). Read a Dan Brown or a Sidney Sheldon, and you’ll feel like you’re reading a movie script: ‘Yanking his Manurhin MR93 revolver from his shoulder holster, the captain dashed out of the office.’ Read two books by Jodi Picoult and you’ll know the typical route they take: always centered on law suits, and the narrative shifting constantly between key characters in the story. Feelings of these protagonists are churned out consistently in mindnumbing, formulaic words and phrases.
Preachy Paulo Coelho – and I admit he has put out some interesting thoughts in the minds of many a reader – gets stale as he talks about following dreams, destiny and soulsearching. The recent profusion of authors in India who churn out similar done todeath stories of call centers, arranged marriages, city romances and annoying mothersinlaw, simply worried me. But as I started to write more seriously on my blog, and recently, on Spark, I realized that it was perhaps a little too condescending of me to snub these pop writers. For, whatever said and done, they had immense creativity in them to come up with an interesting story that someone with enough money thought was worth his penny to publish. As I struggled to bring characters in my short stories to appear logical in their actions and bring them to a finish that was not abrupt, I grew to respect every author more. Over the years I’ve come to understand that not everyone wants a brilliant narrative with intelligent, arresting language. And not everyone wants to relish narrative and taste the deliciously, carefully chosen words. All that some of them want is to flip through pages for a couple of hours (it only takes this long to read some of them) of sheer, unadulterated entertainment. And who am I kidding when I refuse to acknowledge that at the basic level these books succeed at doing this wonderfully well? These authors can be definitely credited with encouraging many a nonreader to pick up a book to read. It’s a pity if most of these readers don’t graduate beyond these books to what I would consider gems in the written world, but that is a separate discussion altogether – our pop writers wrenched them off the TV, the internet, and Facebook, and got them to read. And they succeeded because of a number of reasons.
The language is typically what you and I as normal people, think and speak. We can connect to it when someone says ‘God, you scared the bijesus out of me!’ They tug at your heartstrings, and are shamelessly emotional: sample Jodi Picoult’s ‘You don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they're not.’ They tell you the most basic things, but sound intelligent: check out Dan Brown’s startling discovery that ‘Sooner or later we've all got to let go of our past.’ They emulate life: they put people in difficult situations, make them lose, and just like in real life, the ending may not always be rosy. Like Scooby Doo who gets scared each time he sees something ghostly – despite solving hundreds of mysteries where the ghost is usually a wicked man in a costume – we lap these stories up despite their clichés, the identifiable plots and the fact that two books later you can easily decipher the author’s style. And so, despite all my loftilyheld favourite authors, I do indulge in pop fiction. Ridiculous and strangely deprecating though I thought ‘Two States’ was – for its typical Rajinikanth bashing and idly sambar jokes – I did laugh loudly more than five times through the entire book. Paulo Coelho did inspire me when he said ‘When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.’ I raced impatiently through Sidney Sheldon’s ‘The Sky is Falling’ or Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’. But perhaps the biggest testimony to my rant here – and actually, the inspiration behind it – was when recently, while reading Lionel Shriver’s eccentric, intense ‘Game Control’, I happened to go to the library, and my mind automatically looked for a book I could read without applying much of my brains in trying to understand.
I unconsciously sought out Jodi Picoult, and borrowed ‘The Perfect Match.’ And I’m not too surprised to say that – despite its laughably boring and clichéd phrases, deadpanned, italicized thought processes – I can’t put it down. The author is now done with ‘The Perfect Match’ and has moved on to brilliant and simple ‘Swami and Friends’ for the nth time. The author also wishes to thank Google for showing the way to pages of favourite quotes from the writers mentioned in the piece above – and boy, don’t these writers have a following!
Picture by gadl
Cover Feature
Food Delight
Bhojan Both Taran and I were very insistent on using an Indian name and 'Bhojanam' was one of the names provided by my grandmother. Among quite a few names that we were reviewing, we liked this the most it was simple, to the point, had good recall value and stood for the home cooked food that we were going to serve! We took the name and shortened it to Bhojan!
I
"I came across this amazing crepe food cart with incredibly long lines just opposite BigBen... that led me wondering about an Indian Dosa food cart! "
Bhojan! The name itself is so inviting. When I close my eyes and think of it, all I can imagine is a sumptuous meal, very Indian and tastefully and cleanly prepared! And if you are an Indian living in the U.S., close your eyes and think of this name, doesn’t it sound all the more mouth watering? What really appeals to me about Bhojan is the line, ‘Passion for Cooking.’ I can’t help but smile at the word, ‘Passion’. And when Swetha Parthasarathy, one of the founders of Bhojan says, “I find myself spending a good amount of time on Bhojan and probably the thing that takes a back seat is my parttime IT job this is perhaps in line with where my interests lie now :)!” I smile too at the joy that only a passionate venture can evoke. And if you are wondering what creativity has to do with food and what it means to run a venture driven by passion for cooking, just go ahead and catch this interview with Swetha Parthasarathy, a software professional and a foodie who discovered her passion for cooking and Tarandeep Narula, who realized that she actually loved cooking, one year into marriage.
Introduction and Interview by Anupama Krishnakumar Pictures Courtesy : Bhojan
Indian Food in the U.S. Bhojan is a catering service run by two women extremely passionate about cooking. They offer their services in and around Stamford, CT.
Tell us a bit about how Bhojan came about? Sweta: I have always been a foodie. While I enjoyed cooking and eating, an idea to do something in food catering first struck me during a trip to London in 2003. As part of my sightseeing trip, I came across this amazing crepe food cart with incredibly long lines just opposite BigBen... that led me wondering about an Indian Dosa food cart! When I moved to a rather remote Whitefield office in Bangalore in 2004, and started having office catered food for lack of outside options (not that good tasting, extremely unhealthy and overpriced), my little idea in London turned into a bigger conviction. That idea was always sidelined, particularly with my IT career, marriage and our move to the U.S. Over 2009 and 2010, I started feeling extremely bored in IT and realized I was not enjoying it as much as I did when I joined the field eight years ago – and that is when I decided to pursue Bhojan! Taran was a close friend and she shared the same passion for cooking – I approached her with the idea in August 2010, she agreed and it took us around three weeks to do some basic market research, close on a name, identify our services, get our marketing material in place and start spreading the word!
of our food making process, right from preparation to selling! A little variation in ingredients produces such variety and of course, better taste! In a boring dish, slicing vegetables in a different style makes the dish more appealing! Providing a nice creative name to regular dishes makes it more attractive to buy! Some specific examples of creativity in our experience with Bhojan: a) We have come up with our own dish which has combined two varied styles of cooking. One of the most popular appetizers that we cater is 'Mini Masala Idli' which is our own creation! b) We have often come up with creative ideas to celebrate festive occasions! For Indian Independence day, we celebrated that by making tricoloured rice.
Yummy name indeed! Whose idea was it? Sweta: Both Taran and I were very insistent on using an Indian name and 'Bhojanam' was one of the names provided by my grandmother. Among quite a few names that we were reviewing, we liked this the most it was simple, to the point, had good recall value and stood for the home cooked food that we were going to serve! We took the name and shortened it to Bhojan! Taran : We really liked this name because it meant simple homemade food. What does creativity mean in the context of food? Which areas exactly do you put your creative instincts to work as far as cooking is concerned? Sweta: I think we apply creativity to all aspects
Swetha and Taran of Bhojan
Taran: Cooking is all about creativity, A little bit of this and a little bit of that "masala" makes all the difference. It is so amazing that how with one vegetable, there can be lot of alterations. Swetha and I belong to two different cultures and it amazes me as to how we can offer different tastes to the same veggie! It’s all about making variety.
What about presentation? How important do you think it is, in a food catering business? Sweta: Presentation is half the battle in selling food. Once people like what we present, it automatically creates a desire to eat! For example, we changed our lunch boxes to more compact ones we got great feedback and it actually increased our sales! A part of our lunch, we used to serve pickle in a foil. We brought in a cute ‘dabba’ within the lunch box to serve pickle which has made our lunch more presentable now! Presentation becomes extremely important when we are catering for parties as the food needs to blend well with the theme of the party! What do you guys do to differentiate yourself from other such similar services? Your USP? Sweta: Our USP is that we offer healthy food which is homemade, free of preservatives – we want to be a service that offers food you can eat everyday as if you were eating at home! We have our share of Friday indulgence through our funthemed meals! How do you guys work on the pricing? Is it quite a tough task? Sweta: We use two inputs for pricing: a) Cost of making something (including ingredients, gas, our effort etc) b) Market rate Using this, and taking into account our differentiators, we price our services. It is not all science and a good amount of gut feel goes into it too! As you said, it is a tough task and pricing is something that we are constantly learning and refining with our experience! Future plans? Sweta: A food cart is something that I have always wanted to open and maybe something on the horizon in the medium term! In the longer run, we would like this to be a store than just a home run establishment!
Bhojan on Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/Bhojan.Stamford
Pictures Clockwise from Left : Tricoloured Rice, Mini Masala Idli and Chilli Paneer
What readers have to say about Spark..
What our readers have to say about Spark
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Amrita Sarkar
I am an English literature graduate from Kolkata. I have also completed my Post graduation Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. As for my interests, my love for cartoons, drawing, painting and stories began from childhood and continues till date. When my imagination could not be held any longer within the scarce recesses, I decided to cast them in moving shapes. This led to me completing a graduate diploma in animation and film making. I live in Kolkata, India.
And this is what the Spark Editorial Team has to say about Amrita: Sketching and painting on canvas is hard enough. This lady does this on a computer! Another of our consistent contributors, Amrita has been providing Spark, interesting interpretations to our monthly topics. Thanks to Amrita for her painstaking work each month and her brilliant attention to detail in her art!
AMRITA'S NOTE ON HER ANNIVERSARY ISSUE CONTRIBUTION: This is the way I interpret the theme through my painting 足 a creation of anything can also mean an end to something. A new beginning can also mean some pages to the diary余 so every thing that gets created has a past to it. I call this 足 ' Back that old alley.'
NONFICTION by SUNDAR BALASUBRAMANIAN
The Nature and Nurture of
Creativity
L
Let us proceed by stating the obvious: they are all tremendously successful in their respective fields. Digging deeper, we find that they are extremely passionate about what they do. The deep affection they have towards their work is such that they cannot imagine doing anything else. They are also very hard working and made the most out of the opportunities that they got. They are all in their Element.
Lessons are learnt in life through experience and observation. Experience is certainly better than observation but can also be painful, if you’re one of those who despise making mistakes. Observing is easier; not as powerful as the former but effective nevertheless. In the lines of examination, I want to indulge you in a case What is the Element? In the study that involves Arvind Kejriwal, a social activist who Finding your Element words of Sir Ken Robinson, a world renowned creativity singlemindedly pursued the changes everything. expert: enacting of the most important “It is the point where natural and powerful law in a country talent meets personal of billion people The Right to passion. The Element has two Information; M.S. Subbulakshmi, a vocalist in the Carnatic mould whose magical voice main features and there are two conditions is beyond compare; Roger Federer, a tennis for being in it. The features are aptitude star who has won more Grand Slams than and passion. The conditions are attitude anyone else ever; A.R. Rahman, a highly and opportunity. The sequence goes talented musician who produces records something like this: I get it; I love it; I want it; where is it?” Finding your Element changes everything. If it has the potential to alter the course of one’s own life, how do we figure it out?
selling in millions; and Andrew Stanton, an animation movie director who has won the
The Element ∙ I get it. ∙ I love it. ∙ I want it. ∙ Where is it? highest accolade twice for his outstanding screenplay.
Picture by FlutterbyNessa
We are all born with natural talents. There’s no doubt about that. Children are the most creative people we can find on earth. Talents within a person are plural more often than not and there are creative ways in which these pluralistic talents can be synergized. Education should serve the purpose of nurturing these creative talents within each individual and letting them grow in their own unique ways. Sir Ken’s thesis, however, is that modern day education works towards the opposite by systematically killing creativity.
Such a strong statement strikes very closely to heart for most of us. Upon some introspection and reflection of my own past education, I have to say that I agree wholeheartedly with Sir Ken. In India, school education is predominantly focused on basic sciences, language and math. It is probably true everywhere in the world, but the focus is highly enforced in our country. Students excelling in these fields of study are awarded incentives and they follow lucrative career paths in engineering or medicine. In fact, the reality is that standardized tests in these subjects and the corresponding results can make or break a student’s career. The premium given to these utilitarian fields puts immense pressure on a student and if the person’s interests do not resonate with these areas, then he or she is, more often than not, deemed a failure. The overimportance placed on these subjects diminishes and sometimes completely eliminates the chances for exploring fields such as the arts, theatre, music and dance. These other fields get labeled as extracurricular activities. Natural ability and intelligence is much more diverse than common sense and the sad reality is that it is hardly acknowledged in the Indian education system. I am an engineer and I like what I do now for a living. Do I absolutely love it? Can I not imagine being anywhere else and doing something else? The answer is an overwhelming NO. Looking back, I feel that finding out what you love to do early on in your life is an excellent thing. Since there’s no fear about making mistakes and taking risks in the younger years of a person’s life, , one should be exposed to as many diverse fields of work as possible then. The goal should be to find the playing field that would be the most natural and one that invokes the highest level of interest.
In today’s world, we prepare our children for an uncertain future. A future where there are jobs that cannot even be imagined today. A future where the technological landscape would be far more advanced and global interaction would be tremendously strong. In such a scenario, what is the best we can do for them? We can strive to create an environment that would give them the best chance of finding their Element. It would help to recognize the characteristics of the Element in order to help children find their own. Element is a form of talent that the child is passionate about exploring and pursuing. Sir Ken points out three important characteristics of human talent. First, it is diverse. Our Element comes in myriad forms through the different senses we have. Academic ability is just one of them. Secondly, it is dynamic, in the sense that different human faculties interact to enable it. Thirdly, the Element is distinct by nature. Another important aspect to remember is that it takes time for children to discover what they really like and want to do. It is a process that needs to be encouraged and allowed to flourish. Some children may figure it out early and some may take their time. Parents should encourage their children to “have a go” at things they like to explore. The children are bound to make mistakes, but as Ken points out: if you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.
Sundar followed the linear path of high school in Madurai to a bachelors in engineering at a remote town called Pilani, followed by an MS at Cincinnati and settled down to work as a Design Engineer. Based on what he has learnt, he hopes to create that space for his children where they can explore and find their Element.
Swetha Ramachandran
I have always loved to transform my thoughts and emotions into words. My first tryst with writing began when I started writing poems at the age of ten. Other than writing, my interests include reading books, singing, junk arting, photography, playing the guitar, listening to music and watching movies. I am currently doing my bachelor’s degree in Animal Biotechnology in Chennai. My association with Spark has helped me grow as a writer and explore newer avenues in the field of writing.
And this is what the Spark Editorial Team has to say about Swetha: One of our youngest contributors, Swetha is the goto person for cozy pieces – her writing is like comfort food, having this warmth that makes you go ‘Yes, I’ve been there, done that.’ We love having Swetha on our team because it reminds us of things simple, and how we used to think years before working and age (!) polluted our thoughts!
SWETHA'S NOTE ON HER ANNIVERSARY ISSUE CONTRIBUTION: Writing for Spark has kindled the creativity and imagination within me, making me think of newer themes and ideas. This poem is one such piece.
P o e
My Window to the World by Swetha Ramachandran
t r y
Picture by Astro Twilight
My window to the world, rusted and old, bars of metal, on a rectangular mould. Scraps of paper, peanut shells, orange seeds and graffiti filled. Dust layered, thick and brown, with tiny specks, each having a memory of its own; Of old women and young girls, innocent children and expecting mothers. Aroused from sleep, by a gust of wind, the memories poke, like needles and pins. There’s one that speaks of love, one of death, some of hopes, of greed, hate and jealousy, the rest; Happy and sad, short and long, these memories are born, in rickety rides; hours long. Rusted and old, here’s my window to the world, that shows glimpses of life, and reveals emotions untold.
Cover Feature
Entertainment Enlightenment
VODO
Q
"Quite ironically, it’s these guys on stage, the theatre folks, who more often than not, remind us of our absurdities and foibles, making us laugh at our own gaps and sometimes tell us what we could have been."
All the world’s a stage, said Shakespeare. How true that is! It’s just that we are so caught up in our fastpaced lives, that we hardly realize the simple truth behind that profound line! Quite ironically, it’s these guys on stage, the theatre folks, who more often than not, remind us of our absurdities and foibles, making us laugh at our own gaps and sometimes tell us what we could have been. Entertainment, enlightenment and much more. They don masks alright, but somewhere in between, the demarcation between the audience and the performers blur and the masks quite magically seem to melt away or disappear into thin air and one may sooner or later, begin seeing one’s own self in the performers on stage. Such is the magic they cast on us. When Srikrishna Sridhar Murthy, who envisaged back in 2002 what is now ‘Version One Dot Oh’ (VODO, for short) shared on Google Chat that he has poured his heart out in this interview and that it was all spontaneous, I was delighted. I assured him I would take care of the editing. But as I sat down to do up my task, I felt I would just stop with proof reading and let Krishna do all the talking with his genuine, heartfelt replies.
Ideas started to flow from all directions. Some good and some very weird names were brought on the table. ‘Hickety Pickety’ was the funniest one on the cards, inspired by the children’s home where we rehearsed, but the women in the group didn’t think it was cool enough! Then, basically desperation and some of our software engineer minds came together and we agreed on the name “Version one dot oh!” and thus was born our group.
Introduction and Interview by Anupama Krishnakumar
So, here, ladies and gentlemen, is a funfilled interview with Srikrishna of VODO, a Bangalorebased theatre group with a funny name and a wonderful mission, which has achieved quite a big deal in the eight years of its existence, on the journey with VODO, creativity, team work, future plans and many more.
Pictures Courtesy : VODO
Srikrishna Sridhar Murthy
The first question would be about the behindthescenes story of VODO. How did VODO happen? I had been involved in theatre since my school days and especially during my time in BITS, Pilani. When I started my career in 2002, I got interested in the theatre scene in Bangalore and began watching plays here. One of the plays I went to watch was “Silence, the court is in session...” by Vijay Tendulkar at Alliance Francaise. As I watched the play, I was reminded of how we used to put up such good shows on campus with such limited resources (BITS is in a village!). I walked out of the auditorium that day thinking that I would start a group and continue to do theatre. I called some friends from BITS who had also done theatre on campus and they called some other friends and towards the end of 2002, we managed to put a very small show for only our friends and families. The group slowly expanded, and we started doing some play reading sessions in Cubbon Park, with the hope of putting up a public performance. One of the plays we read during these sessions was “Can’t pay! Won’t pay!” by Dario Fo and we were all in splits during the reading (I still believe that it is the most hilarious play we have read/performed). We decided to put this up as our first public performance and we planned for our first ‘auditions’. What followed were eventful months of rehearsals and more importantly having fun, which I strongly believe built the culture at VODO. We finally put in some money and decided to perform the play in an auditorium in December 2003. We wanted support in production, ticket sales, backstage etc. and we got many of our friends to join the group and be part of the crew. The entire cast and crew had people from technology, law, architecture, performing arts and other backgrounds. As we prepared for the show, we realized that we needed a name for the group, a ‘banner’ to perform under. Ideas started to flow from all directions. Some good and some very weird names were brought on the table. ‘Hickety Pickety’ was the funniest one on the cards, inspired by the children’s home where we rehearsed, but the women in the group didn’t think it was cool enough! Then, basically desperation and some of our software engineer minds came together and we agreed on the name “Version one dot oh!” and thus was born our group. The first few shows were memorable in more than one way, what with some brilliant performances to major goofups and rats attacking our props overnight! However, the feeling of an audience applauding the performance made all the effort completely worth it. The cast party that night went on for a long time and I saw how happy and kicked the team was. I decided that day that I would do a lot more of this! From the play 'Silence, the court is in session'
I guess everyone in VODO is balancing a fulltime job and a creative passion. Do you think you are able to do justice to what you have established and sustain it? How do you manage to give VODO the time it may need? Theatre is like any other passion or hobby that you might have and I think we all need to have time to follow a bit of our passions. Theatre helps all of us to relax and get away from regular work, spend more time exploring new characters, be creative and free and most importantly express ourselves. Once you get on stage you want to stay there! We have sustained this over a period of 78 years now and have performed over 80 shows of 1415 productions, across multiple cities. VODO has touched the lives of many cast and crew and also thousands of audiences. I definitely think we can sustain this and an interesting way of doing that is to continue to try new things. We have now started using live music in our plays and doing our own makeup in most of the cases. We next want to explore multiple genres that we have not tried and also try and learn the art of building sets of our own. We also want to write our own scripts soon. We are extremely open to bringing in new people into the group and this adds tremendous amount of fresh energy, ideas and creativity and ensures that we do not stagnate as a group. How does it feel to be able to create something on your own? What do you feel are some of the best points of being able to create your own play? What do you think are the challenges? It feels absolutely wonderful to create anything on your own, be it your first C program or a play! I think putting together a play can be intellectually very challenging and as a director or as an actor there’s a fantastic opportunity to express oneself. Theatre is also about adapting to an audience and different auditoriums, because each show is different and every audience reacts very differently to the same play. This again gives us a very good opportunity to evolve a play and once you get
comfortable you can try and improvise on it. As a director, I’ve really enjoyed bringing the script, music, lights, sets etc. together and narrating a story in a way that connects with the audience. There are many times when things don’t go as planned and all that too gives you a great reason to have a good laugh at the cast parties. Putting up a play can also be extremely challenging. Given that all of us work in different sectors, getting people to come together to rehearse is itself an interesting optimization problem! Bangalore, like most other cities, has very few rehearsal spaces which makes things more difficult. We also don’t do theatre for any commercial gain and hence we need to be careful of our budgets, optimize on resources and ensure we sell as many tickets as possible to cover costs. Since we thoroughly enjoy putting up plays, we would do anything for a few laughs and a bit of applause. What does it mean to work together as a team? Do each of you work on specific roles or do you sort of take turns in a cycle? How exactly do you coordinate ideas? Do you discuss and dispute often? One of the things that we are proud of at VODO is that we come together as a team in all productions and try to give our best in all ways. People take a lot of ownership in the tasks assigned to them and go the extramile to make things happen. We do try to be as organized as possible, but it is more important to have fun and enjoy what you are doing as that is the core of why we all do theatre. People play multiple roles depending on their interests and move from one department to the other, which also helps us all to be full of ideas and understand how the entire production works. There is a lot of debate in VODO about ideas and we almost always do a feedback session after every run through or a show, to see what went wrong and how we could improve for the next show. We also take the feedback from our audiences and critics very seriously and have always tried our best to act upon them.
How long does it usually take to work on a play from concept to scripting to production to staging? On an average, how many new plays do you guys do in a year? We still have not conceptualized or scripted our own plays yet. We definitely plan to do so in the near future. We usually pick plays of wellknown authors, both Indian and western, and try to produce them, sometimes adapting them in our own way as well. It usually takes about 23 months to put up a decently long play and we tend to produce at least 1 or 2 productions every year. We typically perform a play 68 times every season it is produced. What does creativity mean in the context of acting? Where do you think creativity comes into picture in enacting a role? Before I answer that, I want to clarify there is a lot more to theatre than just acting, including set design, music, lights etc. Yes, acting is the most important part of theatre. There are different schools of thought on how an actor should prepare and bring out the character, and different actors in our group prepare differently. As a director, I’d love to have the actor choose how he prepares for a role, though we do some common exercises. Creativity starts in your interpretation of the character and making up things about the character that are not explicitly brought out by the playwright. You then need to execute your thinking through a performance, which requires a lot of experimentation and practice. As an actor you usually know when your interpretation of a character is demonstrated through your performance, and you know when you have got it right. It is a great pleasure when the audience also knows it and acknowledges it! :) We also tend to adapt plays and improvise them beyond what the playwright intends us to do. This is a lot of fun and also demands a lot of creativity from the actor and the director.
From the play 'Six Degrees of Separation'
From the play 'The Cyclist'
Can you tell us about some of the most defining events in VODO's journey? VODO’s “Shadows in the dark” by Sriranga won the Best play during the Young Director’s Theatre Festival in Bangalore in 2005 and in the next year we were invited to perform the play in a festival that marked the 50th anniversary of Karnataka, with five other premium and old theatre groups of Banglaore. VODO’s performance was rated as the best in the festival by newspapers like The Hindu. One of the most heartening experiments at VODO was our trip to Dharwad where we went to perform two plays of Sriranga, one of the most brilliant playwrights in India. Dharwad was the hometown of Sriranga and the people there had seen his plays performed many times over the last few decades. We were performing his plays there for the first time in English and we had some of his oldest friends and associates in the audience. The reception and feedback we got from the audience for the two plays was extremely encouraging and was one of the most satisfying performances of VODO. VODO’s “Silence, the court is in session...” was invited to perform at the KalaGhoda festival in Mumbai and the audience was packed and the performance was highly appreciated. Finally, what does VODO aim to achieve in the years ahead? After all these years of experimenting, I think we should stick to our core and enjoy ourselves. We are an amateur theatre group of professionals from different walks of life coming together for the love of theatre and we should continue to stick to that. We will definitely experiment with newer techniques, newer genres, write our own scripts, include more people as part of the group, run theatre workshops and reading sessions and hopefully spread drama to as many people as we possibly can, while we continue to have lots of fun putting up plays and partying! VODO on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/VersionOneDotOh/152982564298