A special issue on The Spaces Between Words: The Unfestival (Season 3), an annual, one-of-its-kind writers’ retreat, curated by Sathya Saran, brought to you by The Punch Magazine, in association with the JSW Foundation. There are 14 pieces in the issue. Read them all here.
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Foreword by Sangita Jindal
Chairperson, JSW Foundation
Dear Reader,
I am happy to share a selection of creative writing that celebrates the beautiful coastal region of Maharashtra called Ratnagiri.
These are writings emerging from the third edition of The Spaces Between Words: The Unfestival, curated by Sathya Saran, as an effort to bring like-minded writers into a creative space. What makes it unique is the fact that all the pieces are by a group of writers from different writing disciplines, but linked by a common theme. The writing is completely inspired by their surroundings.
For the first time, we are collaborating with an e-magazine to take our writers’ work to a wider band of readers, and we hope the large number of readers across the world who enjoy The Punch Magazine, will enjoy this special and unique offering.
We, at JSW, have always regarded our townships as a retreat from the world of toil and enterprise. A place where the senses are soothed. We try to ensure that the entire layout is almost a part of the environment and an extension of Nature’s role as food for the mind and soul. I do believe that our foray into the writers’ workshop, titled The Spaces Between Words: The Unfestival, has brought this premise into a new point of realisation.
For ten days, nine writers and a musician spent time living in and exploring Jaigarh and Ratnagiri, visiting the beaches and temples and learning about the site’s wonderful historical past. Not surprisingly, the ambiance, and the proximity of the pristine sea with virgin beaches sent out signals that translated into poetry, stories, pictures and personal impressions. Some of which are gathered and presented here.
The authors wrote at their own pace, read out their work every evening, and shared stories and feedback. The amazing result of this exercise, according to them, was a cross-pollination of ideas and subtle influences, and a spurt in creative output.
It’s a slim but rich magazine that need not be read in a hurry. But save it on your desktop or phone, take it along with you, to dip into when the mind wishes to wander in new spaces that have none of the hustle and bustle of daily life.
At JSW, we believe that there is a world of work, but also a world where life needs to be lived in full, and that both worlds should exist together for each individual.
This e-magazine is a symbol of that belief.
I am sure you will enjoy the contents. Do share feedback with The Punch Magazine. And share the details with your friends too on social media.
It’s a new way to discover a space…with a variety of words.
About Sangita Jindal: As Chairperson of the JSW Foundation, Mrs Sangita Jindal strategizes and oversees social development projects within the JSW Group. A philanthropist who believes in the transformative powers of art, Sangita set up Jindal Arts Creative Interaction Centre (JACIC) at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in April 1994.
She also publishes Art India Magazine which has been a chronicler of record of the Indian Art scene since 1996. Sangita is an Eisenhower Fellow and is on the Board of Trustees of the World Monuments Fund — India Chapter & an Advisor on the Khoj Board. She has been inducted as a key member of Tate International Council as well as UN Women Business Sector Advisory Council (BSAC).
She received the Golden Peacock Award for Social and Cultural Leadership 2019. Today, the work that Sangita oversees at the JSW Foundation runs across 22 locations in 11 Indian states, and has touched over a million lives.
Participants during the third edition of The Spaces Between Words:The Unfestival, held in Ratnagiri (Maharashtra), with curator Sathya Saran
Editor’s Note
By Sathya Saran
There was much jubilation when the third edition of The Spaces Between Words: The Unfestival was finally announced. The writers, as mixed a group as was possible, had waited almost two years to meet one another and find new words in a new space.
And new space it was, in the secluded JSW guesthouse set amidst flowering trees and pretty bungalows, that we found ourselves in, about 50 kilometres from the coastal town of Ratnagiri.
It takes a common passion to knit disparate minds into a cohesive whole, and it was our love of words, of expression, that made us work together, and become friends.
All mornings were spent in thinking, exploring, writing. On evenings, as the lights came on while the sun dipped into the sea, we would draw up our chairs and read from our day’s explorations in the realms of imagination and fact. Poems, essays and stories would unravel with almost magical ease.
Once the words were set aside, the music would take over. Having a musician in our midst had seemed a risky idea, but it proved to be the biggest factor in knitting the group together. As important as the fact that we could listen to a trained master of classical music singing to us, was the fact that the group felt no hesitation in letting their voices also rise in song. We sang then, with no inhibitions.
The sea, the fresh air and the excellent hospitality did the rest. Relaxed, unfettered by deadlines, the writers found new ways of expression, taking inspiration from one another.
And before we knew it, the week had flown past. But it left its mark. And the writings inspired by the sojourn in faraway Ratnagiri will speak for themselves, as you scroll through this special issue of The Punch Magazine.
Happy reading, friends and fellow lovers of the word!
About Sathya Saran: Sathya Saran is best known for her long association with Femina, which she edited for 12 years. Sathya Saran is also the author of a diverse variety of books that range from fiction to biographies and beyond. Sathya’s latest books include a biography of Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia and Ritu Nanda. An avid trekker, she has also been a stage actor in two of Veenapani Chawla’s acclaimed plays. She conceptualised and organised the first-of-its-kind Writers Conclave, ‘The Spaces Between Words: The Unfestival’, sponsored by JSW, at Kaladham near Hampi. Currently Consulting Editor with Penguin Random House, Sathya also teaches fashion journalism at NIFT.
Note from the publisher
By Shireen Quadri, founder/publisher, The Punch Magazine
All stories have spaces coded into them. We, at The Punch Magazine, have been deeply vested in shared spaces and mutual interests. We seek out new spaces to inhabit and untraversed territories to tread on, with people who are simpatico in several respects. For the last six years, the magazine has been an estuary that has allowed several currents of creativity to flow in, swirl and soar.
The Spaces Between Words: The Unfestival is an annual intimate and informal conclave of the artistically inclined, conceived and curated by Sathya Saran, and nurtured by the Chairperson of JSW Foundation, Sangita Jindal. The Punch Magazine, drawn to the idea of confluence of minds, has had an association with the ingeniously named conference of aesthetes since its very first edition.
We published a selection of pieces from Season 1, which was held in Vijayanagar Township. Ram Ganesh Kamatham and Lalita Iyer wrote about their experiences of spending 10 days at Kaladham, a ten-acre symphony in granite, which boasts of an arts village and a museum dedicated to the UNESCO heritage site of nearby Hampi.
Writers and poets create symphonies out of life and language. At The Unfestival, a one-of-its-kind writing retreat, this symphony takes various forms. I had the privilege to witness it all during Season 2 at Kaladham. We stayed at the JSW guest house and had our reading and writing sessions at the stunningly beautiful museum, which has been developed under the discerning direction and guidance of Sangita Jindal. The group comprised ten prolific writers and our day trip to Hampi was both enlightening and adventurous.
This year, Season 3 of The Unfestival was held in Ratnagiri for the first time after a two-year pandemic-induced hiatus. Some wonderful writers were a part of it and this edition of The Punch Magazine features their creative outpourings — stories, essays and poems — inspired by their stay at the residency.
We, at The Punch Magazine, are delighted and humbled to collaborate with The Spaces Between Words: The Unfestival. I express my gratitude to Sangita Jindal and Sathya Saran for making us a part of The Unfestival’s journey. The experience has been immensely rewarding.
We sincerely hope our readers and contributors around the globe would enjoy reading and scrolling through this issue dedicated to the retreat’s Season 3 as much as we enjoyed putting this together.
About The Punch Magazine: The Punch Magazine is an independent digital magazine of arts, literature and culture founded by Shireen Quadri in 2016. It’s an initiative under Punch Art & Culture Foundation, a registered non-profit organisation, which was set up to promote the best of literary, artistic and cultural traditions around the world. Since its inception, the magazine has emerged as a vibrant space for diverse forms of expression.
Conceived as a literary and arts collective with a focus to promote intellectual engagement and inquiry, the magazine explores the points of convergence between the best of artistic, entrepreneurial and creative efforts. The magazine features well-researched pieces on arts, literature, entertainment, fashion, lifestyle, hospitality, travel and tourism and businesses and start-ups. In-depth and insightful essays, interviews, reportage, narrative nonfiction, photo essays, poetry and fiction appear regularly in the magazine.
The Punch Magazine also brings out thematic issues every now and then in order to delve deep into a particular arena of arts and literature. Alongside original long-form and quick-read content, it publishes the best writings and voices — emerging, established and experimental — from across the globe through a wide network of literary and cultural partners, both individuals and institutions.
In 2021, the magazine brought out a special poetry issue, featuring poems and essays on their poetics by 32 Indian poets, including Adil Jussawalla, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Gieve Patel, Jayanta Mahapatra and Keki N. Daruwalla. The year also saw the magazine publish its debut anthology of short stories by women, edited by Shireen Quadri, and published by Niyogi Books.
Comments
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It appears as an excellent magazine to read. i have read the editor's note and other writings here which introduced me with the wonderful intent and offers insightful ideas through a novel style of writing in a unique way. Thanks for allowing me to dig into the stories, essays and poetry.
Zahir anwar
Jan 16, 2023 at 16:15