“My words are like a ship, and the sea is their meaning. Come to me and I will take you to the depths of spirit. I will meet you there.”
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī

Dear Readers,

Time’s a tired voyager; moments a many like spry fish swimming through a silken sea. Our souls, wide – eyed wanderers, explorers, strugglers, naïve indulgers, tackling the tantalising tide that gives as it moves out, trying to drink every drying drop. Then we set to sail our words, sound ships bearing hope, cosily bobbing up and down on the waves of elevated emotion. Beyond the blustering winds, swooping sails, and effortful engines, lies a silent sea of meaning, our effervescent spirits bubbling from the water. Rumi could not have better stated the abstract feeling of writing that makes bare one’s heart and soul.

It is such writing that this edition of Sparsh hopes to set up a stage for and shine a light on. For it is this kind of writing that brings our small but ever- evolving Manthan community together. It is this writing that encapsulates, arranges, and contemplates upon the whirlwind of new experiences this academic year has brought so far. This year’s happenings, from Manthan’s astoundingly successful Cambridge Community Literary Fest to the rapidly approaching Rangmanthan, have provided fresh fodder foaming with potential, which our writers readily feasted upon. This time, our writers have elucidated their experiences, emotions, and ideas with an extra drop of dedication, another pinch of patience, and one more bountiful serving of character and charisma. This little bit extra of everything has made all the difference. It’s made our stories a little more dramatic and engaging, our essays just a smidge more earnest and thought – provoking, our poems unfathomably intense and inspiring, and our jokes more bijou and chucklesome. Our entertainment has become more wholesome and heartfelt, making the enjoyment even more exquisite.
With each edition, our writers evolve into more mature, sensitive, and aware individuals. This journey of growth, from which soulful writing is crafted from, is what makes our pieces memorable and everlasting.

Writing and reading is a constant, never – ending, ever – surprising journey of learning, growth, and inspiration. It’s a form of living that never ceases to question, confound, and captivate. The skill of writing with heart and sincerity is something that we hope to always inspire and cherish here at Manthan. For it is such skill that shapes virtuous human beings, navigators of the labyrinth that is our world.

Rumi had rightly said that such writing is where two minds meet and two spirits brush against each other – one the writer, and another the reader – and where they are synthesized to live an experience, emotion, and idea once again. Let this edition embroil you in fantasy, ensconce you in mystery, and intrigue you with stirring passion. For this time, Sparsh will not only touch you mind and senses, but will tenderly touch your soul too, true to its name.

Happy Reading!
Chief Editors
Purvi, Shreya, Marcus, & Valli