Mansi Shah > Quotes

“The direction of the wind cannot be changed, but we can change the direction of our sails.”
― Mansi Shah, The Direction of the Wind

“Because in the end, it was their sacrifice that allowed me to have the life I had.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Countries are like people - you have to accept all sides of them.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“It’s an interesting feeling, you know. Joy. It’s completely surrendering yourself to a place from which you can only fall.”
― Mansi Shah, The Direction of the Wind

“dream without heart is nothing at all.”
― Mansi Shah, The Direction of the Wind

“Being adrift was the plight of any immigrant, and it was foolish to think that I could somehow circumvent that. But I now felt like I belonged in the only place that mattered. I inched closer and rested my head on my mother’s shoulder as the hichko swayed back and forth, the scent of jasmine all around us.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Only white people say they’re color blind like it’s a good thing. I’ve known what color I and everyone around me were since the day I moved to America. When you’re not at the top of a social hierarchy, you notice everything about the ones who are. So when a white person says they are color blind, it makes me feel like they are treating me as if I’m white rather than what I am. Like I’m not going to be demoted for being brown. It’s not the same as saying my brownness is equal to your whiteness.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Life hardly ever works out,” Cecile says, “but on those rare occasions when it does lead you to the right place, it is a thing of beauty.”
― Mansi Shah, The Direction of the Wind

“It’s an interesting feeling, you know. Joy. It’s completely surrendering yourself to a place from which you can only fall. There is no better place than joy, but it escapes us all at some point. And after joy comes pain. Toujours.”
― Mansi Shah, The Direction of the Wind

“Everyone wants it to be that simple. That immigrants have two homes and can seamlessly pass between them. I”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“He looked at me. “You wish your life to be different?” In a rare moment of truth, I nodded. “All the time. I wish I could just be happy with things as they are, but I always think about what didn’t go as planned, or how to change the future so it does go as planned.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Acceptance and belonging were moving targets.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“America didn’t allow immigrants who retained their home cultures to be accepted as American. The only way to be convincing in the workplace was to transition into American values and customs and hold them as your own.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Loss is a universal equalizer. The raw and personal nature of it resonates with everyone.”
― Mansi Shah, The Direction of the Wind

“I smiled at her. “I know. The greatest privilege of being born at the top is that you never have to think about how to get there.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Marriage isn’t meant to be perfect, like in the movies she saw as a child. It’s complicated and messy and often a gamble.”
― Mansi Shah, The Direction of the Wind

“Had I lost my culture? I felt like I was constantly reminded that I was Indian—at work, at a store, when talking to white friends—some part of me was always aware that I wasn’t like the other people around me. It crept into every facet of my life, whether it was someone mispronouncing my name and me grinning and acting like it didn’t bother me, or people assuming I knew every other person with the last name Desai and not understanding it was as common as Smith and in a country far more populated than America. It followed me as I moved about my day, mentally tallying whether I was positive or negative on the karma scale, because while I wasn’t sure what the afterlife entailed, in the event reincarnation was our fate, I wanted to make sure I was on the right end of it. I still understood our native language, wore the clothes when needed, and ate the food mostly without complaint. I certainly never felt like I had “lost” it, but I wondered what made my mother think I had.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Not surprisingly, an arranged marriage coupled with a culture that didn’t accept divorce did not result in many romantic gestures between my parents.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“out”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“that is a genuine pain. Realizing you are not enough for someone after you have revealed your true self to that person. Such a thing will haunt every fiber of your being for the rest of your life.”
― Mansi Shah, The Direction of the Wind

“She wanted to remain in those moments, where she felt both desired and safe. Everything about his movements felt like he was in control and wanted to give her whatever she needed.”
― Mansi Shah, The Direction of the Wind

“that is a genuine pain. Realizing you are not enough for someone after you have revealed your true self to that person.”
― Mansi Shah, The Direction of the Wind

“camera again, as if my failure was somehow its fault rather than my own. It wasn’t until Alex had encouraged me to start again a year ago that I had. I began slowly, bringing it out when traveling or at the occasional family event I was guilted into attending. Like Dipti’s baby shower. With the cold war between my mother and me in effect, I would never have come were it not for Neel. It was important to him, so no matter how uncomfortable it made me, I had to suck it up. Besides, even I knew not showing up would be crossing a line with my mother in a way that I couldn’t take back. My family was no different from every other Indian family we knew, and putting on the pretense of being a happy family was more important than actually being one. There would have been no greater insult than the shame of her having to explain to her friends why I wasn’t there.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Maybe the rest of us were so restless because we were searching for that feeling of belonging that Tushar already had.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“A sense of culture and family are important as well. Those things never go away, even if you try to ignore them. I realize they are a part of who I am, and even if my future partner doesn’t have the same background, he has to respect and appreciate mine just as I would his. You can’t trade in your culture for another. A leopard doesn’t change its spots,”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“With nothing planned, it meant that anything was possible.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Everything looks romantic in the moonlight, but the sun always rises the next day.”
― Mansi Shah, The Direction of the Wind

“my”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“My mother and I got along much better with thousands of miles separating us.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Her bonds with her new friends in Paris felt so much stronger than the ties she’d had to people she’d known for her entire life.”
― Mansi Shah, The Direction of the Wind