Adrija

“It was money from returning a pittance of land that was given to them like alms. Thanks, but no thanks. It was money from severing ancestral bonds.”
― Perumal Murugan, Fire Bird

“They burned everything. Everything I did. Everything I saw. All
gone.’
‘It takes more than photos to stop this train, putha. Leave your pity
party, brother. Think of why you were Down There. What was your
purpose? Was it just gambling and taking photos and squeezing cock?’
‘I was there to witness. That is all. All those sunrises and all those
massacres existed because I filmed them. Now, they are as dead as me.’
‘You can whine. Or you can work.”
― Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

“Who do you blame for this
mess? Was it the colonials who screwed us for centuries? Or the
superpowers that are screwing us now? Who screwed us?’
‘The Portuguese assumed the missionary position. The Dutch took us
from behind. By the time the Brits came along, we were already on our
knees, with our hands behind our backs and our mouths open.’
‘I’m glad we were colonised by the British,’ you say.
‘Better than being slaughtered by the French,’ says the Priest.
‘Or enslaved by the Belgians.’
‘Or gassed by the Germans.’
‘Or raped by Spaniards.’
‘Sometimes, when I think of the mess this country is in, I think it
might be better to let the Chinese or the Japanese buy us over, let the
Yanks and the Soviets own our thoughts or let the Indians take care of
our Tamil problem, like we let the Dutch take care of our Portuguese
problem.”
― Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

“But everyone knows no matter how good things are, it is not possible for families to live together forever.”
― Perumal Murugan, Fire Bird