Adrija

“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

“History
is people with ships and weapons wiping out those who forgot to invent
them. Every civilisation begins with a genocide. It is the rule of the
universe. The immutable law of the jungle, even this one made of
concrete. You can see it in the movement of the stars, and in the dance of
every atom. The rich will enslave the penniless. The strong will crush the
weak.”
― Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

“A new place. New people. Everything feels new. All the experiences will be new. As long as the curiosity to explore remains, anything will be interesting. You will be the first man to get out of that place which has been paralyzing people for several generations.”
― Perumal Murugan, Fire Bird

“A faraway place with no relatives close by will do just fine.”
― Perumal Murugan, Fire Bird