Aravind NG

“Writers imagine that they cull stories from the world. I'm beginning to believe that vanity makes them think so. That it's actually the other way around. Stories cull writers from the world. Stories reveal themselves to us. The public narrative, the private narrative - they colonize us. They commission us. They insist on being told. Fiction and nonfiction are only different techniques of story telling. For reasons that I don't fully understand, fiction dances out of me, and nonfiction is wrenched out by the aching, broken world I wake up to every morning.”
― Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things

“ഒരു നല്ല മുസ്ലീമും ഒരു നല്ല കമ്യൂണിസ്റ്റുകാരനും നല്ല ഹിന്ദുവുമൊക്കെയാകുന്നതില്‍ ഒരു തിന്മയുണ്ട് കാലത്തിനോടെന്ന പോലെ സ്വന്തത്തോടും അയാള്‍ നീതി ചെയ്യുന്നില്ല എന്നതാണത്. താന്‍ ജീവിക്കുന്ന കാലത്തിനോടാണ് ഒരുവന്‍റെ ആദ്യത്തെ പ്രതിബദ്ധത. എല്ലാ മതത്തിലേയും മൌലികവാദികള്‍ക്ക് പ്രതിബദ്ധത വേറൊരു കാലത്തിനോടാണ്. വേറൊരു കാലത്തുണ്ടായിട്ടുള്ള തത്വശാസ്ത്രത്തിനോടോ ഗ്രന്ഥങ്ങളോടോ ആണ്.”
― Anand

“In my next life I want to live my life backwards. You start out dead and get that out of the way. Then you wake up in an old people's home feeling better every day. You get kicked out for being too healthy, go collect your pension, and then when you start work, you get a gold watch and a party on your first day. You work for 40 years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You party, drink alcohol, and are generally promiscuous, then you are ready for high school. You then go to primary school, you become a kid, you play. You have no responsibilities, you become a baby until you are born. And then you spend your last 9 months floating in luxurious spa-like conditions with central heating and room service on tap, larger quarters every day and then Voila! You finish off as an orgasm!”
― Woody Allen

“A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world.”
― John le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy