Vipra

“Jadu, tilism surrounds us and we are blind, or choose to close our eyes to its imminent destruction - this illusion, we live in, will one day turn to ashes. We shall return to dust.”
― Tarana Husain Khan, The Begum and the Dastan

“I tried not to judge them … and I failed.”
― Arundhati Roy, Mother Mary Comes to Me

“When my name was announced and I walked onstage, I could clearly see the outline of a gilded cage. I knew that once I stepped in, it would snap shut behind me.”
― Arundhati Roy, Mother Mary Comes to Me

“I found to my surprise that I enjoyed reading my book aloud to audiences. I particularly enjoyed doing book signings, where I could get a fleeting moment with individual readers. I was so curious about them -- people from countries and cultures I knew so little about, who had found something of themselves in the story of a family from a small village in Kerala. Just that brief meeting of eyes, the exchange of greetings, the myriad variations of 'Could you please sign this for my . . .' that revealed to me something to me about their lives, their loves, their friendships and relationships. It made me realize how literature can join humans in a bond of quiet intimacy the way almost nothing else can. 'Your book is about my childhood,' my Estonian translator said. 'We've all got aunts like Baby Kochamma,' a Jewish publisher in the United States drawled. 'I can actually smell your book,' a Portuguese man told me.”
― Arundhati Roy, Mother Mary Comes to Me