Ashwin Sanghi Quotes

Our country has the oldest tradition of storytelling, and this was much before writing stories even became a norm.

Though it is very easy to do valuations, eyeballs and brand prominence surveys, you should never allow any of them to influence the balance sheet.

Character is what you are. Reputation is what people think you are.

We don't need to dumb down our stuff. And it's important to know how far we can push readers.

Worry is like a rocking chair; it keeps you in motion but gets you nowhere

If there is one city apart from Mumbai where I would love to settle down, it has to be Chennai.

I am a businessman at the end of the day. I have grown up with Excel sheets. I start out writing my novel with spreadsheets and the milestones in each chapter highlighted.

When working on a period, it is the finer details that evoke imagery that helps in cinematic adaptations.

In the Sanghi family, there is no one who has undertaken intellectual pursuits.

Admiration from my readers inspire me, and the only 'formula' I believe in towards making a good writer is: 'to thine own self be true!'

After writing each novel, I would spend days poring over suggestions from my editor.

A myth is a lie that conceals or reveals a truth. But if it reveals even a strand of history or truth, that's what gets my adrenaline going.

Writing was my route to creative expression, and I needed to write about the things that interested me.

I was a businessman for 16 years of my life, so when I started writing, I wanted to keep my literary identity separate.

While growing up, I always had to depend on foreign authors for page-turners. I think of myself as a commercial writer, and my job is simple to entertain you.

I want to make sure that my writing grips the reader from the word 'go.'

There has to be a protagonist who has to overcome challenges, and there will be a race to finish.

Writing helps me create a different world that I can escape to.

What is divine? It is simply that which man has not been able to understand. Once you do, it loses its divinity.

I believe that every writer evolves with every successive novel. I view myself as work-in-progress.

I don't care if my books don't sell abroad; we have a large enough market in our country. I write for Indian readers.

I was learning book-keeping at the age of 12, but it never stopped me from pursuing literature. Over the years, I grew to love the written word.

I was passionate about reading from an early age, and I would always be carrying a different book each week.

A book and a movie are different animals. You need a cinematic perspective to be involved in the motion pictures. And this is something I lack.

What I would not like is to be ignored. I write from the heart. I don't write for me. I write for my readers.

Oral storytelling goes back so long ago, and those stories that were told orally were always layered and changed with time.

My attention span is very limited, and I watch just one or two movies a year.

Mythology works... because Indians have been bred on myths.

In order to become the master, a ruler must profess to be a servant of the people.

To remain standing one often has to fall.

Battles are won and lost before they are fought.

Vish, the creator; and Shiv, the destroyer, are simply two faces of the very same coin.

O Rakshas, everything is always all right in the end. If it isn't all right, then it isn't the end

The reality of the writer's world is that you set yourself up for future disappointment with every success that you deliver because you end up raising your audience's expectations.

I want to be remembered as a storyteller more than someone who had something meaningful to say.

I want my writing to reach people. I don't write for a market. I write from my heart, something that appeals to me. The marketing, segmenting etc., can be done by your publisher, not you.

The Divine is simply that which science has not yet explained. In effect, God = Infinity - Human Knowledge.

Everything is going to be right at the end. If it's not right, then it is not the end.

My greatest qualification for writing fiction was my ability, as a child, to lie with a straight face.

Stop worrying whether the grass is greener on the other side. Find out how to own the other side.

My life is ruled by four W’s: my writing, my work, my wife, and my whisky. Not necessarily in that order.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step unless you missed it.

Combine two words, Myth and History. What do you get? Mystery.

Thrills are much more about anticipation than action. An unfired bullet is more dangerous than one that has already met its target.

In India we never distinguished between history and myth. Our Puranas as well as Itihasas contain fantastical tales. They are lies that convey deeper truths.

Mythology is a set of primitive lies that people rarely believe. This is rather different from history, which is a set of lies that people believe.

Would the fish have ever been caught if it had kept it’s mouth shut?

I was told that Ganesha sat between Lakshmi and Saraswati. My quest to attain the blessings of both goddesses explains my physique.

I don’t want to be remembered as a writer. I would rather be remembered as a storyteller.

Mythology is like a game of Chinese Whispers. What goes in at one end of the human circle is rarely what emerges at the other end.