Every family has secrets, Reena, and they’re there for a reason.

Where are the coconut trees bowing allegiance to the wind, the wide open spaces, the verdant green fields?

But he’s an untouchable, Shirin.’ ‘He’s my Untouchable Prince Charming, then. Only I am allowed to touch him.

There’s a great drought in my village. People are dying. The price of rice and pulses has rocketed. There is no water anywhere. And here, people are complaining about the rain...

What am I doing here, Reena? Why am I dancing to the tunes of that old hag?’‘You are saving your family.

Sometimes, it is easier to leave things as they are, rather than to fight, go against the flow.

What wouldn’t my people give for a few bites of the biryani she ordered me to throw away yesterday because she said it smelt?

I wash the clothes, rinse them and then scrub them again. Will that square little box do that? I am not using any fancy machines when my hands will do.

You put cow dung on my face?’ ‘Every day religiously until you were three. Why else do you think your skin is so clear?

What better hiding place than an old, woodlice-ridden album of photographs!

Society can only hurt if you care for its opinion

Most of the bad guys in the real world don't know that they are bad guys. You don't get a flashing warning sign that you're about to damn yourself. It sneaks up on you when you aren't looking.

I accept the fact that there is always a way out in every situation we find ourselves but, until we begin to ponder, panacea will be very scarce

Self-esteem is reliance on one's power to think... The man of authentic self-confidence is the man who relies on the judgment of his own mind.

Be not astonished at new ideas; for it is well known to you that a thing does not therefore cease to be true because it is not accepted by many.

No one is born without vices, and he is the best man who is encumbered with the least.

The first goal of the technostructure is its own security.

I met Cynthia when I was 12, proposed at 16, became engaged at 17, married her at 19 and we had a baby when I was 20. If extra work could pay for a lot of diapers, that was for me.

Donald Trump's always going to tell the American people where he stands. And, make no mistake about it. There's... there's been no change in the policy about ending illegal immigration in America.

... nothing lasts long. We all come to life and gather allies and build empires and die, all in a single moment - maybe a single pulse of some giant processor somewhere.