People think that because I write about India I must be trying to portray India in a way.

The book begins and ends with the visits to give the impression of a tunnel into their ancestors and family history. I believe in going backwards into the past - I felt I was digging a tunnel back to the past.

The wheel turns and turns and turns: it never stops and stands still.

Isn't it strange how life won't flow, like a river, but moves in jumps, as if it were held back by locks that are opened now and then to let it jump forwards in a kind of flood?

My style of writing is to allow the story to unfold on its own. I try not to structure my work too rigidly.

Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.

When I was very young, I used to share much of what I wrote with my family, but as I got older and more self-conscious, it became a much more private process.