In India, there are real consequences to inattention; drivers who jeopardize pedestrians can be lynched on the spot.

The traveler feels at home everywhere, because she is never at home anywhere.

A farmer is dependent on too many things outside his control; it makes for modesty.

I am a naturalized U.S. citizen, which means that, unlike native-born citizens, I had to prove to the U.S. government that I merited citizenship.

What was the duty of the teacher if not to inspire?

There was no audience for my books. The Indians didn't regard me as an Indian and North Americans couldn't conceive of me of a North American writer, not being white and brought up on wheat germ. My fiction got lost.

I am an American, not an Asian-American. My rejection of hyphenation has been called race treachery, but it is really a demand that America deliver the promises of its dream to all its citizens equally.