A lot of my upbringing was about denying or fretting or evading.

I always think first about the nature of the story. When I had the idea for 'The Namesake,' I felt that it had to be a novel - it couldn't work as a story.

I would not send a first story anywhere. I would give myself time to write a number of stories.

On the screen I saw tanks rolling through dusty streets, and fallen buildings, and forests of unfamiliar trees into which East Pakistani refugees had fled, seeking safety over the Indian border.

Pack a pillow and blanket and see as much of the world as you can.You will not regret it.

Pet names are a persistant remnant of childhood, a reminder that life is not always so serious, so formal, so complicated. They are a reminder, too, that one is not all things to all people.

A bicultural upbringing is a rich but imperfect thing