Somehow, bad news, however ridden with static, however filled with echoes, always manages to be conveyed.

When I sit down to write, I don't think about writing about an idea or a given message. I just try to write a story which is hard enough.

I've seen novels that have grown out of one story in a collection. But it hasn't occurred to me to take any of those stories and build on them. They seem very finished for me, so I don't feel like going back and dredging them up.

Being a writer means taking the leap from listening to saying 'Listen to me'.

For that story, I took as my subject a young woman whom I got to know over the course of a couple of visits. I never saw her having any health problems - but I knew she wanted to be married.

My grandfather says that's what books are for," Ashoke said, using the opportunity to open the volume in his hands. "To travel without moving an inch.

Do what I will never do.