I haven't any close friends. Friendship needs time to interact, sit down, gossip. I don't have that time.

I have never lost my temper. I let out my venom in my writing if I have to, but person-to-person, I have never lost my temper, never used abusive language.

I don't want to be cremated, I want to be buried. I don't believe in wasting wood and I feel that one should give back to the earth.

I turned to the Partition experiences, which were churning in my mind. Then came my first novel Train to Pakistan.

I acquired long-lived parents. My mother died at 94. Father died at 90, holding a glass of whisky. I think that's the secret of longevity - to have long-lived parents. The rest is discipline.

I have never, in 50 years, ever missed a deadline [as a journalist].

I did subscribe to the freedom movement and I was much closer to the Congress than to the Akali party. It is a communal party.