The mountain trembled like an earthquake. Dust flew into the sky. And the rock turned dark red, like the color of blood'. 'How would you know?' Asks Sindhi cap. 'You only have a black and white television'. 'But it's a very good one. You can almost see colours.

Readers don't work for writers. They work for themselves.

When I travel, I feel more like a nomad than a tourist.

I am a strong believer in the intertwined nature of the personal and the political; I think they move together.

You can live in the same city your entire life and still be completely a foreigner when you step out, in your old age, onto the street.

It's important to have a non-nostalgic view and say, let's look forward, because if we don't, all we'll hear are voices telling us to go back.

My mother has been to Mecca to perform her hajj; my dad hasn't. I come from a very liberal family, so even the people who are outwardly religious tend to subscribe to gender equality, the importance of open-mindedness, all that stuff. My family is generally nonprescriptive.