Nothing comes from nothing, Thieflet; no story comes from nowhere; new stories are born from old--it is the new combinations that make them new.

I always thought storytelling was like juggling [...] You keep a lot of different tales in the air, and juggle them up and down, and if you're good you don't drop any.

I don't like books that play to the gallery, but I've become more concerned with telling a story as clearly and engagingly as I can.

It's always been colossally important to me that my books should be well received in India. It's where I come from.

Go for broke. Always try and do too much. Dispense with safety nets. Take a deep breath before you begin talking. Aim for the stars. Keep grinning. Be bloody-minded. Argue with the world. And never forget that writing is as close as we get to keeping a hold on the thousand and one things--childhood, certainties, cities, doubts, dreams, instants, phrases, parents, loves--that go on slipping , like sand, through our fingers.

When you are making an independent film, money is never an issue.

The lessons one learns at school are not always the ones the school thinks it's teaching.