Madame Bovary and a flying carpet, they are both untrue in the same way. Somebody made them up.

When I'm writing a book, sentence by sentence, I'm not thinking theoretically. I'm just trying to work out the story from inside the characters I've got.

What kind of Christmas present would Jesus ask Santa for?

Free speech is life itself.

This is going to make me sound ancient, but I remember Juhu Beach when there weren't any buildings on it. You'd go through countryside and arrive at this amazing beach. I remember driving from Delhi to the Qutab Minar through countryside. Mehrauli was a little village - that's all gone.

I beat my sons in real-life table tennis, but virtually, I get murdered. I download games on the iPhone that I'm addicted to - I'm a master at "Angry Birds."

If by some bizarre chance there turns out to be a god [...], I'm willing to bet he's an atheist too.