Original thought, original artistic expression is by its very nature questioning, irreverent, iconoclastic.

The only way of living in a free society is to feel that you have the right to say and do stuff.

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

There are two things in Indian history - one is the incredible optimism and potential of the place, and the other is the betrayal of that potential - for example, corruption. Those two strands intertwine through the whole of Indian history, and maybe not just Indian history.

Something was badly amiss with the spiritual life of the planet...Too many demons inside people claiming to believe in God.

I think anyone who knows me at all knows that I have been a movie addict all my life. I grew up in a city obsessed by cinema and where there are cinemas on every street corner.

The only position when violence is threatened in response to a novel or a cartoon or a crappy YouTube video is a no-surrender position. This is how we live. We live in a country in which we have these rights, and we're not going to give them up. Full stop. The end.