It's not oil that runs the world, it's shame.

Because I'm an American, I know there's all sorts of international folks who would gladly kidnap and behead me.

I thought I’d been condescended to as an Indian - that was nothing compared to the condescension for writing Y.A.

I think all of us are always five years old in the presence and absence of our parents.

We Indians really should be better liars, considering how often we've been lied to.

These are things you should learn. Your past is a skeleton walking one step behind you; your future is a skeleton walking one step in front of you. Maybe you don’t wear a watch, but your skeletons do, and they always know what time it is. Now, these skeletons are made of memories, dreams, and voices. And they can trap you in the in-between, between touching and becoming. But they’re not necessarily evil, unless you let them be.

When it comes to death, we know that laughter and tears are pretty much the same thing. And so, laughing and crying, we said good-bye to my grandmother. And when we said goodbye to one grandmother, we said good-bye to all of them. Each funeral was a funeral for all of us. We lived and died together. All of us laughed when they lowered my grandmother into the ground. And all of us laughed when they covered her with dirt. And all of us laughed as we walked and drove and rode our way back to our lonely, lonely houses.