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.

I guess a witness is all I am. I think as a writer, you're pretty removed. Writing is a very selfish, individualistic pursuit. So in that sense I'm a witness because I'm not participating.

I think a lot of Indians want Indian artists to be cultural cheerleaders rather than cultural investigators.

The ordinary can be like medicine.

Nostalgia is always doomed and dooming.

Writing is a lonely business.

In a real-world way, my gifts are very limited in terms of what I can do.