Settling into a new country is like getting used to a new pair of shoes. At first they pinch a little, but you like the way they look, so you carry on. The longer you have them, the more comfortable they become. Until one day without realizing it you reach a glorious plateau. Wearing those shoes is like wearing no shoes at all. The more scuffed they get, the more you love them and the more you can't imagine life without them.

One senses that, in these conditions, no amount of wet-wiping could bring true hygiene.

My father used to say that stories are part of the most precious heritage of mankind.

I was becoming addicted to Bombay. There was squalor and poverty, but I had begun to realise my good fortune and would never again forget it.

Contemplation is a luxury, requiring time and alternatives.

A journey, I reflected, is of no merit unless it has tested you.

Once in a very long time you come across a book that is far, far more than the ink, the glue and the paper, a book that seeps into your blood.