I am certainly not allergic to causes - particularly on subjects such as religious intolerance.

God save us from people who mean well.

Why do writers, say, give up a job in economics and decide to write poetry? Or, why do they give up a job in a bank and decide to paint, like Krishan Khanna? They want to convey something.

I want my books to sell, to be read. I'm not interested in being obscure.

Music, such music, is a sufficient gift. Why ask for happiness; why hope not to grieve? It is enough, it is to be blessed enough, to live from day to day and to hear such music-not too much, or the soul could not sustain it-from time to time.

I simply seem to drift. But I sort of allow the drift, because it has a kind of check - it forces me to work harder at what I'm interested in.

There are plenty of good Indian writers in English, and none of us feel we are carrying the burden of being a poster boy.