Vipra

“Ah, Gulistan Jadu, what can I say of her, friends. Ten times more beautiful than her aunt Bahar; she had learnt sorcery from Bahar who had laid down her life in the great fight against Afrasiyab. Gulistan Jadu has created an ever-blossoming garden with flowers from all over the universe -gul daudi, gul andaleeb, gul-e-rana, babuk, benafsha, gulab, gul-e-nargis, gul-e-niloufar, gul-e-sumbul; but this was no ordinary garden for the flowers had deadly powers to kill, maim, stun or hypnotise. Like her aunt Bahar, her sorcery lay in the blooming, innocent flowers.”
― Tarana Husain Khan, The Begum and the Dastan

“The powerful get more glory in this world and their misdeeds go unpunished. But I think they do get caught in the hereafter. I have lost a lot of weight and my body seems to accelerate towards old age. I rarely go to the zenana durbar. The glamour of the court life that I loved so much holds no delight for me.”
― Tarana Husain Khan, The Begum and the Dastan

“When my name was announced and I walked onstage, I could clearly see the outline of a gilded cage. I knew that once I stepped in, it would snap shut behind me.”
― Arundhati Roy, Mother Mary Comes to Me

“I found to my surprise that I enjoyed reading my book aloud to audiences. I particularly enjoyed doing book signings, where I could get a fleeting moment with individual readers. I was so curious about them -- people from countries and cultures I knew so little about, who had found something of themselves in the story of a family from a small village in Kerala. Just that brief meeting of eyes, the exchange of greetings, the myriad variations of 'Could you please sign this for my . . .' that revealed to me something to me about their lives, their loves, their friendships and relationships. It made me realize how literature can join humans in a bond of quiet intimacy the way almost nothing else can. 'Your book is about my childhood,' my Estonian translator said. 'We've all got aunts like Baby Kochamma,' a Jewish publisher in the United States drawled. 'I can actually smell your book,' a Portuguese man told me.”
― Arundhati Roy, Mother Mary Comes to Me