Q&a Vikas Swarup Quotes & Sayings

There are those who will say that I brought this upon myself. By dabbling in that quiz show. They will wag a finger at me and remind me of what the elders in Dharavi say about never crossing the dividing line that separates the rich from the poor. After all, what business did a penniless waiter have to be participating in a brain quiz? The brain is not an organ we are authorized to use. We are supposed to use only our hands and legs. — Vikas Swarup

We can't deny that films have a bigger reach. After the popularity of the 'Slumdog Millionaire,' a lot of people started reading Vikas Swarup's 'Q & A'. From a business sense, films are a good tool to increase the number of readers. — Ashwin Sanghi

Twenty20 is cricket on speed. In an era of hectic lifestyles and falling attention spans, it gives spectators more drama and intensity in three hours that they would get from a whole-day match. And even though it is a heady cocktail of money, entertainment and media, at its core it is cricket. — Vikas Swarup

The burning ambition of my life was to marry her one day. The consuming worry of my life was to whether she would agree. — Vikas Swarup

God made the human body like a machine with built-in obsolescence. — Vikas Swarup

I want to show that the underdog can win. I believe we're all the same: you, a slum girl, my mother. — Vikas Swarup

My books may highlight corruption, brutality and venality, but they also show that if these things come to light, there is rectification. The voiceless do have a voice; democratic mechanisms and accountability do exist. — Vikas Swarup

You have been counting rosary beads for an era
But the wandering of your mind does not halt
Forsake the beads in your hand
And start moving the beads of your heart. — Vikas Swarup

Unheralded we came into this world. Unheralded we will go out. But while we are in this world, we do such deeds that even if this generation does not remember, the next generation cannot forget. — Vikas Swarup

It is in the genes of cities to bounce back from disasters - whether natural or man made. The denizens of suburbia have no choice but to survive and move on. But it is the manner in which different cities respond to emergencies that sets them apart. — Vikas Swarup

I am very interested in human-interest stories emerging from modern India. I get my inspiration and daily dose by reading the 'Hindustan Times.' — Vikas Swarup

And for the first time in my life, I saw something new reflected in the eyes that saw me. Respect. It taught me a very valuable lesson. That dreams have power only over your own mind. But with money you can have power over the minds of others — Vikas Swarup

The city may have chosen to ignore the ugly growth of Dharavi, but a cancer cannot be stopped simply by being declared illegal. It still kills with its slow poison. — Vikas Swarup

I get invited to many more literary festivals than I used to because I'm associated with 'Slumdog Millionaire,' the brand. Many more doors have opened up for me as a result of the global success of the film, although I believe that I'm the same person that existed before it. — Vikas Swarup

And I realized again that real life is different from reel life. — Vikas Swarup

I write fast. But it takes me a while to get going. It's very important for me to see my whole plot. I have to see the end first because I like a surprise in the end. Which is why I let characters and plot gestate in my mind. — Vikas Swarup

My books are about ordinary people placed in extraordinary situations who are able to draw upon their inner reserves to challenge the status-quo in life and navigate compelling human relationships. — Vikas Swarup

The first thing you have to understand is that I was not desperate to be a writer. I was never a closet writer filing away notes in a cupboard. — Vikas Swarup

Because luck comes from within — Vikas Swarup

Till now, my conception of love has been based entirely on what I have seen in Hindi films, where the hero and the heroine make eye contact, and whoosh, some strange chemistry sets their hearts beating and their vocal chords tingling, and the next you see of them they are off singing songs in Swiss Villages and American shopping malls. — Vikas Swarup

Never judge a man's actions until you know his motives — Vikas Swarup

I became completely addicted to 'Angry Birds' for a while. — Vikas Swarup

For me, the day job comes first. That's why I call myself a diplomat who writes, not a writer who masquerades as a diplomat. If the day job demands it, I won't write at all. I write in what I call 'the crevices of my day job', and that comes only on weekends. — Vikas Swarup

Mumbai may not be my city. But it is my kind of city. — Vikas Swarup

You must never take a direct route to your destination. — Vikas Swarup

I may have entered her body, but now I want to enter her mind. — Vikas Swarup

Tokyo may have more money and Kyoto more culture; Nara may have more history and Kobe more style. But Osaka has the biggest heart. — Vikas Swarup

It is a destiny of a woman to suffer in silence. — Vikas Swarup

Love doesn't happen in an instant. It creeps up on you and then it turns your life upside down. It colors your waking moments, and fills your dreams. You begin to walk on air and see life in brilliant new shades. But it also brings with it a sweet agony, a delicious torture. — Vikas Swarup

Knowledge is not just the preserve of the educated elite. Just because someone has not had a formal education, that does not mean he does not have wisdom and common sense. — Vikas Swarup

Train journeys are about possibilities. They denote a change in state. When you arrive, you are no longer the same person who departed. — Vikas Swarup

Confuse your trail, lose your trail. — Vikas Swarup