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Too much of Indian writing in English, it seemed to me, consisted of middle-class people writing about other middle-class people - and a small slice of life being passed off as an authentic portrait of the country.

Aravind Adiga

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Aravind Adiga
Age: 50
Born: 1974
Born: October 23
Film Director
Journalist
Novelist
Writer
Madras
Middle
Slice
Small
Portrait
Class
Portraits
Country
Authentic
Writing
Passed
Much
Indian
Life
Seemed
People
English
Consisted

More quotes by Aravind Adiga

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At a time when India is going through great changes and, with China, is likely to inherit the world from the west, it is important that writers like me try to highlight the brutal injustices of society.
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Neither you nor I speak English, but there are some things that can be said only in English.
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Let animals live like animals let humans live like humans. That's my whole philosophy in a sentence.
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The moment you recognize what is beautiful in this world, you stop being a slave
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With their tinted windows up, the cars of the rich go like dark eggs down the roads of Delhi. Every now and then an egg will crack open a woman's hand, dazzling with gold bangles, stretches out an open window, flings an empty mineral water bottle onto the road and then the window goes up, and the egg is resealed.
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Any good society survives on a circulation of favours.
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Nothing can stop a living thing that wants to be free
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I grew up, as many Indians do, in an archipelago of tongues. My maternal grandfather, who was a surgeon in the city of Madras, was fluent in at least four languages and used each of them daily.
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Do we loathe our masters behind a facade of love - or do we love them behind a facade of loathing?
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In terms of formal education, I may somewhat lacking. I never finished school. I am a self-taught entrepreneur, that's the best kind there is, trust me
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What keeps India safe really is the heroism of millions of poor Indians who every day reject the allure of terrorism. What keeps India safe is just the courage of poor Indians, not the actions of its government.
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The book of your revolution sits in the pit of your belly, young Indian. Crap it out, and read. Instead of which, they're all sitting in front of color TVs and watching cricket and shampoo advertisements.
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Inconvenience in progress, work is regretted.
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Indians mock their corrupt politicians relentlessly, but they regard their honest politicians with silent suspicion. The first thing they do when they hear of a supposedly 'clean' politician is to grin. It is a cliche that honest politicians in India tend to have dishonest sons, who collect money from people seeking an audience with Dad.
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We are made mysteries to ourselves by the Rooster Coop we are locked in.
Aravind Adiga
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I am not an original thinker-but I am an original listener.)
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An honest politician has no goodies to toss around. This limits his effectiveness profoundly, because political power in India is dispersed throughout a multi-tiered federal structure a local official who has not been paid off can sometimes stop a billion-dollar project.
Aravind Adiga
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It has always been very difficult for writers to survive commercially in India because the market was so small. But that's not true at all any more. It's one of the world's fastest growing and most vibrant markets for books, especially in English.
Aravind Adiga
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Neither. I am just one who has woken up while the rest of you are still sleeping.
Aravind Adiga
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When I was growing up in the south Indian city of Madras, there were only two political parties that mattered one was run by a former matinee idol, and the other was run by his former screenwriter.
Aravind Adiga