Animal's People Quotes

“At the end of time when God judges us humans, I just hope He remembers to judge Himself as well.”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People

“Love is different and more difficult. It has nothing to do with sex.
This is what I tried to make my voices understand. QUietly does love
happen. You're not even thinking about romance, then she smiles and
you notice for the first time that she's not all that plain, her face is
really quite sweet. You watch for her smile and notice that it pushes her
cheeks up into two mango shapes, why should this shape be so
pleaSing, I don't know. Then one evening she puts kajal round her eyes
and brushes her hair, looks quite transformed, and suddenly Sonali
Bendre is not so desirable as this one who's been under your nose for
so long, who's all dolled up to go somewhere you're not going, can
never go.”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People

“You're well enough looked after now' says Farouq. 'We are your friends. Don't we care about you? All this bitterness, it's in your own mind. To be accepted as a human being, you must behave like one. The more human you act, the more human you'll be.' He spoils the effect of this decent speech by adding with a smirk, 'Four-foot cunt.”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People

“...there is a word SILENT, which means khaamush, it has the exact same letters as the word LISTEN. So open your ears and tell me, what can you hear?”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People

“Όταν σκέφτομαι τη βροχή, λύνω την απορία μου, γιατί δε θα υπήρχε μελωδία χωρίς τις στάλες αν τα σύννεφα δεν κρατούσαν κάθε χρόνο την υπόσχεσή τους να ξεσπάσουν, και θυμάμαι την Έλι που έλεγε ότι οι πλημμύρες δείχνουν πως το φεγγάρι και η θάλασσα κρατούν τις υποσχέσεις τους κι αυτό είν' όλο. Μια υπόσχεση είναι κάτι που δε μετριέται, σημαίνει εμπιστοσύνη, και δε γίνεται να μιλάω για τη βροχή, τη θάλασσα και το φεγγάρι, αλλά γίνεται να ρωτήσω γιατί οι άνθρωποι τηρούν τις υποσχέσεις τους και ίσως τελικά η απάντηση σ' αυτό να είναι η αγάπη.”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People

“I really think this is why people have faces, to hide their souls. Has to be, or every street… would be a passage through hell.”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People

“This is how guilt infects, if you’re afraid that someone will be angry with you, you immediately start feeling angry with them.”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People: A Novel

“You can fight without hope if the heart finds strength in something stronger." --Zafar”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People

“I used to be human once. So I'm told. I don't remember it myself, but people who knew me when I was small say I walked on two feet, just like a human being...”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People

“Love is different and more difficult. It has nothing to do with sex. This is what I tried to make my voices understand. Quietly does love happen. You’re not even thinking about romance, then she smiles and you notice for the first time that she’s not all that plain, her face is really quite sweet. You watch for her smile and notice that it pushes her cheeks up into two mango shapes, why should this shape be so pleasing, I don’t know. Then one evening she puts kajal round her eyes and brushes her hair, looks quite transformed, and suddenly Sonali Bendre is not so desirable as this one who’s been under your nose for so long, who’s all dolled up to go somewhere you’re not going, can never go.”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People: A Novel

“The universe with all its stars and galaxies is a pinhead compared to the space inside the mind.”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People: A Novel

“Look,” says Zafar, “suppose you’re a young couple. It’s spring and desire is rushing through your veins. Lying side by side, you reach out and touch one another under the sheet. But you have to be careful, ma-in-law’s bundled up asleep just a few feet away. Your brother’s kids are sleeping in the same room. You must wait till everyone else is asleep, and after you’ve lain quietly awake trying to reckon their breathing, you’re obliged to proceed with minimum movement, no scrapes or rustles, uttering not the smallest sound. To be erotic in such circumstances, this is what makes it an art.” “Might even be,” says Gaurilal, “that these very restrictions on the poor, need for breath-control plus twisting about of the body to fit cramped and unlikely spaces, are what gave rise to yoga.”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People: A Novel

“Zafar’s lot never write what they really feel which is FUCK YOU WICKED CUNTS I HOPE YOU DIE PAINFULLY FOR THE HORRIBLE THINGS YOU DID TO US AND THE ARROGANT FUCKING CRUELTY YOU’VE DISPLAYED EVER SINCE. They write high-sounding shit like JUSTICE FOR KHAUFPUR and KAMPANI MEET YOUR LIABILITIES”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People: A Novel

“I pray for that good woman. At the end of time when God judges us humans, I just hope He remembers to judge Himself as well.”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People: A Novel

“O lord how sweet it is, how tempting, is life.”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People

“...the tides are the moon and sea keeping their own promises, and that’s that. A promise involves a thing that can’t be measured, which is trust and I can’t speak for rain and the sea and moon, but I can ask why people keep their promises, and maybe the answer in the end is love.”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People

“This is it, the most powerful thing in the world because all men go crazy for it, more precious than gold since for its sake rich men lose fortunes, sweeter than power because craving for it makes leaders of countries risk their jobs, more powerful than honor because it makes fools of respectable men…

It’s more powerful than all the world for it contains the whole world plus heaven and hell beside…

The power of this grace makes nuclear bombs look like firecrackers.”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People

“Hope is a crutch for weaklings. The strong carry on without." -Animal”
― Indra Sinha, Animal's People