The Great Indian Novel

Great discoveries, Ganapathi, are often the result of making the wrong mistake at the right time.

They say every dog has its day, Ganapathi, but for this terrier twilight came before tea-time.

While he was alive, he was impossible to ignore; once he had gone, he was impossible to imitate.

...(It) is to one British colonial policy-maker or another that we owe the Boxer Rebellion, the Mau Mau insurrection, the Boer War, and the Boston Tea Party

All knowledge is transient, linked to the world around it and subject to change as the world changes.

If ever the Empire comes to ruin, Heaslop, mark my words, the British publisher will be to blame.

In debate he thought high and aimed low.

The past is not necessarily a guide to the future, but it does partly help explain the present.

He leaned towards the young man, his eyes, mouth and face all round in concentration. ‘“There was a banned crow,”’ he intoned sonorously. ‘“There was a cold day.” Not bad, eh? I learned those on the boat. Sounds like perfect Urdu, I’m told.’ He paused and frowned. ‘The devil of it is remembering which one means, “close the door,” and which one will get someone to open it.

India is not an underdeveloped country but a highly developed one in an advanced state of decay.

The principles he stood for and the way in which he asserted them were always easier to admire than to follow.

While he was alive, he was impossible to ignore; once he had gone, he was impossible to imitate. When

If you believed in truth and cared enough to obtain it, Ganga affirmed, you had to be prepared actively to suffer for it. It was essential to accept punishment willingly in order to demonstrate the strength of one’s convictions. That

Basic truth about the colonies, Heaslop. Any time there’s trouble, you can put it down to books. Too many of the wrong ideas getting into the heads of the wrong sorts of people. If ever the Empire comes to ruin, Heaslop, mark my words, the British publisher will be to blame.

Bengalis say when offered cod, we still have other fish to fry.

there is nothing restrictive or self-limiting about the Indian identity it reasserts: it is large, eclectic and flexible, containing multitudes. I