I don't know what I would do if I didn't write.

I really do literally put myself into a character's shoes.

I think about death every day - what it would be like, why it would happen to me. It would be humiliating to be afraid.

I've had two proposals since I've been a widow. I am a wonderful catch, you know. I have a lot of money.

The older you get, the lesser you are bothered by what others think.

The books that I wrote in my late teens and 20s, the little love stories, they were right from the heart.

In India, not enough importance is given to writing for children. And what could be more important than the enrichment of young minds with great literature?

I always look for a bookshop wherever I go.

Holidays can become tedious without something to read.

It is okay to experiment with language. Writers such as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf experimented with writing, but basically, one must have a familiarity with the language. And to have that, one must respect it.

If I'm really immersed in a story, I try to finish it in a few days. If it's a longer work, then it would take a few months.

The ghost story is a popular genre of mine and is particularly adaptable to the visual media.

I'm rather fond of my awards.

If you live in America, you need a gun, and I am not very fast with a gun, so I think I would walk out very quickly.

I enjoy writing personal essays in the way of Charles Lamb because it goes back to the school days when I was good in writing essays.

I may not have become a good writer, but I managed to make a living out of writing.

No, I don't want to be a brand. Brand means I cannot go out for a quiet walk without tourists and fans constantly following me.

I suppose in the long run, it's the good work that outlasts the shoddy work, but there's enough room for all kinds of writing.

My mother wanted me to join the Indian army, as the army was seen as a decent and respectable career to have. I shocked my mother by telling her that I wanted to be a writer.

Films and books have been intertwined as far as my growing up is concerned.

Yes, I do seek solitude, but I am never lonely.

Whenever I run out of people to write about, I cook up a few ghosts, or they appear before me.

Writing is the only thing I am good for.

Solitude helps you reflect.