“India shaped my mind, anchored my identity, influenced my beliefs, and made me who I am. ... India matters to me and I would like to matter to India.”

“I make no bones about the fact that India matters to me, and I would like to matter to India.”

“The only possible idea of India is that of a nation greater than the sum of its parts.”

“In India we celebrate the commonality of major differences; we are a land of belonging rather than of blood.”

“India is not, as people keep calling it, an underdeveloped country, but rather, in the context of its history and cultural heritage, a highly developed one in an advanced state of decay.”

“Hindu fundamentalism is a contradiction in terms, since Hinduism is a religion without fundamentals; there is no such thing as a Hindu heresy. How dare a bunch of goondas shrink the soaring majesty of the Vedas and the Upanishads to the petty bigotry of their brand of identity politics?”

“The British are the only people in history crass enough to have made revolutionaries out of Americans.”