“Bombay is a city where gossip is treated as a commodity.”

“I found Bombay and opium, the drug and the city, the city of opium and the drug Bombay”

“We must stop treating the environment possessively, and as an expendable commodity.”

“And at the moment of contact, they do not know if the hand that is reaching for theirs belongs to a Hindu or Muslim or Christian or Brahmin or untouchable or whether you were born in this city or arrived only this morning or whether you live in Malabar Hill or New York or Jogeshwari; whether you’re from Bombay or Mumbai or New York. All they know is that you’re trying to get to the city of gold, and that’s enough. Come on board, they say. We’ll adjust.”

“Remember the city, the city rememberWhere treasure is hidden under the groundThe city, the city, always rememberThat's where the treasure will be found.”

“The author points to the impact of what he called Dutch disease, where the discovery of found wealth from a particular commodity causes a culture to atrophy with respect to work ethic and broader development. Continuing wealth from the single commodity is taken for granted. The government, flush with wealth, is expected to be generous. When the price of that commodity drops, a government which would remain in power dare not cut back on this generosity.”