Anita Desai

Quotes

• “Her first day in Bombay wilted her. If she stepped out of the air-conditioned hotel room, she drooped, her head hung, her eyes glazed, she felt faint. Once she was back in it, she fell across her bed as though she had been struck by calamity, was extinguished, and could barely bring herself to believe that she had, after all, survived. Sweating, it seemed to her that life, energy, hope were all seeping out of her, flowing down a drain, gurgling ironically.”
• “That was the way life was: it lay so quiet, so still that you put your fingers out to touch it, to stroke it. Then it leapt up and struck you full in the face so that you spun about and spun about, gasping. The flames leapt up all around, rising by inches every minute, rising in rings. (II, p78)”
• “...the moon that hung over the garden like some great priceless pearl, flawed and blemished with grey shadowy ridges as only a very great beauty can risk being. (IV, p.159)”
• “I do not recognise India of the present time where, under the banner of 'Hindutva,' intimidation and bigotry seek to silence writers, scholars and all who believe in secular and rational thought. (2015)”
• “India is a curious place that still preserves the past, religions, and its history. No matter how modern India becomes, it is still very much an old country. (Baruch College Class Interview, 2003)”
• “I aim to tell the truth about any subject, not a romance or fantasy, not avoid the truth. (Baruch College Class Interview, 2003)”

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Key facts

Born

Anita Mazumdar , 1937 (age 88 – 89), Mussoorie , Princely State of Tehri Garhwal , British India (present-day Uttarakhand , India )

Occupation

Writer, professor

Nationality

Indian

Alma mater

University of Delhi

Period

1963–present

Genre

Fiction

Notable works

In Custody ; Baumgartner's Bombay

Spouse

Ashvin Desai

Children

4, including Kiran Desai

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

via Wikidata · CC0