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1 " The truly good and the great are not diminished when their faults are exposed; on the contrary, they earn greater respect for rising to admirable heights despite their very human flaws. I "
― Khushwant Singh , The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous
2 " She had many shortcomings, but perhaps that alone was what made her human. She may not have been a likeable person, but she was, in her own way, a woman to be loved and admired. "
3 " To read all these stories and more, you will have to wait till I am dead and a suicidal publisher decides to print them. "
4 " I have never been a very tactful person. I have never been discreet either. I am a voyeur and a gossip. I am also very opinionated. These are good qualities to have if your aim is to be a writer who is read. You could add to that the extremely useful habit of keeping a diary. I "
5 " I have also suffered famous bores, and sometimes been rewarded with behaviour so ridiculous that it becomes compelling. "
6 " would arrive armed with a bottle of Scotch; then Ali Sardar would send for soda and biryani from a restaurant, "
7 " sought out his company because he was one of the most erudite Indian writers I had met. He also had a phenomenal memory. "
8 " Balwant Gargi was like a cactus—he hurt anyone he touched. After "
9 " It was a misalliance. Gargi’s diet was literary sarson ka saag; Jeannie was American apple pie. Gargi wanted appreciation for what he wrote; Jeannie never bothered to learn Punjabi and was therefore unable to become a part of her husband’s claque. Gargi was gregarious, open-hearted in his hospitality, with not much in his kitty to be open-hearted about; Jeannie cherished the privacy of her home and could not stomach people dropping in at all hours. She also had an enormous appetite for food, which embarrassed Gargi for the simple reason that his friends might think he did not give her enough to eat at home. It was Gargi who took the irrevocable step to break up the marriage by committing adultery. Gargi wrote an emotionally charged account of his lustful encounter with one of his girl students in a garage, through the window of which could see his wife and children. It was a detailed and lusty account of the love-making, describing even the size of her breasts and her nipples. And that was the end of his marriage with the beautiful Jeannie. In "
10 " It was the bruises on my lips that made me comprehend With what thoughtlessness I had kissed the rose "