Shankari Chandran > Quotes

“The stories we tell each other, and the stories we tell ourselves. The stories we reveal, and those we hide. The stories we tell our children. These are the temples we build, they must not be erased.”
― Shankari Chandran, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens

“Every generation should have the chance to be better and freer than the one before it.”
― Shankari Chandran, Song of the Sun God

“Violence should not be met with the silence of the oppressed.”
― Shankari Chandran, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens

“They had once dug the earth for yams and planted seeds and prayed for rain. Now they dug for life and planted the dead and prayed for the end.”
― Shankari Chandran, Song of the Sun God

“You must do the right thing, Smrithi, whether you want to or not—and you must do it to the best of your ability. That’s all that is asked of us, even though sometimes it seems an impossible task.”
― Shankari Chandran, Song of the Sun God

“Nikki, I'm not valuable because I'm employed. And I'm not valuable because others value me. I'm valuable because I value myself.”
― Shankari Chandran

“I’m suggesting that violence should not be met with the silence of the oppressed.”
― Shankari Chandran

“I don’t mean English. I mean in their language, through their eyes. They only see their stories as valid. Give them that. Give them their stories but write them better. You’ve studied English literature; you know how it works.’ He”
― Shankari Chandran, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens

“Own the memories, don’t let them own you.”
― Shankari Chandran, Safe Haven

“Possession of land is nine-tenths of the law; possession of history is nine-tenths of the future.”
― Shankari Chandran, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens

“The beauty of a stone is not in its strengths but in the uniqueness of its failings.”
― Shankari Chandran, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens

“You didn't change, Amma, you've never had to. If we let this tradition go, what's next? We do these traditions to remind ourselves - to remind the children - who they are and where they've come from.”
― Shankari Chandran, Song of the Sun God

“Most of all, I am exhausted from being different. You've never had to live in a place where you're different, where you are the "other".”
― Shankari Chandran, Song of the Sun God