More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“Did you hear her son dropped out of medical school to be with that American girl?” “I’m not surprised. I heard she walks like an elephant.”
When I had been born, my parents had followed the tradition of having an Indian priest write out my Janmakshar—a horoscope that mapped out my entire life.
I was constantly reminded by kids at school that we did not belong. That we were “other.” That we were foreign. I quickly learned that being foreign was the worst thing you could be in America.
But if you can find a moment to be happy or to laugh, it is worth taking.”
The gift of life felt so precious, and I could not stop myself from feeling like I should be doing more with mine than writing briefs for the Warden. I was, after all, one of the lucky ones who got to live.
I remembered the way it felt to concentrate on one subject and ignore everything else around me. I felt the chaos and noise fade away, replaced by the laser focus of centering on a single thing and appreciating the nuances of it.
“Lovely couple. Such good height-body, no?”
“What’s the point of being practical if you aren’t happy?”
“A monkey does not know the taste of ginger.”
“You cannot appreciate that which you do not know.”
That woman is more trouble than a goat in the vegetable garden!”
“It is better to fail at the right thing than to succeed at the wrong one.”
Never too late to learn to be human.
