The Mystic Masseur and Miguel Street Quotes

“doing many more things until it seemed that ritual had replaced grief.”
― V.S. Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur

“It was not long after that Ganesh saw a big new notice in the shop, painted on cardboard.
‘Is Leela self who write that,’ Ramlogan said. ‘I didn’t ask she to write it, mind you. She just sit down quiet quiet one morning after tea and write it off.’
It read:

NOTICE
NOTICE, IS. HEREBY; PROVIDED: THAT, SEATS!
ARE, PROVIDED. FOR; FEMALE: SHOP, ASSISTANTS!

Ganesh said, ‘Leela know a lot of punctuation marks.’
That is it, sahib. All day the girl just sitting down and talking about these puncturation marks. She is like that, sahib.”
― V.S. Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur and Miguel Street

“Ah, sahib. I know you just come to comfort a old man left to live by hisself. Soomintra say I too old-fashion. And Leela, she always by you. Why you don’t sit down, sahib? It ain’t dirty. Is just how it does look.’
Ganesh didn’t sit down. ‘Ramlogan, I come to buy over your taxis.”
― V.S. Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur and Miguel Street

“I know the sort of doctors it have in Trinidad,’ my mother used to say. ‘They think nothing of killing two three people before breakfast.’ This wasn’t as bad as it sounds: in Trinidad the midday meal is called breakfast.”
― V.S. Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur