"Art is the truth. Art embraces
diversity. And that’s why art is a threat to the autocrats and the fascists of the world. America’s philistine president has had himself appointed head of one of America’s premier cultural institutions. He has cut funding and support to the arts, humanities and education. And now he announced a 100% tariff on films made outside the United States.”
Robert De Niro, Hollywood actor,
Mint, May 15, 2025
"What does poverty mean today?
It means you can’t send your child
to school because of the expenses you would incur. Even when the school is free, money has to be spent on uniforms, books, transport. Then, electricity and water. You absolutely need those today.”
Renana Jhabvala, noted social worker
and author, Civil Society, May 2025
"None of us took money until
the film (Munna Bhai MBBS)
earned... We didn’t have the budget
to shoot the final wedding scene. Our set designer joked about
crashing a real wedding, and that’s exactly what we did. We sat behind the flower arrangements, took the
shots and left. That’s how that
iconic scene was filmed.’”
Boman Irani, actor, Bombay Times,
April 30, 2025
"Asexuality (not experiencing
general attraction towards
individuals of any gender) is a valid orientation; it’s not a phase or dysfunction, and it doesn’t need to be explained or fixed. Yes, trauma can affect one’s relationship with sex,
but it is deeply problematic and
incorrect to assume asexuality
stems from trauma.”
Naina Shahri, a queer-affirmative therapist, sunday mid-day, May 4, 2025
"I was tired of my shift system job with Oberoi Hotel. Living just next door in Reporter House, I began helping at Ideal (restaurant) and watched it change. Pre-internet, this was the discussion adda (place) for stock market traders. You couldn’t get a toe in. Bombay House staff came with lunch coupons. We had Central Bank and Citibank employees, besides at least 50 people from the HTA ad agency daily to eat. But the metro digging and pandemic have finished us off. We wait for mainly walk-in customers today.”
Parvez Patel, co-partner, Ideal Corner,
mid-day, April 27, 2025
"Piloo Jungalwalla, a scholar of
Zoroastrian history and culture,
was the first full-time principal
of Janaki Devi College.”
Coomi Kapoor, contributing editor, The
Indian Express, on reviewing At Home
in the Capital: The Parsis of Delhi by
Rukshana Shroff, The Indian Express,
April 20, 2025