"Our longest meeting was at (Ambedkar’s) house two months before he died. We were together from three o’clock in the afternoon till six in the evening and no other person was allowed in the room. That day Ambedkar spoke from his heart. He criticized his son and also his nephew and I left the house, saddened (that) my friend was at journey’s end.”
Naval Bhathena, the "only dear friend” of social reformer and political leader B. R. Ambedkar, at his last meeting in October 1956. The two were roommates at Columbia University in New York in 1913. Cited in Ambedkar: A Life by Shashi Tharoor
(Aleph Book Company, 2022)
"Divide people not as the
masses and the elite but as
those who are responsive
and unresponsive to art.”
Pilloo Pochkhanawala, sculptor,
The Times of India, April 2, 2023
"When I started in the mid-’80s,
we would do our own make-up
and hair, rehearse for about five to seven days and even take a train to commute from one state to another if the sponsors fell short of budget, but that’s not the case anymore. It is very professional and rehearsals go only as long
as five to seven hours.”
Mehr Jesia, Femina Miss India 1986,
The Indian Express, April 9, 2023
"The strategy was to be opaque; management would offer far
less than what they were
finally willing to give and the union
demanded a lot more than what they were willing to settle for! A meaningless game, wasting
everybody’s time and energy.”
Anu Aga, former chairperson, Thermax,
The Financial Express, May 18, 2023
"Practicing any form of yoga, exercise or dance is so great for us. It may feel like it’s not for you in the beginning, but if you try and keep at it, you’ll realize that it is exactly what you’ve needed, both
emotionally and physically.”
Tara Sutaria, actor, Bombay Times,
June 21, 2023
"I am going to direct my first
film. My son is producing it. I
have written it and will also
play a role in it. I am going to spend the next six months
working on my own film now.”
Boman Irani, actor and director,
mid-day, May 30, 2023
"With an average of three or four journalists killed in connection with their work every year, India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for the media. Journalists are exposed to all kinds of physical violence including police violence, ambushes by political activists, and deadly reprisals by criminal groups or corrupt local officials.”
Reporters Without Borders, 2023
World Press Freedom Index 2023,
commenting on India’s low rating of
161 out of 180, a drop of 11 ranks
"Hard work beats talent
when talent doesn’t work hard.”
Tim Notke, basketball coach,
Inspirational Quote, May 2023
"What is supreme is neither
the judge, neither the Supreme Court, nor Parliament. What is supreme is the Constitution.”
Fali Nariman, jurist, The Indian
Express, April 26, 2023
"We enjoyed skating at Palm Beach School and street cricket games with my father and friends. My mother watched these matches from our top floor. And I loved visiting my piano teacher just across.”
Shiamak Davar who grew up in
Ruby Mansion on Darabsha Lane,
sunday mid-day, April 23, 2023
"Named after shipping and
stevedoring pioneer Darabsha Bomanji Dubash, the
lane (off Nepean Sea Road)
once led straight to a beach
strip of sand and rock
hugging the Arabian Sea.”
Meher Marfatia, columnist and author-
publisher, sunday mid-day, April 23, 2023
"Most of the interiors within our café are upcycled. In fact, the dining tables and the walls are made of old wooden floor tiles.”
Neville Bose, partner, Malido Café,
The Indian Express, April 23, 2023
"Lankans can’t queue. Unless you define a queue as an amorphous curve with multiple entry points.”
Shehan Karunatilaka, author, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (Penguin, 2022)
"He (Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi) rides the Hindu-majoritarian wave himself by emphasizing his own Brahmin descent, with no reference to his Parsi (Zoroastrian) grandfather, Feroze Gandhi.”
Zareer Masani, historian, Spectator,
March 26, 2023
"Staying and working for a criminal regime amounted to signing a pact with the devil. Your hands would be covered with Ukrainian blood.”
Marina Ovsyannikova, journalist who
carried a poster during a live news
broadcast on Russian television stating, "They’re lying to you” regarding the
Ukrainian war, The New York Times
International, March 25, 2023
"We were giving him (maestro Zubin Mehta) almost six or
seven rehearsals. He is not
one of those conductors who
rushes in without rehearsals.”
Khushroo Suntook, chairman, National Centre for the Performing Arts, mid-day, November 2, 2022
"Be kind, for everyone you meet
is fighting a hard battle.”
Plato, Greek philosopher, Inspirational Quote, February 2023