"She liked Ishvar's face, the type that would put people at ease and encouraged conversation." Page 9

"Government problems - games played by people in power. It doesn't affect ordinary people like us." Dina on the Emergency, page 75

"It was hard for them not to be resentful - the birth of daughters often brought them beatings from their husbands and their husband's families." Page 100

"Crossing the line of caste had to be punished with the utmost severity." Page 147

"There was nothing to distinguish the small hutment colony from the huge slum across the road; it had been incorporated into the inferno." Page 182

"What was there for anyone to laugh about in this wretched place?" Page 186

"The slow coach gets left behind." Page 221

"She only knows important things, said Rajaram. Things her friends want her to know." Page 259

"The way she talked, her voice sounding old, having endured a vast...