"Everything around us is roses," Abdul's younger brother, Mirchi, put it. "And we're the shit in between."
-Prologue, p. xii

Time was precious to Annawadians, even those not tense about their children's exams. They had work at dawn, homes to clean, children to bathe, and above all water to get from the slum's trick-taps before they went dry, which involved standing in line for hours.
-Chapter 4, Manju, p. 53

She was less and less sure she wanted to go to Vasai, less and less sure her husband would live to get there. She wanted a more hygienic home here, in the name of her children's vitality.
-Chapter 5, Ghost House, p. 83

Abdul wasn't sure how much money his family had left after fixing the house and paying his father's hospital bill. But he though that whatever remained should be paid, in order to be innocent. He wanted to go home...