Vikas Swarup Quotes

I am the luckiest novelist in the world. I was a first-time novelist who wasn't awash in rejection slips, whose manuscript didn't disappear in slush piles. I have had a wonderful time.

- Vikas Swarup

The slums are not a place of despair. Its inhabitants are all working towards a better life.

- Vikas Swarup

Just because someone has gone to an elite school and college does not make him smarter than the person who has grown up on street knowledge.

- Vikas Swarup

I am neither a Bengali nor am I from Delhi's St Stephen's. I am an Allahabad boy.

- Vikas Swarup

People don't just want a mindless flick with a superstar; they want to connect more deeply.

- Vikas Swarup

Tokyo may have more money and Kyoto more culture; Nara may have more history and Kobe more style. But Osaka has the biggest heart.

- Vikas Swarup

India may be the soul of world cricket, but IPL is its commercial heart. Just as 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' changed the ground rules for quiz shows by injecting a massive dose of money into the equation, IPL has changed the dynamics of the cricket economy.

- Vikas Swarup

I am very interested in human-interest stories emerging from modern India. I get my inspiration and daily dose by reading the 'Hindustan Times.'

- Vikas Swarup

For me, the day job comes first. That's why I call myself a diplomat who writes, not a writer who masquerades as a diplomat. If the day job demands it, I won't write at all. I write in what I call 'the crevices of my day job', and that comes only on weekends.

- Vikas Swarup

Knowledge is not just the preserve of the educated elite. Just because someone has not had a formal education, that does not mean he does not have wisdom and common sense.

- Vikas Swarup

Indian writers have appropriated English as an Indian language, and that gives a certain freshness to the way we write.

- Vikas Swarup

It is in the genes of cities to bounce back from disasters - whether natural or man made. The denizens of suburbia have no choice but to survive and move on. But it is the manner in which different cities respond to emergencies that sets them apart.

- Vikas Swarup

My books are about ordinary people placed in extraordinary situations who are able to draw upon their inner reserves to challenge the status-quo in life and navigate compelling human relationships.

- Vikas Swarup

The fight against international terrorism isn't just a fight against a bunch of misguided extremists; it is a fight to defend the values that we hold dear.

- Vikas Swarup

All I can say is that I am not one of those writers who want 100% of their book in the film. I recognize that film is a different medium and the filmmaker must have the right to bring some new elements to the table, provided the soul of the book is preserved.

- Vikas Swarup

Twenty20 is cricket on speed. In an era of hectic lifestyles and falling attention spans, it gives spectators more drama and intensity in three hours that they would get from a whole-day match. And even though it is a heady cocktail of money, entertainment and media, at its core it is cricket.

- Vikas Swarup

Writing is a very lonely occupation. To write you need to concentrate, to concentrate you need to lock yourself away. No distractions; you want your stream of thought uninterrupted.

- Vikas Swarup

My books may highlight corruption, brutality and venality, but they also show that if these things come to light, there is rectification. The voiceless do have a voice; democratic mechanisms and accountability do exist.

- Vikas Swarup

I write fast. But it takes me a while to get going. It's very important for me to see my whole plot. I have to see the end first because I like a surprise in the end. Which is why I let characters and plot gestate in my mind.

- Vikas Swarup

I get invited to many more literary festivals than I used to because I'm associated with 'Slumdog Millionaire,' the brand. Many more doors have opened up for me as a result of the global success of the film, although I believe that I'm the same person that existed before it.

- Vikas Swarup

The first thing you have to understand is that I was not desperate to be a writer. I was never a closet writer filing away notes in a cupboard.

- Vikas Swarup

I did not go to any creative writing workshop; I did not major in literature. If I can write, anyone can write. All it needs is imagination.

- Vikas Swarup

I think mobility is very important, not only to discover opportunities elsewhere but at times, also to appreciate better what your home town has. Allahabad, for instance, has the feel of a small, tightly-knit community where everyone participates.

- Vikas Swarup

I want to show that the underdog can win. I believe we're all the same: you, a slum girl, my mother.

- Vikas Swarup

I became completely addicted to 'Angry Birds' for a while.

- Vikas Swarup

I am not into the unrealistic realm of magic realism where birds talk.

- Vikas Swarup

I don't look at myself as a writer; I am a storyteller.

- Vikas Swarup

Global terror does not respect national boundaries.

- Vikas Swarup

The writer's is an interior world, a world of the mind.

- Vikas Swarup

I'm the opposite of those writers who believe that my work is sacrosanct and cannot be touched.

- Vikas Swarup

Mumbai may not be my city. But it is my kind of city.

- Vikas Swarup