Yes, I do seek solitude, but I am never lonely.
Writing is the only thing I am good for.
Writing for children may have kept me young at heart.
Whenever I run out of people to write about, I cook up a few ghosts, or they appear before me.
When I was younger, I took life much more seriously.
When I was growing up, I remember having read all the books in the library. I often tried to emulate my favourite writers.
When I ventured into writing at the age of 17, I wanted to be a good and successful writer. I just wanted to write good stuff - poems, prose, stories, essays, everything.
Unhappy and unsettled childhood helps in writing.
There will always be books as long as I am mentally capable of it.
There was Uncle Ken of mine about whom I wrote a lot of stories. I can always write stories about uncles and aunts and distant relatives. They have to be distant, though; otherwise, you'll be in trouble.
The transition from an English father to a Punjabi stepfather demanded an adjustment that was far from easy for a 10-year-old boy who had just lost his father.
The older you get, the lesser you are bothered by what others think.
The ghost story is a popular genre of mine and is particularly adaptable to the visual media.
The Nehru years were rather very peaceful years. A lot happened in those years: dams were built, five-year plans were made, Chandigarh was built in front of my eyes. Those were the years I grew up in.
The books that I wrote in my late teens and 20s, the little love stories, they were right from the heart.
Sometimes good stories are created while documenting dreams.
Solitude helps you reflect.
Small places intrigue me. Whenever I tried moving to a larger city, I ran back to the hills.
Respect the language in which you write. Be kind, develop good vocabulary, and be creative in writing beautiful sentences. Your prose should be your poetry when you write.
One has to be ambitious to start writing.
Occasionally, I have written about stories related to crime, but I have never attempted a traditional detective story. So I want to write a true detective story.
No, I don't want to be a brand. Brand means I cannot go out for a quiet walk without tourists and fans constantly following me.
My mother wanted me to join the Indian army, as the army was seen as a decent and respectable career to have. I shocked my mother by telling her that I wanted to be a writer.
My first, 'Room on the Roof,' was the longest book I've written.
My desk is right next to my bed. So I sit on my bed. I write in a big notebook which is on the desk. And if I feel drowsy, I just have to slide into bed.
Jokes apart, I, like many other, am looking for strong and stable government. I don't want any chaotic political situation where the elected government is being toppled frequently.
It's nice to have awards from time to time. There was a time when I had to make a living from my writing, and it wasn't always easy. I value awards a lot - and more so if there is a little cash with them!
It's amazing to dwell in the world of fantasy and fear.
It is okay to experiment with language. Writers such as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf experimented with writing, but basically, one must have a familiarity with the language. And to have that, one must respect it.
Instead of becoming a great shikari, as my mother and stepfather might have wished, I had become an incurable bookworm and was to remain one for the rest of my life.
