‘I was unfortunate to know a Christianity so tainted by colonialism and racial distrust.’
I first encountered God at my Christian-run school in Jhansi, a railway town in north India. It was the late 1970s and until then I had known only gods. My mother, a high-caste Hindu, had pictures and statues of many divine men, women and animals—mythical as well as living—in her miniature woode…
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‘I think there should be a National Service of Hospitality. The best way to see the true face of humanity is to serve it a plate of chips.’
Camilla Grudova on bad-mannered customers.
‘Anyone who has ever worked night shifts will understand the vertiginous feeling that comes with staring down the day from the wrong end.’
A.K. Blakemore on working nights.
‘I was constantly reading job ads, trying to find my holy grail – a job I could stand to do, and someone foolish enough to hire me.’
Sandra Newman on learning how to play professional blackjack.
‘I loved being a receptionist. What I loved about it was playing the part of being a receptionist.’
Emily Berry on being a temporary office worker.
‘Every part of you would swell, including your eyeballs, and no matter how much water you drank, you were always dehydrated.’
Junot Díaz on working for a steel mill.
‘It is India’s turn to undergo social traumas that other countries have suffered in their pursuit of wealth and power.’
‘Bollywood is part of what our culture has become. We are lying to ourselves all the time.’
I first encountered God at my Christian-run school in Jhansi, a railway town in north...
‘Ask anyone in Ayodhya, and they will say the city’s Hindu–Muslim harmony can withstand any test.’
Snigdha Poonam on the construction of a Hindu temple on the ruins of a mosque in Utter Pradesh.
‘I should warn you, she said, ketchup on her chin, on the back of her hand. I like to have sex a lot.’
Fiction by Kathy Stevens.
‘On the boat none of them will know who will meet them where they go. This is the world, they say to themselves. There is no need to worry. And this part is true, as worry functions were never built in.’
