A biography for Chitra Banerjee Divakarunihasn’t been written yet.
“I was about 12 when I first encountered 'The Moonstone' - or a Classics Illustrated version of it - digging through an old trunk in my grandfather's house on a rainy Bengali afternoon.”
“Dissolving differences has always been an important motive for my writing, right from 'The Mistress of Spices.'”
“The Mahabharata might have been a great and heroic battle, but there are no winners. The losers, of course, lose.”
“A kshatriya woman's highest purpose in life is to support the warriors in her life: her father, brother, husband and sons.”
“'The Mahabharata,' which inspired my novel 'Palace of Illusions,' also has many stories embedded within the main tale.”
“Strong women, when respected, make the whole society stronger. One must be careful with such rapid changes, though, and make an effort to preserve, at the same time, the positive traditions of Indian culture.”
“With the strong women I write about, I want to create a sense of strong possibilities.”