When there’s a divorce, many parents talk of “quality time”, but it’s the quantity that counts. When I moved abroad for work, the children saw even less of me. I missed them as much as they missed me. I always flew them to wherever I was in the world during their vacations. I shot countless pictures of their childhood they treasure till today. But it was never the same as before. Sadly, children suffer the most in divorces. (Location 1287)

Many people wanting to name their children “Kabir” were rebuffed at the Registry office; the letter “K” doesn’t exist in Italian. (Location 1509)

Sergio told me that James Brooke, the white Rajah of Sarawak, played by Adolfo Celi in the series, was an Englishman who had actually ruled Sarawak a century ago. Emiglio Salgari, who wrote the Sandokan books at the turn of the century, put him in his stories. (Location 1553)

“Not wisdom,” he replied, in his typically contrarian way. “Only my personal stupidity.” (Location 1557)

Curious about my father’s techniques, I had once asked him how he healed people. “I don’t heal anyone,” Baba had replied with his characteristic impishness. “They heal themselves. I only put them in touch with the root cause of their illness. Once they know that, their own consciousness heals them.” (Location 1832)

My most emotional experience was in the house of Emiglio Salgari, the author of Sandokan. Apart from Sandokan, he had written adventure stories set across the world: South Asia, the Middle East, West Indies, Russia, Mexico, China, even the North Pole. But he had never travelled beyond the shores of Italy. (Location 1864)

Alarmingly, she added, I read Pandit Gopi Krishna’s book on kundalini, and I found out that if the flow of energy goes into the wrong channel of one’s system, it can cause madness.” (Location 2074)

Historian Andrew Whitehead calls Baba’s Constitution “one of the most radical and egalitarian measures introduced in independent India”. (Location 2631)

But in those days, theatre paid almost nothing and the life of an actor was hard. When the play ended, my parents and I walked into the foyer. Prithviraj Kapoor was standing there, eyes firmly shut, holding out his hands seeking alms, still dressed in the shawl-draped salwar-kameez of the Pathan tribesman. People were putting money into his hands and bowing before him. That image of Prithviraj Kapoor seeking alms, eyes closed, has remained indelible in my memory. (Location 2644)

Teji Bachchan (then Suri) was a vibrantly beautiful friend and colleague. She chose to marry an impoverished Hindi poet, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, over a dashing army major, Suresh Pandit, who had been wooing her ardently. Her kurta-pyjama wearing husband became a giant of Hindi literature. In time, they became the parents of Amitabh Bachchan, India’s most famous actor. (Location 2790)