The only thing redeeming about my being born a Bengali is being brought up reading Rabindranath and Saratchandra. Other than that, the stagnancy of this city put me off all along.
My mother was Indian, brought up in Delhi. My grandparents were born in Bow and Poplar.
I am a hardcore Bihari boy. I am born and brought up in Bihar, and for me, ethnicity is not a problem and is inbuilt in me.
We talk a lot about our identities, and we talk a lot about working to clear misconceptions about those identities. But it'd be really cool to see someone like myself not even have to talk about being Muslim or Egyptian, because it's just understood. We can all just be weird and not have to explain everything.
I played a lot under John Wright, he's been a great influence on how I'll go about the job, in terms of being in the background. When I became a mentor for Mumbai Indians, I brought John in because he understood a lot about Indian culture and then the way coaches work.
I'm hugely fond of Scotland. My daughter, Jemma, was born in the Simpson Memorial Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh, and it always tickled me that she was so vexed she didn't have a Scottish accent even though she was brought up down south.
There's so many misconceptions about me and my personality. People think I'm not a nice person, you know, or maybe a diva; not just about me, but the misconceptions of other models as well, or supermodels.
I feel like a lot of Indian fans don't know about my Indian background, so it's funny online that a lot of fans call me this Pakistani dude. No, I'm Indian, too.
When I first came to Harvard, I thought to myself, 'What kind of an Indian am I?' because I did not grow up on a reservation. But being an Indian is a combination of things. It's your blood. It's your spirituality. And it's fighting for the Indian people.
I am born and brought up in Maharashtra so for me, Marathi is an often heard language.
A lot of Indian fathers don't know how to show affection. My parents really do love me, even though my dad has never been able to say those words to me.
While we are originally from Mangalore, my grandfather had migrated to Burma from where he returned to join the Indian National Army and settled in Mumbai, where I was born and brought up.
I am a child of the poisonous wind that copulated with the East River on an oil-slick, garbage infested midnight. I turn about on my own parentage. I inoculate against those very biles that brought me to light. I am a serum born of venoms. I am the antibody of all Time. I am the Cure. You do of the City, do you not? Manhattan is your punisher, let me be you shield.
My mother taught me a lot about respect for all living things - for plants and animals. I am a vegetarian. I was brought up that way.
I am a Punjabi at heart, but I've been born & brought up in Mumbai and even did my schooling & graduation from Mumbai itself.
I am frustrated at misconceptions of me, and being cast in a role.