- T.K.'s Father: You knew of this but did nothing. You saw everything and shut your eyes because you wanted to live in both worlds. No one is ever lost on a straight road. But you have been lost, and now you must find your way back.
- [first lines]
- T. K. Neelan: Sahib, we will have to change course again.
- Henry Moores: This has got to be the damnedest crookedest road in the Crown!
- T. K. Neelan: Oh, definitely. But it will be here after monsoon. A straight road would slide away.