The Bandit Queens Quotes
"You can abuse someone with the things you say or don't say."
"Freedom is what a person does with what’s been done to her."
"Better to brave the scorpion than the horny farmer."
"Where there is business, there is always room for doubt."
"But where there is friendship, there is none."
"Until you’ve brought forth the gift of life, you’re not complete."
"Never in my life have I seen a man with so many wedding opinions."
"It’s hard with someone, too. That’s marriage."
"The life of a widow is more peaceful than the life of a married woman."
"They don’t get to make all the choices, Geeta. We get to make some, too."
"We are here to help our own and fellow sisters."
"What’s the use of crying when birds ate the whole farm?"
"Pain is a reminder of our choices, a regrettable tattoo on our skin."
"Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is to mask our weaknesses with a simper."
"In the grand chessboard of life, sometimes pawns must play like queens."
"True strength often lies in the quiet resolve to endure and outlast."
"The art of deception is sometimes the only weapon of the powerless."
"Even in the darkest moments, there's a glimmer of hope, a chance for redemption."
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision to act in spite of it."
"We are the architects of our destiny, crafting our path with each decision."
"In the tapestry of life, every thread of experience contributes to our story."
"Embracing our vulnerabilities can be our greatest act of courage."
"You can't be too careful. Even in your diminishing years, men can be dangerous creatures."
"A single blow of a blacksmith is equal to a hundred blows of a goldsmith."
"Everyone deserves last rites. But others... Well, I never forget a face. Even when they're dead, I can recognize someone straightaway."
"Obviously, abusing them is wrong. That's why it's just easier to, you know, keep quiet, understand and accept it."
"Don't get me wrong. If someone is poor, I only charge what they can afford."
"There's a difference between talking to a witness and interrogating a suspect."
"If you can't catch him on that, can you at least punish him for the dogs?"
"You know, maybe it's actually better that we can't find Ramesh."
"They kept to themselves; we kept to ourselves."
"If the women were able to help each other commit murder because they felt it was morally right, then why couldn’t they help others being wronged, too?"
"Their village spotted caste on sight like it was gender and behaved accordingly."
"But Geeta now saw that caste had marked Phoolan’s story as much as, if not more than, gender had."
"Sometimes when I’m with Bandit in the house for too long, I get used to his smell. Then I leave for water or a loan meeting or whatever, and I come back and I smell him and realize he’s dirty, he stinks, he needs washing."
"But why can’t we try for new rules? I mean, you’re on the panchayat!"
"We want peace so no one blinks when you and Karem..."
"Geeta heard on repeat: Lungi dance, lungi dance, lungi dance."
"But it doesn’t have to be false! You could make real change."
"So what? Hasn’t been enforced thus far."
"The best I can describe it is like this. Sometimes when I’m with Bandit in the house for too long, I get used to his smell."
"Embroidered sequins and beads winked as guests circulated from Saloni’s sitting room to her porch."
"We’re pretty much the only Muslims here and he didn’t think we belonged."
"At least you were seen. Hated, but seen. I was just invisible."
"If I was gonna be excluded, I might as well profit."
"Often the promise of sex was far more potent than intercourse itself."
"It’s not like my world got any bigger with our loan group anyhow."
"Booze was more important than fear, I guess."
"He’s just too funny! Talk about making memories, am I right? Happy New Year! Saal Mubarak!"
"Men who’d survived an encounter with her shared consistent details as to her appearance. Her true form was always hideous."
"Only a man would morph a wounded woman into a hideous monster."
"It hadn’t stayed Ramesh’s hand, nor Samir’s, nor Bada-Bhai’s."
"I’ll just smack my mother around, is it? So that in the next life, I come back as an untouchable? Useless man."
"Things can be more than one thing, you know."
"He’s not answering," Ramesh thundered. "If you don’t get over here right now, I swear to Ram I’ll break your damn head."
"Did you think I’d just go along with it? We had a deal, you—oh."
"It’s just a flesh wound; we’ll say the dog bit him or whatever."
"If you stay in this village, I will make sure you die."
"You think I’m stupid? All the churel legend means is that I can’t kill you. It doesn’t say I can’t make you wish you were dead."