Ram Gopal Varma | Filmmaker
“Do you even know what the Bachchans would do to me if I were to cast Vivek in Sarkar 3? I’d be dead if I were to cast Vivek in ‘Sarkar’.”
Sabrina Lall | Jessica Lall’s sister on the Supreme Court verdict
“Finally, we have got the justice. Earlier, I thought that I will never ever get justice. But perceptions change and I have started believing in the Indian judiciary. There is justice in the world.”
Churai Yadav | 85-year-old on marrying 75-year-old Phoolmati
“I realised a few months back that I was ageing quickly. I told her about my fears and asked whether she would marry me. She agreed immediately… We called a meeting of our children and grandchildren and told them about our plan. They all got excited. So, we tied the knot in the presence of the entire village.”
Syed Maqbool Shah | Acquitted in the Lajpat Nagar blast case after 14 years
“I lost 14 years of my life to a lie. Why won’t I be angry? But then I understand. I belonged to Kashmir, it was 1996, I was young and I was there (in Delhi) at the wrong time. I feel I come out of a smaller jail to a bigger one. I got the verdict, now I hope I get some justice.”
P Chidambaram | Union home minister
“I wish to state categorically that no telephone tapping or eavesdropping on political leaders was authorised by the previous UPA government nor has the present UPA government authorised any such activity.”
Madhuri Gupta | Diplomat-turned-ISI spy to enquiring officers
“What took you guys so long to get (me)?”
M S Gill | Union sports minister
“I am disappointed that such a large sum of money (`5.5 cr) is being spent on him… My take is that well-known people like Rahman have won international awards and should be rendering free service for the country during the Games. I can recall that during the 1982 Asian Games, Ravi Shankar, who was conferred the Padma Bhushan, performed free.”
Jennifer Lopez | Singeractress
“I’ve been seriously lucky with my roles. I’ve worked with a lot of hot leading men, but I’m desperate to get Johnny (Depp). Working with him would be out of this world. I’d even be a pirate with no teeth and wear an eye- patch if it meant I could work with him. I want him that badly.”
Mamata Banerjee | Trinamool Congress chief
“The thing is the volume of evidence that we have given him (Chidambaram) is enough to impose president’s rule in the state at least 10 times… Operation Green Hunt has become Operation Red Hunt because the forces (fighting Maoists) are now protecting CPI(M)’s interests. That is why no real Maoist has been caught so far.”
BARACK OBAMA | US President
“I happen to know that my approval ratings are still very high in the country of my birth.”
AMAR SINGH | Politician, on his acting skills
“I am not a born actor. I am not a fool to compare myself with Amitabh or Shah Rukh. Everyone has their niche and forte. They cannot become Amar Singh. I am excited to act with Dimple (Kapadia). During our college days she was our dream girl. As a college student I used to bunk classes to watch her latest movies.”
M KARUNANIDHI | Tamil Nadu chief minister
“Dominant forces are spreading canards against (telecom minister) Raja because he is a Dalit”.
EKNATH OMBALE | Tukaram Ombale’s brother
“Kasab must be hanged in public, maybe at the CST or the Gateway of India. It should be exemplary so that terrorist don’t dare target India again.”
FAISAL SHAHZAD | Times Square bomb suspect, on seeing federal agents
“I was expecting you. Are you NYPD or FBI?”
HILLARY CLINTON | US secretary of state
“We’ve made it very clear that if, heaven- forbid, an attack like this (the Times Square bomb plot) that we can trace back to Pakistan were to have been successful, there would be very severe consequences.”
EXCERPT | From The Promise: President Obama, Year One
“Bruni wanted to know if, like them, Michelle and the President had ever kept anyone waiting that way. Michelle laughed nervously and said no.”
M KARUNANIDHI | Chief minister, Tamil Nadu
“If they (Alagiri and Stalin) clash, it would lead to my heart bleeding and both of them know this very well. A single person cannot decide the DMK’s leadership. Even I don’t have the right to decide. It is a party which will decide on who will be their next chief... However, in a democracy, everyone has a right to give an opinion.”
Amar Singh | Politician, on the way Mulayam Singh has treated him
“I have given so many years of my life to him and this is how he humiliates me. The don does not speak himself, it is always his minions who do, so all the insults that have been heaped on me have come only with his knowledge and blessings. I will take revenge.”
Darul Uloom | Deoband In an edict issued by the seminary
“It is unlawful for Muslim women to work in government or private institutions where men and women work together, and women have to talk frankly with men without a veil.”
Nitin Gadkari | BJP president
“Woh Sonia ke talwe chatne waale kutte hain (They (Mulayam and Lalu) are dogs who lick Sonia’s feet)… What happened during the cut motion? The BSP went and sat in the lap of the Congress.”
Lalu Prasad | On the comments made by Gadkari
“He called us dogs. He needlessly abused us. We will teach him a lesson... We will first try to give Gadkari tablets to cure his mental bankruptcy, then put him on capsules and if the tablets and capsules fail, we will put him on injection.”
Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari | In a tweet supporting her father
“The man lampooned unfairly by the country’s powerful establishment as ‘Mr 10 per cent’ has in fact given 110 per cent back to the country.”
Narinder Singh Shergill | Punjabi farmer after spending Rs 10 lakh for a fancy number (CHO1- AC- 0001) for his vehicle
“ Shauk da koi mul nahin (you indulge in your fancy at any cost).”
Nicolas Cage | Actor
“I actually choose the way I eat according to the way animals have sex. I think fish are very dignified with sex. So are birds. But pigs, not so much. So I don’t eat pig meat or things like that. I eat fish and fowl.”
Shahid Afridi | Pakistan T20 captain
“Some of the players, once they have made some decent runs, would go to the field in the deep. There they would be busy chatting with the crowd, ogling at girls and giving autographs. They just play for themselves”
Digambar Kamat | Goa chief minister
“If women start pursuing politics, then it will have a negative impact on society. Don’t fall for 33 per cent reservation (in politics). Politics makes you go crazy. Women play an important role in transforming society. We should look after our next generation.”
Mohammad Afzal Guru | Sentenced to death in the Parliament attack case, in an appeal to the Supreme Court
“… Hang me quickly if I have to be hanged and if not, decide on that as well.”
S P S Rathore | Convicted for molesting Ruchika, on being taken away from court
“Nehru is my role model and he always inspired (me) to smile in adversity ...so I’ll even smile more.”
Sharad Yadav | JD(U) president
“The unique identity (UID) card should carry the caste of a person, so that he or she does not need to run to government offices for getting caste certificates and face embarrassment.”
Mohammed | Father of two-year-old four-stone Ardi Rizal who smokes 40-odd cigarettes a day
“He looks pretty healthy to me. I don’t see any (health) problem.”
Debrahlee Lorenzana | On being fired from Citibank for her clothes were distracting male employees in her office
“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I said, ‘You gotta be kidding me! Too distracting? For who? For you? My clients don’t seem to have any problem’. Where I’m from, women dress up — like put on makeup and do their nails — to go to the supermarket. I was raised very Latin. We’re feminine. A woman in Puerto Rico takes care of herself.”
Jake Knotts | Republican senator commenting on Nikki Haley, the Indian-American running for the governorship of South Carolina
“We already got one raghead in the White House. We don’t need another in the Governor’s Mansion.”
Satinath Sarangi | Bhopal gas tragedy activist
“The disaster has been treated like a traffic accident. It is a judicial disaster, and it is a betrayal by the government.”
Robert O Blake | US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs
“We hope that this verdict helps to bring some closure to the victims and their families. But I don’t expect this verdict to reopen any new inquiries or anything like that. On the contrary, we hope that this is going to help to bring closure.”
Moti Singh | District collector of Bhopal in December ’84
“The chief secretary told us to release (Warren) Anderson and urgently put him on the state plane at the airport. We did not question the decision because he was not one to answer queries. He gave orders and expected them to be followed.”
Ram Jethmalani | Senior lawyer, who 3½ years back said in Rajya Sabha that
Afzal Guru did not get a fair trial
“I am in complete agreement with the BJP’s stand that (Afzal) Guru is a terrorist and such suicide bombers should get death punishment.”
Nitish Kumar | Bihar chief minister
“Just five months before Assembly elections this advertisement (showing him holding hands with Narendra Modi) has been published. This is unethical and uncultured. How can anyone publish my pictures in an ad without asking me? conspiracy. It is against Indian culture to brag about help given to anyone. The people of Bihar are not that weak to accept help from the outside.”
Narendra Modi | Gujarat chief minister
“Nobody in Gujarat knows what a power cut is. People in Bihar hardly know what power is.“
Sunirmal Chakraborty | Principal of La Martiniere for Boys
“Why should I resign? I am a teacher, not a criminal. I don’t think there is any association between my caning the child (Rouvanjit Rawla) and his death.”
Larry King | Talk show host on calling it quits
“...it’s time to hang up my nightly suspenders.”
A P Shah | Former Delhi High Court Chief Justice
“After delivering the judgment (decriminalizing homosexual acts between consenting adults in private), I was a little apprehensive about public response to it. It’s a huge relief to know that the judgment has been received well. I think it’s the most important judgment in my career.”
G K Pillai | Union home secretary
“It could take about three to seven years to effectively control the Maoist insurgency”.
Nitin Gadkari | BJP president
“ Why are you (Congress) not punishing him? Is he a jamai (son- inlaw) of the Congress? Have they got their daughters married to Afzal Guru?”
S H Kapadia | Chief Justice of India
“People should be made aware of the value of time. If matrimonial, commercial, tort and other cases go for mediation, space is created for courts to hear criminal cases, taxation and other matters.”
Joe Biden | US Vice President, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
“We got back four really good ones (spies). And the 10, they’ve been here a long time, but they hadn’t done much. ... Let me be clear. It was not my idea to send her (Anna Chapman) back.”
Pranab Mukherjee | Union finance minister, on the West Bengal train collusion, which killed more than 100 people
“Accidents are accidents. Nobody can predict, that’s why it is an accident.”
Jannat | Woman in Barmer (Rajasthan) on being pregnant for the 28th time and on family planning
“Khuda ne jo diya hai woh theek hai. Jism mein kuch karwana paap hai (whatever God has given is fine. Interfering with the body by any means is a sin).”
A Pakistani Citizen | After the country getting the tag ‘Pornistan’
“Yes. I have watched (and accessed) porn websites. They (Google) may be right. What’s wrong with it?”
Diego Maradona | Argentina coach, reacting to Pele’s comment that he is coaching for the money
“I’m not surprised, Pele should go back to the museum.”
Pele | Brazilian football legend
“Maradona accepted the job as he needed work and needed the money. I saw how Argentina qualified with difficulty. But it is not Maradona’s fault; it is the fault of those who put him in charge.”
Rohit Gandhi | Fashion designer, on Mallika Sherawat’s choice of gown
“I think she has dressed for a red light area not the red carpet. It’s a desperate attempt to seek attention, and I think she’s embarrassing the other Indian actresses who are also there.”
Pope Benedict XVI | On the Church’s abuse scandal
“The greatest persecution of the Church doesn’t come from enemies on the outside but is born from the sins within the Church... The Church needs to profoundly relearn penitence, accept purification, learn forgiveness but also justice.”