For a person who grew up in the '30s and '40s in the segregated South, with so many doors closed without explanation to me, libraries and books said, 'Here I am, read me.' Over time I have learned I am at my best around books.
Frustration is a sign I am acting independently. The more you try your own way, the tighter the doors will stay closed.
I am, by nature, an honest person. I wear my emotions on my sleeve. There is no 'behind closed doors' with me.
I've struggled a lot to get where I am. I initially got rejected by every producer. But no complaints. I enjoyed each and every moment of the struggle. My first break came in 1997 from Krishna Vamsi and then Puri Jagannadh, who is my closest friend. I owe everything I am to him. Our careers have evolved simultaneously.
I am privileged to count many Muslims among my friends - some are amongst my closest friends.
I am not somebody who likes to give advice, or anything like that, unless it's my closest friends or family.
I was fine being in the closet at the beginning of my career because that's what you were supposed to be - until I realized that it didn't serve anybody, and I was left feeling utterly empty. This is who I am, so I've gotta be me.
I am a mirror to my neighbor, and in that mirror, he must see a reflection of Jesus. If that mirror is cloudy or distorted, Jesus' reflection will be so vague it will hardly be seen.
I am always joking and always clowning, giving and helping.
I'm still a little girl in Hawaii, I have the same friends I had when I was a kid who love me for who I am - not what I do. I never got caught up in the club scene or took wrong roads.
I remember when replay first came to TV. I can't remember who it was now, but a manager came out to beef about a call, and I ran him. He said he was going back into the clubhouse and watch replay. I told him, 'Go ahead. I am the replay.'
Some people see me as someone who makes other people look bad... I often get a feeling most people don't know who I am, or have a clue, and I live with that. I don't try to prove anything by talking.
I now make my living by being impolite. I am clumsy at it.
Maori get pigeonholed into the idea they're spiritual and telling stories like 'Whale Rider' and 'Once Were Warriors,' quite serious stuff, but we're pretty funny people, and we never really have had an opportunity to show that side of ourselves, the clumsy, nerdy side of ourselves, which is something I am.
I am terribly clumsy, so there is a plethora of walking into lamp-posts, falling over, dropping things, and ruining sofas.
I would say that I'm opinionated and clumsy and I am definitely led by my heart over my head.
Recently a study proved that working from a larger, less cluttered computer screen increases concentration. I could have told them that. And yes, I write first drafts with a mechanical pencil and a yellow legal pad. There's good reason for this primitive behavior: I am a crackerjack typist. My hand moves far more quickly than my brain.
I usually work in a room which is totally cluttered with my mess, and there's stuff everywhere, and it's kind of chaotic because I am a very messy person. I could totally write in a pristine environment, but it would mean I would have to be at someone else's house.
I am very active in the co-operative movement. I am very active in agro-industrial growth. I am taking up the issues of the farmers of India. I am active in the field of education.
The boss is the captain on the cricket field. I am in charge of the coaching staff. That's put into place. My job is to oversee things and see things go all right. Who cares who's the boss? At the end of the day, you win and to hell with it, yaar.
