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QUOTA of QUOTES

Compiled/partly written by Melvin Durai

August 2020

“The outsider rhetoric is coded. It’s not just that I’m not from here. It’s that I’m not from here in a deeper sense. I’m just glad it didn’t work.”—Writer-turned-politician Nikil Saval, who defeated three-term State Senator Larry Farnese in the Pennsylvania primary election, despite being portrayed by his opponent as an outsider. A democratic socialist, Saval moved to Philadelphia from New York in 2011. (Philadelpia Inquirer)

“I will serve all the soldiers and their families as a doctor. Always used to say ‘In the joy of others lies our own,’ so to do service is the ultimate practice of life.”—Shenika Shah, who graduated from medical school this year and has been promoted from a second lieutenant to a captain in the U.S. Army. (New York City Post)

“If we don’t speak out about what we’re seeing, if everyone doesn’t speak out about what they’re seeing, then nothing changes.”—Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, on why he used his platform to speak out against institutional racism following the killing of George Floyd by police. (New York Times)

“When our community doesn’t hold itself accountable, we are complicit.”—D.J. Patil, head of technology
at Devoted Health and former U.S. Chief Data Scientist, speaking at Indiaspora’s Civil Rights Town Hall on the Indian-American community’s responsibility to oppose racism.

“The confidence and support of my community back home in Georgia has been deeply meaningful to me, and I am humbled that in reaching this goal, I am showing other Sikh Americans that any career path is possible for anyone willing to rise to the challenge.”—Second Lieutenant Anmol Narang, who recently became the first observant Sikh to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.

[Comments? Contributions? We would love to hear from you about Chai Time. If you have contributions, please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.]

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