The Namesake Quotes

Moushumi Mazumdar: Not bad, Mr. Ganguli.

Gogol Ganguli: I'd say we made a killing, Mrs. Ganguli.

Moushumi Mazumdar: Oh, hold it, hold it. Ms. Mazumdar is the name.

Ashima A. Ganguli: ...Besides, what kind of a girl is called Max, huh?

Lydia Ratliff: Maybe it's a boy.

Gogol Ganguli: So I'm two inches away from her. Her luscious lips part. Just as I'm about to kiss her, she looks at me and she says, "What's your name?"

Marc: Gogol Ganguli.

Gogol Ganguli: End of seduction 101.

Gogol Ganguli: [after being told the origin of his name] Baba, is that what you think of when you think of me? Do I remind you of that night?

Ashoke Ganguli: Not at all. You remind me of everything that followed. Everyday since then has been a gift... Gogol.

Ashoke Ganguli: There is something I always wanted to ask you, but never had the courage. All those years ago, why did you say yes to me?

Ashima A. Ganguli: You were the best of the lot.

Ashoke Ganguli: Huh?

Ashima A. Ganguli: Better than the widower with four children or the cartoonist with one arm. I also liked your shoes.

Ashoke Ganguli: Oh. Oh, okay.

Ashima A. Ganguli: Hmm, you want me to say "I love you," like the Americans.

Gogol Ganguli: Who's Pierre?

[silence]

Gogol Ganguli: Are you having an affair?

[more silence]

Moushumi Mazumdar: Maybe it's not enough that we are both Bengali.

Gogol Ganguli: That's not why I love you.

Ashoke Ganguli: The camera! It is in the car. All this and no picture, huh? We just have to remember it then. Huh? Will you remember this day, Gogol?

Gogol: How long do you I to remember it?

Ashoke Ganguli: [laughing] Ah, remember it always. Remember that you and I made the journey and went together to a place where there was nowhere left to go.

[first lines]

Man: Mm, what are you reading?

Ashoke Ganguli: Hm? "The Overcoat", by Gogol.

Man: Pack a pillow and a blanket. See the world. You will never regret it.

Ashoke Ganguli: My grandfather always says that is what books are for. To travel without moving an inch.

Ashima A. Ganguli: He wants to keep Gogol and not Nikhil as his good name. Fine. No big deal.

Ashoke Ganguli: With a president named Jimmy, there is nothing we can do. As long as our kid is happy, you know.

Gogol Ganguli: Did you guys know all this stuff about him when you decided to name me? That he was paranoid, suicidal, friendless, depressed?

Ashoke Ganguli: You forgot to mention that he was also a genius.

Ashima A. Ganguli: [riding in rickshaw] Why don't you get in my American son? Sonia can sit on my lap. Come on.

Gogol: No. Because being pulled by another human being is feudal and exploitative, and I don't want to be part of something like that.

Ashima A. Ganguli: You know, by the time I was your age, I had already celebrated my 10th wedding anniversary.

Gogol Ganguli: This is America, Ma. People have twins when they're 60.

Moushumi Mazumdar: [wedding night] I've begun to publish under my name. No one would know me. Oh come on, Nikhil. What if somebody ask you to change your name?

Gogol Ganguli: I already have, remember?

[last lines]

Ashoke Ganguli: [remembering his father's words] Pack a pillow and blanket. Go, see the world. You will never regret it, Gogol.