Paper no.202

 Name : Riddhi H. Rathod

Roll no : 17

 Paper : 202 (Indian English Literature – Post-Independence)

Topic :  Saleem as the representation of the postcolonial India

Sem. : 3

Email i'd. :- riddhirathod1213@gmail.com 

Submitted to: Smt S.B. Gardi Department

INTRODUCTION :-

"Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie is a captivating and award-winning novel that intricately weaves the personal and political narratives of India's post-colonial history. The story unfolds through the life of Saleem Sinai, born at the precise moment of India's independence in 1947, and follows the fates of other children born in that first hour, each endowed with unique, supernatural abilities. Rushdie skillfully blends historical events with magical realism, creating a narrative that reflects the diversity of India's culture, religions, and languages. Against the backdrop of significant moments in Indian history, such as the partition, Emergency era, and Bangladesh Liberation War, the novel explores the complexities of identity and the challenges of building a cohesive nation. "Midnight's Children" has received critical acclaim, winning the Booker Prize in 1981 and later the "Booker of Bookers" as the best novel from the first 25 years of the Booker Prize. Beyond its literary achievements, the novel has sparked both admiration and controversy, cementing its status as a landmark work in contemporary literature.

• Saleem as the representation of the postcolonial India

The story of Saleem Sinai is the story of postcolonial India. The exact moment of his birth was 15 August 1947, at the stroke of midnight. This moment completely coincides with India’s gain of its independence from Britain. His birth ties him closely to the country’s fate and future. Accordingly, his life is a reflection of the country’s ups and down, good times and bad times. “More than a mirror of India, Saleem is the multitude of India.”

During the first hour of independence, 1001 children were born, all of them with astounding magical powers. The closer to midnight the child was born, the more magnificent and extraordinary their power was. 581 midnight’s children were alive by the time Saleem discovered their special gifts. His was the gift of telepathy, he was able to enter other people’s minds and get to know their most intimate thoughts, emotions and desires. Saleem’s gift of telepathy allows him not only to immerse himself into the minds of other midnight’s children, but also into India itself, he is connected to the country through his gift. He is able to hear all of India, through all of its diversity, including different religions. Midnight’s children are the most exquisite reflection of India itself. They represent the main characteristics of Indian country – the diversity and plurality. They are all different, they all come from different backgrounds, religions, but they are connected to each other by the precious gifts that they own, gifts which are not always a blessing. “The children of midnight were also the children of the time: fathered, you understand, by history. It can happen. Especially in a country which is itself a sort of dream.” The children are embodiment of the country, of the nation, of its present and its future. Owing to his own special power, Saleem organizes a Midnight’s Children Conference, so they all meet in his mind for one hour every day. Shiva, who was born at the exact same time as Saleem, has the power of war. He suggests to Saleem that they should be the leaders of the group, which Saleem rejects, wishing for the group to have a greater purpose. Saleem and Shiva, both being born at midnight, represent the contrasting personalities. Shiva is named after the God of destruction, while Saleem represents Brahma, the God of creation. Shiva’s personality stems from his upbringing, he was born into great poverty, he was expected by his father to be a beggar, so a lot of his personal frustration and anger can be justified. They together manifest the core differences striking India – rich and poor, Hindu and Muslim. “If Saleem embodies the Indian history of pluralism, Shiva embodies India’s parallel history of oppression and intolerance.”

India had very high expectations of its newly acquired freedom. The “Times of India” announced a prize for any child born at the exact moment of independence. India manifests its hopes for a better future through its celebration of the independence. People are ecstatic, glorious celebrations are organized, and Saleem himself receives a letter from Jawaharlal Nehru, the prime minister, who predicts Saleem’s connection to the country:

“Dear Baby Saleem, My belated congratulations on the happy accident of your moment of birth! You are the newest bearer of that ancient face of India which is also eternally young. We shall be watching over your life with the closest attention; it will be, in a sense, the mirror of our own.”

These words turned out to be prophetic, as his life is the mirror of the country in a metaphoric way. However, at the very same night, Shiva, Wee Wilie Winkie’s son was born. Mary Pereira, Saleem’s future nanny, swaps the babies at birth, in the memory of the man she loved, the revolutionary Joseph. She believed that the actual conflict in India was not between the Hindus and Muslims, but between the rich and the poor, so she wanted to do her part in mending social injustices. Therefore, Saleem’s birth mother was Hindu and she died while giving birth to him, and his real father was William Methwold, a British with whom his mother had an affair. Instead of growing up in a poorHindu family, Saleem was the privileged boy swapped at birth and grew up in a wealthy Muslim family. Saleem’s family background makes him the perfect paradigm of India and all its inner conflicts since he, in a way, comprised in himself everything that was bothering India at the time, having the British father, Hindu mother, but being brought up in a Muslim family. He is the principal symbol of India’s diversity and plurality.

 When Parvati gets pregnant with Shiva who completely abandons her after hearing the news, Saleem agrees to be the father to her child, as in this case the child would be entitled to their actual grandparents. At midnight on 25th of June, the Prime Minister declares a State of Emergency, allowing her to arrest her opposition and censor the media. At the same moment, Parvati’s son is born, continuing the tradition of grand events of Indian history corresponding to major events in Saleem’s life. They lived in the magicians’ ghetto when the soldiers broke in and killed most of the people residing there. Saleem was captured by Shiva and taken away to Indira Gandhi’s imprisonment. Saleem tells his interrogators about the rest of the midnight’s children and all of them undergo the sterilization process which results not only in the loss of their reproductive powers, but also in the loss of their magical powers. Saleem’s birth represents the creation of Midnight’s Children, while his son’s birth represents their destruction.

While Saleem was born at the time of great optimism and hope for the Indian country, his son was born at the State of Emergency, at the time of despair and chaos. However, even though all the magical powers of the Midnight’s Children are gone, Saleem’s son magical powers remain. He has big ears, and his power is the ability to hear his father’s story. Aadam’s first word, “Abracadabra”, symbolizes that the magic is not dead just yet, it survived in the new generation of Midnight’s Children. At the end of their lives, Shiva and Saleem seem to be restored to the destinies they should have had. Shiva, a child who should have been born wealthy, lived a life of a struggling poor man, but eventually became rich and respected. Saleem, who should have been born poor, lived an affluent life to end up being poor with no house and no family. By destroying Midnight’s Children, Indira Gandhi destroyed the hope for the better future, she ruined the best embodiment and characteristic of India, its diversity.

Midnight’s children posed a threat to her because they were different, “Was the M.C.C. an institution of tremendous promise, or was it rather the vehicle of the children’s eventual undoing? Was Saleem, as its founder, their saviour or their betrayer? Was the break-up of the M.C.C., of Saleem, of India itself, the end of possibility, a tragedy to be averted at all costs, or was it, on the contrary, an opportunity to be welcomed? Like many others in Midnight’s Children, the answer to all these questions is – well – both. And yet, from Saleem/Salman’s personal perspective, it comes down quite clearly on one side.” Considering the fact that Saleem is the metaphor of India, he himself could be blamed for the tragedy that befell the country resulting in the destruction of everything and everyone that is unique and different. He was the one who excluded Shiva from the M.C.C. which caused Shiva’s personal vendetta that ultimately brought the Midnight’s Children to an end.

 Before his death, Saleem claimed that his body would dissolve into 630 million pieces, which was approximately the population of India at the time the book was written and published. In this way, Saleem also represents not only the Indian country but also each and every citizen of India, in all of their differences and diversities. Having told his story, his purpose is fulfiled, therefore he does indeed fall apart into as many pieces of dust as there are people in India. India has always been a country which includes many different nationalities, religions and cultural influences. However, managing all these distinctions proved to be very challenging, as even India itself ended up in many conflicts and wars over them. Hence, it is only logical that Saleem, the paragon of India’s complexities and contrasts, having no solution for India’s unity has to disappear and evanesce. The novel ends on a very pessimistic note. As Trousdale notes: “Saleem seems to deny that it is possible to unify or represent India.”

However, we should not allow the tragedy of Saleem’s character to go in vain. At the time when he had no more magical powers and he could not save India, he did the best he could do – told his story. It is now up to us, the readers, to keep his story alive and to learn from it. The book gives the analysis of Indian history. The evidence we receive – Saleem and his feelings, emotions, memories, the stories he heard about and the stories he found out about using his gift – are all subjective. We do not receive any hard specific evidence in the book, which makes the story more personal and closer to the readers. “Even though Saleem is cracking into as many pieces as there are Indians, as there are stories to tell, he has successfully told his story – imperfect, unreliable, distorted, needing endless revising to be sure – but nonetheless triumphantly his own.”

Words-1650

Images-3

Reference :-

Priya, Rashmi. "Midnight’s Children: A Study in Postcolonial Perspective."

Srivastava, Neelam. Secularism in the postcolonial Indian novel: National and cosmopolitan narratives in English. Routledge, 2007.

David Price "Salman Rushdie's Miahight 's Children" Ariel25:2, April 1994 

Mary Gabbett, and Bret Love. “Salman Rushdie on India's Struggle for Independence & Midnight's Children.” Green Global Travel, https://greenglobaltravel.com/salman-rushdie-midnights-children-movie.