Salman Rushdie Midnight's children Salman Rushdie Midnight's ...

had begun disappearing on mysterious 'shopping trips') dramatically and
unaccountably blushed.
On my tenth birthday, I was given an Alsatian puppy with a false pedigree w
ho would shortly die of syphilis.
On my tenth birthday, everyone at Methwold's Estate tried hard to be chee
rful, but beneath this thin veneer everyone was possessed by the same tho
ught: 'Ten years, my God! Where have they gone? What have we done?'
On my tenth birthday, old man Ibrahim announced his support for the Maha Gu
jarat Parishad; as far as possession of the city of Bombay was concerned, h
e nailed his colours to the losing side.
On my tenth birthday, my suspicions aroused by a blush, I spied on my moth
er's thoughts; and what I saw there led to my beginning to follow her, to
my becoming a private eye as daring as Bombay's legendary Dom Minto, and t
o important discoveries at and in the vicinity of the Pioneer Cafe.
On my tenth birthday, I had a party, which was attended by my family, whi
ch had forgotten how to be gay, by classmates from the Cathedral School,
who had been sent by their parents, and by a number of mildly bored girl
swimmers from the Breach Candy Pools, who permitted the Brass Monkey to f
ool around with them and pinch their bulging musculatures; as for adults,
there were Mary and Alice Pereira, and the Ibrahims and Homi Catrack and
Uncle
Hanif and Pia Aunty, and Lila Sabarmati to whom the eyes of every schoolbo
y (and also Homi Catrack) remained firmly glued, to the considerable irrit
ation of Pia. But the only member of the hilltop gang to attend was loyal
Sonny Ibrahim, who had defied an embargo placed upon the festivities by an
embittered Evie Burns. He gave me a message: 'Evie says to tell you you'r
e out of the gang.'
On my tenth birthday, Evie, Eyeslice, Hairoil and even Cyrus the great stor
med my private hiding place; they occupied the clock tower, and deprived me
of its shelter.
On my tenth birthday, Sonny looked upset, and the Brass Monkey detached her
self from her swimmers and became utterly furious with Evie Burns. Til teac
h her,' she told me. 'Don't you worry, big brother; I'll show that one, all
right.'
On my tenth birthday, abandoned by one set of children, I learned that fiv
e hundred and eighty one others were celebrating their birthdays, too; whi
ch was how I understood the secret of my original hour of birth; and, havi
ng been expelled from one gang, I decided to form my own, a gang which was
spread over the length and breadth of the country, and whose headquarters
were behind my eyebrows.
And on my tenth birthday, I stole the initials of the Metro Cub Club which
were also the initials of the touring English cricket team and gave them