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

out of lethargy and depression and guilt fogs and verruca pain by the sight
of my father, seemed miraculously to regain her youth; with all her old gi
fts of assiduity restored, she set about the rehabilitation of Ahmed, drive
n by an unstoppable will. She brought him home to the first floor bedroom i
n which she had nursed him through the freeze; she sat with him day and nig
ht, pouring her strength into his body. And her love had its reward, becaus
e not only did Ahmed Sinai make a recovery so complete as to astound Breach
Candy's European doctors, but also an altogether more wonderful change occ
urred, which was that, as Ahmed came to himself under Amina's care, he retu
rned not to the self which had practised curses and wrestled djinns, but to
the self he might always have been, filled with contrition and forgiveness
and laughter and generosity and the finest miracle of all, which was love.
Ahmed Sinai had, at long last, fallen in love with my mother.
And I was the sacrificial lamb with which they anointed their love.
They had even begun to sleep together again; and although my sister with a
flash of her old Monkey self said, 'In the same bed, Allah, Mi Mi, how di
rty!', I was happy for them; and even, briefly, happier for myself, becaus
e I was back in the land of the Midnight Children's Conference. While news
paper headlines marched towards war, I renewed my acquaintance with my mir
aculous fellows, not knowing how many endings were in store for me.
On October 9th indian army poised for all out effort I felt able to convene
the Conference (time and my own efforts had erected the necessary barrier
around Mary's secret). Back into my head they came; it was a happy night, a
night for burying old disagreements, for making our own all out effort at
reunion. We repeated, over and over again, our joy at being back together;
ignoring the deeper truth that we were like all families, that family reuni
ons are more delightful in prospect than in reality, and that the time come
s when all families must go their separate ways. On October 15th unprovoked
attack on iNDIA the questionsI'd been dreading and trying not to provoke b
egan: Why is Shiva not here? And: Why have you closed off part of your mind?
On October 20th, the Indian forces were defeated thrashed by the Chinese at
Thag La ridge. An official Peking statement announced: In self defence, Ch
inese frontier guards were compelled to strike back resolutely. But when, t
hat same night, the children of midnight launched a concerted assault on me
, I had no defence. They attacked on a broad front and from every direction
, accusing me of secrecy, prevarication, high handedness, egotism; my mind,
no longer a parliament chamber, became the battleground on which they anni
hilated me. No longer 'big brother Saleem', I listened helplessly while the
y tore me apart; because, despite all their sound and fury, I could not unb
lock what I had sealed away; I could not bring myself to tell them Mary's s
ecret. Even Parvati the witch, for so long my fondest supporter, lost patie