50 Fun Facts About Midnight's Children

Who wrote Midnight's Children?

It was only his second novel, yet it is widely credited with launching the 'post-Rushdie' decade of Indian writing in English.

Who is the narrator and protagonist of the novel?

Saleem tells his own life story aloud to Padma, his wife-to-be, in a structure the novel likens to the Arabian Nights.

At what exact moment is the narrator born?

The timing makes him precisely as old as independent India, and the novel treats the two biographies as one.

In which year was the novel first published?

Jonathan Cape published it, with a cover design by Bill Botten.

Which major literary award did the novel win in the year it came out?

It went on to be named Booker of Bookers in 1993 and Best of the Booker in 2008.

What special prize did the novel receive in 1993 for the award's 25th anniversary?

It repeated the feat in 2008, taking the Best of the Booker for the prize's 40th anniversary.

During which hour are all the gifted children of the novel born?

Those born closest to the stroke of midnight wield the most powerful gifts.

What special power does Saleem use to gather the other children?

He convenes a Midnight Children's Conference, a mirror of the young nation's divisions over language, religion and politics.

Saleem's nemesis is known by which body-part nickname?

He is the 'knees' in the prophecy of knees and nose, while Saleem is the nose.

What is the nickname of the girl from the conjurers' ghetto who befriends Saleem?

She is the only one of the children to become Saleem's friend, and later his wife under the name Leylah Sinai.

Into how many books is the novel divided?

Book One covers roughly 1915 to 1947, before Saleem is even born.

In which jungle does Saleem recover his memory during a quasi-mythical exile?

He had suffered amnesia through the wars on the subcontinent before reconnecting with his childhood friends.

Which Indian prime minister's Emergency ends the potency of the midnight's children?

Saleem is held as a political prisoner during the period, and the passages are scathing about her lust for power.

Which German novel is it often compared to for fusing personal and national biography?

Günter Grass's Oskar Matzerath and Rushdie's Saleem Sinai both narrate their nations through their own bodies.

What word did Rushdie coin in the novel for adding Indian elements to English culture?

Fittingly, the narrator ends up working in a pickle factory.

To whom does Saleem recount his life story aloud?

Padma Mangroli, plump, muscular and hairy, plays the listener in the novel's storytelling frame.

Who sued over the novel in the British courts in 1984?

A single sentence in chapter 28 was the issue; the case was settled when Rushdie agreed to remove it.

Where did the novel place on the BBC's 2003 Big Read poll of best-loved novels?

The poll surveyed the UK's favorite books of all time.

Roughly how many copies has the novel sold in the UK alone?

Its sales and prizes made the 1980s the 'post-Rushdie' decade for the Indian English novel.

Which BBC radio program gave the book its one memorable bad review?

Presenter Sheridan Morley kept begging the critic to find something to praise; the critic refused.

Who staged a theatrical adaptation of the novel in 2003?

A planned BBC mini-series with Rahul Bose had collapsed a few years earlier when its filming permit was revoked.

Who directed the 2012 film of Midnight's Children?

Rushdie wrote the screenplay himself, paring the 600-page book down to 130 pages.

Which actor played the narrator in the 2012 film?

Mehta had wanted Imran Khan but could not afford him, and cast Bhabha after seeing video of him in a play.

For how much did Rushdie say he sold the film rights to the novel?

He told the BBC about the token sum; he and Mehta had first considered adapting Shalimar the Clown.

In which city was the 2012 film secretly shot?

Mehta feared protests in Pakistan and from Gandhi-family loyalists in Mumbai, so cast members signed secrecy clauses.

Which country's complaint briefly halted filming in Sri Lanka?

Mehta appealed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who let shooting continue.

What was the film's working title during the shoot?

Filming lasted 69 days and used 800 extras.

At which festival did the film premiere in September 2012?

It was later nominated for Best Picture and seven other categories at the first Canadian Screen Awards.

Which streaming service announced, then abandoned, a series adaptation in 2018?

Showrunner Vishal Bhardwaj walked away over a special-effects budget Netflix would not agree to.

Who was to star in the BBC's aborted 1990s mini-series of the novel?

Bose eventually appeared in the 2012 film instead, as General Zulfikar.

Who is Saleem's grandfather, a Kashmiri doctor who survives the Amritsar Massacre?

A 'half and halfer' with a Western education, he wrestles with the existence of God throughout the novel.

Which boatman on Dal Lake advises Saleem's grandfather to 'follow his nose'?

Most people think him insane, but he seems at times able to predict the future.

What does Saleem call his grandmother Naseem Ghani?

She has two large moles on her face that are referred to as witches' nipples.

What was Saleem's mother Amina Sinai called before her marriage?

The three Aziz sisters are known together as the Teen Batti, the three bright lights.

Where is the poet Nadir Khan hidden after the Hummingbird's assassination?

Naseem is so furious that she vows silence for three years; Mumtaz falls in love with Nadir and marries him privately.

What kind of verse is Nadir Khan known for?

The Hummingbird's personal secretary later resurfaces under the name Nasir Qasim.

What does the Rani of Cooch Naheen's name mean in English?

The wealthy Muslim patron sponsors the political campaign of Mian Abdullah, the Hummingbird.

From which Englishman do the Sinais buy their Bombay house?

He insists buyers live exactly as the English occupants did until the hour of independence, and is Saleem's biological father.

Who switches Saleem and Shiva at birth?

The midwife does it to impress her radical sweetheart Joseph D'Costa, then spends years as Saleem's nursemaid out of guilt.

What business does the guilty midwife later run as Mrs Braganza?

She borrowed the name from Catherine of Braganza, whose dowry gave Bombay to the English in 1662.

What nickname does Saleem's sister Jamila earn as a child?

She owes it to her thatch of red-gold hair; she grows up to be West Pakistan's most celebrated singer.

Which schoolteacher is sacked after pulling out a clump of Saleem's hair?

The geography teacher's violence leaves the bald patch that earns Saleem the nickname Baldy.

Saleem's American childhood sweetheart Evie Burns is described as what?

Back in America she knifes an old lady and is sent to reform school.

How does nuclear physicist Adi Dubash die?

His widow then grooms their son, Cyrus the Great, to become the guru Lord Khusro Khusrovand.

How tall is the snake charmer Picture Singh?

A communist and undisputed leader of the conjurers' ghetto, he got his nickname from appearing in half of India's Kodak adverts.

Which Pakistani army outfit does Saleem serve in during the 1971 war?

Canine Unit for Tracking and Intelligence Activities; his hypersensitive nose makes him the tracker.

Which real Indian general is given a voice at the Dhaka surrender in the novel?

He and Pakistan's Tiger Niazi are among the few historical figures allowed to speak in the book.

What is unusual about Saleem's son Aadam Sinai?

Biologically Shiva's child, he belongs to a second wave of midnight's children.

Who is 'The Widow' in the novel?

Her identity is only revealed towards the end of Book Three, though she is alluded to from early on.

How old is Tai Bibi, the Karachi prostitute Saleem visits?

She can change her body smell at will and mimic the smell of others.