Fissiparousness, Prestidigitators, & Chutney

I've just emerged from the stunning Sundarbans section and I'm finding myself (once again) utterly captivated by this novel. The single most memorable scene for me this time around is probably the one where the Buddha (not yet Saleem again) and the "bisected" Shaheed are up "in the muezzin's roost." After the savage critiques of purity and religious fundamentalism, it's just an extraordinary moment when that mosque seems spontaneously to testify to the abuse that is occurring in its name: "Coming to the rescue, feet dancing on ants, the buddha bumped his elbow against a switch; the loudspeaker system was activated, and afterwards people would never forget how a mosque had screamed out the terrible agony of war" (434).

How are you all doing, I'm wondering, with the proliferating engagements with the actual events of the subcontinent's history and wars? In the second half, for example, you're learning a good bit about the nature of Pakistan's formation, the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, the independence of Bangladesh, the Emergency in India and Indira Gandhi's growing power and self-aggrandizements, etc. I guess this is why I thought John Keay's book on Indian history or one of the many books by Stanley Wolpert would be very helpful to you as a reference. I think there must be a great paper topic out there, too, involving the presence/role of Kashmir in Rushdie's writing. His family, of course, is originally from Kashmir, Midnight's Children begins in Kashmir in what often appears to be the register of mythic time, Aadam Aziz must return to Kashmir to die, etc. Kashmir also crucially informs, of course, "The Prophet's Hair" from East, West, and also figures prominently in a more recent novel (that we're not reading), Shalimar the Clown. What does Kashmir seem to represent in Rushdie's imagination?

And what else should be on our agenda, I wonder, including sections/moments/issues from the first half of the novel that we may not have properly covered last week? The Midnight's Children Conference, probably? The representation of Padma, as well as her role in momentum and success of Saleem's project? The importance of Shiva to the narrative?

Anyway, I hope you all are enjoying the novel, and are holding off your own cracks that will start to widen as the various demands of the semester start to claim you (your mental state may approximate that of the buddha's in the Sundarbans eventually!). I'll see you tomorrow ...