MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN

              MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN

Midnight’s Children is a 2012 film by Deepa Mehta which is an adaptation of Salman

Rushdie’s Booker Prize winning novel of the identical name. Midnight’s Children as the title suggests

is the story of the children who were born at the midnight of August 14,1947,the same night in which

India attained freedom.It is said that these children possessed magical abilities which gave scope for

Magical Realism in this film.Want to experience the magic yourself!Watch the movie and it will take

you to a Fantasy world.This movie primarily focuses on the story of two of these midnight’s children

Saleem and Shiva who were swapped by the nurse Mary Periera.The nurse committed this despicable

act as she was convinced by her husband that it was the part of their rebellion to bridge the gap

between the rich and the poor.The personal life of Saleem and the political turmoil in India was

portrayed meticulously.Whenever Midnight’s Children comes into scene,the first reading would be of

Magical Realism and the next would obviously be a reading on its political and historical

implications.Let us think out of box and explore some other aspect which is portrayed in this film

like…LOVE.The sublime emotion ‘Love’ is beautifully painted in this film.If we delve deeper we can

discern different layers of Love being interestingly represented. The first instance of it is the love between Saleem’s grandparents Aadam Aziz and

Naseem.Aadam Aziz was a Doctor who went to treat Naseem.Due to cultural constraints Aziz was not

allowed to see her person but could only see the area which was to be treated by him through a hole

on a sheet of cloth.After the treatment, he would return home in a boat.He used to ponder over their

meetings and often wondered how she would look.But he had fallen in love with her even before

seeing her face.He longed to see her face and the helmsman consoled the Doctor by saying that

someday she would have a headache.Fortunately or unfortunately she had a headache and both of

them got a chance to see eachother for the first time.Naseem was fascinated by Aadam’s unusually

large nose and subsequently they got married.Aadam was a man with a progressive thought whereas

Naseem was a conventional orthodox,Because of these differences in their characters problems arose

between them,but they still managed to be together. The love between Mumtaz and Nadir have a pathetic ending.Nadir,a fugitive took refuge at

Mumtaz’s house and she accepted the self-imposed duty of taking care of Nadir’s needs.They spent

so much time together talking and reciting poems as Nadir was a poet and built an imperishable bond

between them.They got married but due to some dire circumstances they were obliged to live in the

cellar.Later the family would come to know that Mumtaz was unable to conceive because Nadir was

impotent.This incident accentuates the animosity Emerald,Mumtaz’s sister had for Nadir.She rushed

and brought The General Zulfikar who was Emerald’s lover and was also looking out for

Nadir.Meanwhile Nadir renounced Mumtaz and fled from there.The inseparable Mumtaz and Nadir

parted ways because of Mumtaz’s conventional family beliefs. Later she got married to Ahmed Sinai,a

businessman.This was the second marriage for both of them.Perhaps the reason behind their

marriage was their yearning for children which was not fulfilled in their respective first

marriages.Though they were happily married and had children,their joy was short lived.Eventually rift

arose in their marital affair and they were drawn apart emotionally. Mumtaz’s infidelity was also to be noted.Even after her marriage with Ahmed,Mumtaz

continued her relationship with Nadir.Though he was her former husband this was considered to be

an illicit affair out of wedlock.Having confronted by her son Saleem,she renounced her Love for Nadir

and demanded him not to call her again.With this the relationship of Mumtaz and Nadir came to a

halt. The love between Mary Periera and Joe had shattered the dreams of two families.This

irrational Love she had for Joe had prompted her to swap Shiva and Saleem at the Hospital.She knew

well that this was unethical but her love for Joe blinded her and she committed this contemptible

act.This substitution of the babies was a grave mistake because it was one of the reasons for the

schism in the family of Ahmed and Mumtaz ,since the blood group of Saleem was neither Mumtaz’s

nor Ahmed’s.This broke the family and Saleem was sent away to Emerald’s house though he was not

at fault.After few years, when Saleem spoke of Mumtaz disrespectfully infront of Mary claiming that

she was infidel,Mary felt pangs of guilt and revealed the truth of Saleem’s and Shiva’s birth.But this

confession was of no avail because the damage was already done.This is one of the instances where the consequences of irrational Love can be discerned.The makers of Midnight’s Children did not fail to acknowledge parental love.In fact Saleem

was the son of Vanitha and Wee Willie Winkie but was replaced for Shiva by Mary.So Saleem was

brought up by Mumtaz and Ahmed Sinai.Mumtaz loved children so much and one of the reasons

behind her marrying Ahmed Sinai was ‘children.’She loved Saleem,her first child so much.Owing to

her illicit relationship with Nadir and also because of Saleem’s impulsive behaviour arguments arose

between them but their love was intact.One day Saleem eavesdropped while Mumtaz was speaking

to Nadir over phone and followed her to Nadir.Saleem warned her to give up her unscrupulous

life .Being ashamed of this she asked Nadir not to call her again.Her love for Saleem weighed more

than her love for Nadir.Mumtaz loved and cared for Saleem even after knowing that he was not the

fruit of her womb. The love Mary Periera had for Saleem was an amalgam of love for a baby,pity for a

motherless child and guilt over her sin of swapping the babies.Mary was always haunted by guilt, so

to compensate her acts she went as a nanny to Saleem and took good care of him.She took the

responsibility of Saleem and almost became his foster mother.Unable to bear the guilt while Saleem’s

family was falling apart Mary confessed her sin and was sent away.Before leaving the house she

professed her love for Saleem claiming that she loved him like her own son.Saleem also cherished

strong love towards Mary.In the end of the movie he calls her his mother.This love prompted him to

take responsibility of Parvati’s son.Though love doesn’t form the main concept,this emotion runs

throughout the film .The instances of selfless love portrayed in this film definitely deserves our appreciation.

- Santhwana Thomas