This was a very interesting story and had a pretty different plot than what we have read so far in the class. One of the things that I could not stop thinking about though was the timing of Saleem's birth. "On the stroke of midnight, as a matter of fact. Clock-hands joined palms in respectful greetings as I came. Oh, spell it out, spell it out; at the precise instant of India's arrival at independence" (1131). Before reading the story, the introduction explains the significance of this, saying "Saleem is born at midnight, between August 14 and 15th, 1947, the moment at which India and Pakistan became separate nations; as a "child" of that historic hour" (1130). Based on Saleen's comments, he does not seem to like being born during the independence. He mentions a few times his displeasure, "I had been mysteriously handcuffed to history" (1131). What he is saying here is that he is always connected to the independence event that happened when he was born. He also adds, "for the next three decades, there was to be no escape" (1132). He was unable to break the tie that he was born with to the independence event and it was always something he was associated with.
If I was him, I would get annoyed and would also be displeased with always being connected to an event like that. People would look past the person and just always go back to the time he was born. I feel this would discredit him and and be disrespectful.
"The Perforated Sheet" Salma Rushdie 1131-1143
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