Aadam treats Naseem through a small hole in a perforated sheet and gradually falls in love with her.

Aadam marries Naseem and later witnesses British troops massacre peaceful Indian protesters in Amritsar.

Political organizer Mian Abdullah is assassinated; his secretary Nadir Khan flees to Aadam's basement to hide.

Nadir secretly marries Mumtaz in the basement; Aadam discovers she is still a virgin and Nadir flees.

Mumtaz renames herself Amina and marries Ahmed Sinai, abandoning her love for Nadir.

Ahmed and Amina buy a house on William Methwold's Bombay estate shortly before Indian independence.

Midwife Mary Pereira switches the name tags of two newborn boys at midnight as India gains independence.

Amina punishes Saleem for eavesdropping; during a forced day of silence, he discovers he can hear voices.

Saleem realizes his telepathic voices belong to other midnight-born children and forms the Midnight Children's Conference.

A blood donation reveals to Ahmed and Amina that Saleem is not their biological son.

During Hanif's mourning period, Mary confesses to having switched the babies in the maternity ward.

Ahmed's violent alcoholism drives Amina to take her children to live with relatives in Pakistan.

Saleem's nose operation strips away his telepathy but gives him a superhuman sense of smell.

An air raid kills most of Saleem's family; the silver spittoon strikes his head and destroys his memory.

Parvati smuggles Saleem to Delhi; the Widow sterilizes the Midnight's Children, who are freed when the Prime Minister loses an election.

Saleem's story begins with his grandfather Aadam falling in love with Naseem through a perforated sheet and eventually building a family across two generations. Saleem is born at the exact moment of Indian independence, though a midwife secretly switches him with a beggar's son, setting the terms of his extraordinary life. He discovers his telepathic powers, makes contact with the other Midnight's Children, and tries to harness their gifts for the good of the country. A blood donation exposes his true parentage, and the household is further shattered when the nanny Mary confesses to the switch, sending the family into crisis. War and tragedy cost Saleem both his telepathy and his memory, and he is eventually captured by the authoritarian Widow, who sterilizes all the Midnight's Children before losing a national election that sets them free.

The headline events that shaped Saleem's life and India's history.

Aadam strikes his nose on frozen ground at prayer and vows never to bow before God or man.

Aadam's German friend Ilse drowns herself in the Kashmir lake shortly before Aadam proposes to Naseem.

Emerald secretly alerts Major Zulfikar to Nadir's hiding place; Nadir escapes and Emerald marries Zulfikar.

Amina shields Hindu peep-show man Lifafa Das from an angry mob by announcing her pregnancy.

Wee Willie Winkie visits the Methwold estate and reveals his wife Vanita is also expecting a child.

Infant Saleem is cured of near-fatal typhoid by Dr. Schaapsteker's experimental snake venom treatment.

Saleem secretly trails his mother and watches her meet her ex-husband Nadir at a Communist Party café.

Saleem anonymously warns Commander Sabarmati of his wife's affair; Sabarmati shoots and kills Homi Catrack.

Hanif dies by suicide; during the mourning, Aadam travels to Kashmir and steals a holy relic from a mosque.

Saleem watches soldiers drag the Pakistani President naked from his bed during General Zulfikar's military coup.

The Brass Monkey stuns everyone by revealing a beautiful singing voice and becomes the famous Jamila Singer.

Saleem leads his unit into the Sundarbans jungle; a snake bites him and his memories begin to return.

Mortally wounded by a grenade, Shaheed begs Saleem to carry him into a mosque where ants begin to devour him.

Parvati uses magic to summon Shiva, becomes pregnant with his child, and convinces Saleem to marry her.

Picture Singh defeats rival snake charmer the Maharaja of Cooch Naheen by knotting a cobra around the man's neck.

Behind Saleem's headline story lies a web of secondary characters and pivotal moments that give the narrative its texture and depth. From Aadam's religious vow after striking his nose on frozen ground to Amina's secret Communist café meeting with her first husband, these events quietly steer characters toward their fates. Saleem's childhood is marked by near-fatal illness, hidden family scandals, and his accidental intervention in national affairs through an anonymous letter that ends in murder. The family's time in Pakistan brings a military coup witnessed firsthand, the spectacular rise of Jamila Singer, and eventually the air raid that sends Saleem into the Sundarbans and then to the ruins of Dacca. In the novel's final movement, Parvati maneuvers Saleem into marriage, Picture Singh journeys to Bombay for a magnificent snake charming duel, and the past reassembles itself around Saleem one last time.

The people and moments behind Saleem's extraordinary world.

Aadam sees Naseem's full face for the first time and realizes he is completely in love with her.

Fortune teller Ramram touches Amina's pregnant belly and prophesies her son will never be older or younger than India.

Ahmed's bribe money spills across a monkey-filled fort; the Ravana burn his warehouse to the ground in retaliation.

Vanita dies from a hemorrhage giving birth; Saleem, Methwold's biological son, is unknowingly raised by a wealthy family.

The Brass Monkey burns her family's shoes to attract attention, revealing the defiant behavior that will define her childhood.

Musa is caught stealing from the Sinai household and leaves in shame, beginning his path toward accidentally destroying the world.

Saleem reads Evelyn Burns's mind, is shoved into protesters, and inadvertently triggers the violent partition of Bombay.

Saleem is sent to stay with Aunt Pia and Uncle Hanif; he touches Pia inappropriately and she slaps him.

Shiva kills his beggar father Wee Willie Winkie with his supernaturally powerful knees and escapes to live on the streets.

Saleem develops an obsessive love for Jamila Singer despite knowing she is his sister; she firmly rejects him.

Zafar surrenders to smugglers believing them to be enemy soldiers; shamed by the disgrace, he cuts his father's throat.

Parvati's son is born at the exact moment the Indian Prime Minister declares a state of emergency.

The magicians' ghetto is bulldozed by government soldiers; Parvati is killed and Saleem is taken prisoner by Major Shiva.

Imprisoned in the palace of the widows, Saleem is tortured into revealing the names of all the Midnight's Children.

Saleem discovers Mary Pereira at the Braganza chutney factory, meets Padma, and agrees to marry her knowing he will die on the wedding day.

The third pool captures the decisive moments of revelation and transformation that redirect the novel's course at every stage. Many of these are hidden catalysts: a fortune teller's prophecy sets impossible expectations around Saleem's birth, a failed bribe burns down a warehouse, and a switched name tag silently divides two lives. As Saleem grows, his choices ripple outward with consequences he cannot foresee, from intruding on Evelyn Burns's mind and triggering a citywide riot to sending the anonymous note that ends in murder. In Pakistan, family tensions explode as Saleem falls for his own sister and General Zulfikar's dynasty collapses in shame. The novel's final reckoning arrives as Saleem is imprisoned and tortured into betraying his community, before returning to Bombay to accept the loving fate that will finally end his life.