Midnights Children

knew a Navy man wouldn’t stand for it.” A columnist in the
Illustrated Weekly of India
, writing a pen-portrait to go alongside the “Personality of the Week” full-color caricature of the Commander, said: “In the Sabarmati Case, the noble sentiments of the Ramayana combine with the cheap melodrama of the Bombay talkie; but as for the chief protagonist, all agree on his upstandingness; and he is undeniably an attractive chap.”
    My revenge on my mother and Homi Catrack had precipitated a national crisis … because Naval regulations decreed that no man who had been in a civil jail could aspire to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet. So Admirals, and city politicians, and of course Ismail Ibrahim, demanded: “Commander Sabarmati must stay in a Navy jail. He is innocent until proven guilty. His career must not be ruined if it can possibly be avoided.” And the authorities: “Yes.” And Commander Sabarmati, safe in the Navy’s own lock-up, discovered the penalties of fame—deluged with telegrams of support, he awaited trial; flowers filled his cell, and although he asked to be placed on an ascetic’s diet of rice and water, well-wishers inundated him with tiffin-carriers filled with birianis and pista-ki-lauz and other rich foods. And, jumping the queue in the Criminal Court, the case began in double-quick time … The prosecution said, “The charge is murder in the first degree.”
    Stern-jawed, strong-eyed, Commander Sabarmati replied: “Not guilty.”
    My mother said, “O my God, the poor man, so sad, isn’t it?”
    I said, “But an unfaithful wife is a terrible thing, Amma …” and she turned away her head.
    The prosecution said, “Here is an open and shut case. Here is motive, opportunity, confession, corpse and premeditation: the gun signed out, the children sent to the cinema, the detective’s report. What else to say? The state rests.”
    And public opinion: “Such a good man, Allah!”
    Ismail Ibrahim said: “This is a case of attempted suicide.”
    To which, public opinion: “?????????”
    Ismail Ibrahim expounded: “When the Commander received Dom Minto’s report, he wanted to see for himself if it was true; and if so, to kill himself. He signed out the gun; it was for himself. He went to the Colaba address in a spirit of despair only; not as killer, but as dead man! But there—seeing his wife there, jury members!—seeing her half-clothed with her shameless lover!—jury members, this good man, this great man saw red. Red, absolutely, and while seeing red he did his deeds. Thus there is no premeditation, and so no murder in the first degree. Killing yes, but not cold-blooded. Jury members, you must find him not guilty as charged.”
    And buzzing around the city was, “No, too much … Ismail Ibrahim has gone too far this time … but, but … he has got a jury composed mostly of women … and not rich ones … therefore doubly susceptible, to the Commander’s charm and the lawyer’s wallet … who knows? Who can tell?”
    The jury said, “Not guilty.”
    My mother cried, “Oh wonderful! … But, but: is it
justice?
” And the judge, answering her: “Using the powers vested in me, I reverse this absurd verdict. Guilty as charged.”
    O, the wild furor of those days! When Naval dignitaries and bishops and other politicians demanded, “Sabarmati must stay in the Navy jail pending High Court appeal. The bigotry of one judge must not ruin this great man!” And police authorities, capitulating, “Very well.” The Sabarmati Case goes rushing upwards, hurtling towards High Court hearing at unprecedented speed … and the Commander tells his lawyer, “I feel as though destiny is no longer in my control; as though something has taken over … let us call it Fate.”
    I say: “Call it Saleem, or Snotnose, or Sniffer, or Stainface; call it little-piece-of-the-moon.”
    The High Court verdict: “Guilty as charged.” The press headlines: SABARMATI FOR CIVIL JAIL AT LAST? Ismail Ibrahim’s statement: “We are going all the way! To the Supreme Court!” And now, the bombshell. A pronouncement from the State Chief Minister himself: “It is a heavy thing to make an exception to the law; but in view of Commander Sabarmati’s services to his country, I am permitting him to remain in Naval confinement pending the Supreme Court decision.”
    And more press headlines, stinging as mosquitoes: STATE GOVERNMENT FLOUTS LAW! SABARMATI SCANDAL NOW A PUBLIC DISGRACE! … When I realized that