Pages 81-90

By: Salaha Kabir

(Edited by Noelia Valero)

Summary: Bariamma tells her grandson about Raza and Bilquis losing their son and all the dreams they had for their son. However, they had hope a second pregnancy would give them a son who can carry out unfilled dreams, a reincarnation. Harappa taunts Raza on his reincarnation obsession, and outside the courtroom people gossip about Raza being raised in enemy territory. The evidence he had Hindu blood because of a great-grandmother explained his “ungodly philosophies.” Iskander and Rani tried to explain to the Hyders, but they would not listen. At the time, Rani was pregnant and Bilquis thought that perhaps a reason for it being difficult for her to conceive was because she did not listen to Rani’s advice. Rani and Bilquis had dreamed of getting their firstborns married, so when Rani gave birth to a daughter, she kept her promise, and Bilquis feels more pressure to conceive a boy. Bilquis's cousin insults her because she can’t conceive and repay her husband for taking her in when she was helpless. It caused a physical fight between Bilquis and Begum (cousin). Raza breaks up the fight and Bilquis tells her husband she was raised in a better environment and the reason she can’t give kids is because of the zoo she lives in now. Bariamma tells her she thinks she’s too good for them, and tells Raza to take her with him. Bilquis moved into a simple residence in the compound of the army base, where she had once again conceived. She believed their baby boy would come back.  She gave birth to a daughter, Sufiya Zinobi, which made Hydar unhappy.  He created ruckus at the hospital and demanded there was a mistake.

Hungman’s noose (pg.81): well-known knot most often associated with its use in hanging a person. A variation of this knot is used in fishing and is called the Uni-knot.

Rumal (pg.81): a piece of clothing similar to a handkerchief or bandana.

Cadaverous (pg.81): resembling a corpse in being very pale, thin, or bony

Iskander Harappa:

Hindu (pg.82): refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. The word is attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism or Sikhism).

 

Gaotakia (pg.84): A long pillow or cushion, used to support the head of a person lying on a bed.

Zenana chamber (pg. 83): literal meaning of the word is "of the women" or "pertaining to women". It refers to the part of a house reserved for the women of the household. The Zenana are the inner apartments of a house in which the women of the family live. The outer apartments for guests and men are called the Mardana.

Sepia (pg.85): A dark brown ink or pigment originally prepared from the secretion of the cuttlefish. Photographs in a brown tint (dark grayish yellow brown to dark or moderate olive brown).

Bangladesh (pg.85): a country in South Asia and part of the historic ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. The name Bangladesh means "Country of Bengal" in the official Bengali language. It faces the Bay of Bengal to its south, and is bordered by India on the north, west and east, as well as Burma (Myanmar) on the southeast. It is separated from the Himalayan nations of Nepal and Bhutan by India’s narrow Siliguri corridor, and is in geographical proximity to China. Bangladesh is often associated with floods, and cyclones.

(http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/bangladesh-facts/)

Punjabi (pg.85): a native or inhabitant of the Punjab region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent (an Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab). Punjab is known as the land of five rivers. The state capital is located in Chandigarh, which is a Union Territory and also the capital of the neighboring state of Haryana. The state is the largest provider of wheat in India, with agriculture being its largest industrial sector.

http://www.oxfordsikhs.com/MeraPunjab/Punjab+Facts/default.aspx

Afghans (pg.85): relating to Afghanistan or its people, language, or culture (known as an Afghani). Afghanistan is a land-locked country. The population of Afghanistan is estimated at about 32.7 million. Afghanistan is home to a number of ethnic groups, the largest is the Pashtun. Afghanistan is among the poorest countries, more than 53% of the population lives under the poverty line.

http://asianhistory.about.com/od/afghanista1/p/ProfAfghanistan.htm

Kashmiris (pg.85): a Dardic linguistic (sub-group of the Indo-Aryan languages) group living in or originating from the former Indian state of Kashmir. It is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. In the first half of the first millennium, the Kashmir region became an important center of Hinduism and later of Buddhism.

(http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Kashmir.aspx)

Sind/Sindh (pg.85): one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran" and has been given the title of Bab-ul-Islam. The name of Sind is derived from the Indus River that separates it from Balochistan and the greater Iranian Plateau.

(http://www.academia.edu/1934949/Dates_in_Sindh_Facts_and_Figures)

Baluchistan/Balochistan “tan” (pg.85): is an arid, desert and mountainous region on the Iranian plateau in south-western Asia. It is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. It is the largest province by area, constituting approximately 44% of Pakistan's total land mass, and the smallest in terms of population Balochistan is named after the native Baloch tribes who make up the majority of the inhabitants in the region. They speak Balochi as their native language, and also Brahui, and Persian as additional languages.

http://www.gwank.org/fact_about_balochistan_by_oslo_norwar_ssearching_group20110621.html

(http://blogs.thenews.com.pk/blogs/2012/11/the-importance-of-being-baluchistan/)

Urdu (pg.86): Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language with about 104 million speakers, including those who speak it as a second language. Urdu is written in an alphabet based on the Islamic Nasta'liq script. It is the national language of Pakistan and is one of the official languages of India, but a lot of Urdu vocabulary comes from Persian and Arabic. Urdu is also spoken in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Fiji, Germany, Guyana, India, Malawi, Mauritius, Nepal, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, the UAE, the UK and Zambia.

(http://www.omniglot.com/writing/urdu.htm)

Saris/saree (pg. 86): a strip of unstitched cloth, worn by women, ranging from four to nine yards in length that is draped over the body in various styles, which is native to the Indian Subcontinent. The word sari is derived from Sanskrit “sati,” which means strip of cloth. The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with one end then draped over the shoulder, baring the midriff. It is popular in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Burma, Malaysia, and Singapore.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sari)

   

Salwar kurtas/ Shalwar kameez (pg.86): is a traditional dress worn by both women and men in South Asia and Afghanistan/Central Asia . Shalwar or salwar are loose pajama-like trousers. The legs are wide at the top, and narrow at the ankle. The kameez is a long shirt or tunic. The side seams (known as the chaak), left open below the waist-line, give the wearer greater freedom of movement.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalwar_kameez)

Yggdrasil (pg. 86): In the middle of Asgard, where the gods lived, was Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil was the tree of life. It was an eternal green Ash tree. Its branches stretched out over all of the nine worlds, and extended up and above the heavens. Yggdrasil was carried by three enormous roots. The first root from Yggdrasil went to Asgard, the home of the gods. By this root was a well named Urd’s well. This was where the gods held daily meetings.The second root from Yggdrasil went down to Jotunheim, the land of the giants, by this root was Mimir's well. The third root from Yggdrasil went down to Niflheim, close to the well Hvergelmir. It was here the dragon Nidhug gnawed on one of Yggdrasils roots. Nidhug was also known to suck the blood out of the dead bodies.

(http://www.viking-mythology.com/yggdrasil.html)

Valhalla (pg.86): In Norse mythology, Valhalla (“hall of the slain”) is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Valhalla is where heroes went when they died in battle, but half of those heroes are chosen by Odin, and  led by valkyries to Valhalla. In Valhalla, the dead join the masses of those who have died in combat known as Einherjar, as well as various legendary Germanic heroes and kings, as they prepare to aid Odin during the events of Ragnarök, where you would fight and perish alongside the gods. Various creatures live around Valhalla.

(http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=valhalla)

Muspellheim/Muspelhiem (pg. 86): In Norse mythology, Muspelheim, also called Muspell, is a realm of fire. This realm is one of the Nine Worlds and it is home to the fire jötunn (giant) or the "sons of Muspell", and Surtr (elder jotunn), their ruler. It is fire; and the land to the North, Niflheim, is ice. The two mixed and created water from the melting ice in Ginnungagap(mighty gap).

(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399446/Muspelheim)

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muspelheim)

Nidhogg (pg. 86): In Norse mythology, Nidhogg is a dragon who gnaws at a root of the World Tree, Yggdrasill. The Nidhogg is said to be controlled by only one person, the Norse goddess named Hel.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%AD%C3%B0h%C3%B6ggr

Milan Kundera (pg. 87): a Czech and French writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. Due to censorship by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia, his books were banned from his native country.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6343.Milan_Kundera

Charles James Napier (pg. 87): general of the British Empire and the British Army's Commander-in-Chief in India, notable for conquering the Sindh Province in what is now Pakistan. In 1842, at the age of 60, Napier was appointed Major General to the command of the Indian army within the Bombay Presidency. His orders had been to put down the rebels, and conquer the whole Sindh Province, and with his victory, he was to report to his superiors the short, notable message, “Peccavi”, the Latin for "I have sinned" (joke on I have Sindh).

(http://www.thornber.net/england/htmlfiles/napier.html)

Needle Valley/ Ioa Valley (pg. 90): lush, stream-cut valley in West Maui, Hawaii, located 5 kilometres west of Wailuku. The 2,250-foot stone pillar, covered in green foliage, was once used as a natural altar. The valley is a peaceful area with easy hikes, exotic tropical plants, and clear, natural pools. It  is the site of one of the most famous and bloody battles that changed Hawaii history forever. In 1790, King Kamehameha I, destroyed the Maui army in his effort to unite the Hawaiian Islands. Its natural beauty and historical significance, has made it a popular tourist location.

http://www.hawaiiweb.com/maui/iao-valley-needle.html

 

Gichki (pg. 90): a Baloch tribe in Balochistan, Pakistan. They mostly live in the Makkuran area of Balochistan, and ruled the region from 1740 till 1974. The land was distributed among Gichki clans from Kech to Panjgur. The tribe is supposedly the Royal family of Makkuran. "Gichk" is a place in Panjgur this place called Gichk because the Gichki's were living there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gichki

http://balochrace.blogspot.com/2012/03/gichki-baloch.html

http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2008/10/baluchistan-baluch-and-myth-of-martial.html

Pages 71-75

• Karachi (pg. 71)
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport, and financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 21 million people as of April 2012. Wikipedia
Population: 21,200,000 (2012)
Area: 1,362 sq miles (3,527 km²)
Weather: 75°F (24°C), Wind N at 5 mph (8 km/h), 25% Humidity

• Raza Hyder (pg. 71)
• Iskander Harappa (pg. 77)

According to www.postcolonialweb.org, these two characters are based on actual political figures in Pakistan during the 1940’s. Here is the link:
http://www.postcolonialweb.org/pakistan/literature/rushdie/srpolitics2.html

• Zenana (pg. 72)
“‘[T]he place for women,’ from Persian word ‘zen,’ a woman and ‘ana,’ place; but this is not all it means and implies...”
(http://books.google.com/books?id=iuMCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA93#v=onepage&q&f=false).

• Kashmir (pg. 75)
“According to folk etymology, the name "Kashmir" means "desiccated land" (from the Sanskrit : Ka = water and shimeera = desiccate). In the Rajatarangini, a history of Kashmir written by Kalhana in the mid-12th century, it is stated that the valley of Kashmir was formerly a lake.

According to Hindu mythology, the lake was drained by the great rishi or sage, Kashyapa, son of Marichi, son of Brahma, by cutting the gap in the hills at Baramulla (Varaha-mula.) When Kashmir had been drained, Kashyapa asked Brahmans to settle there. This is still the local tradition, and in the existing physical condition of the country, we may see some ground for the story, which has taken this form. The name of Kashyapa is by history and tradition connected with the draining of the lake, and the chief town or collection of dwellings in the valley was called Kashyapa-pura, which has been identified with Kaspapyros of Hecataeus (apud Stephanus of Byzantium) and Kaspatyros of Herodotus (3.102, 4.44).

Kashmir is also believed to be the country meant by Ptolemy's Kaspeiria.

Cashmere is an archaic spelling of Kashmir, and in some countries it is still spelled this way.

(http://kasheer.tk/site_111.xhtml).

• “The hostilities on the Kashimiri frontier,” that Rushdie speaks of on page 75, refer to the following

“[E]ven more important was the liberation of the country from the British Yoke in 1947, that ended all the traces of foreign domination, absolutism and autocracy in our country. It was on 26th Jan. 1957 that the Kashmir Constiuent Assembly ended the hereditary rule of the Hindu monarchy in the state exacly after one hundred and ten years of its establishment. The liberation of India, facilitated the establishment of responsible government in Jammu and Kashmir State, but the liberisation also brought the division of our country on religious and communal consideration. This division led to disatrous consequences plunging northern India into a sort of bloody civil war. The Pakistan Government invaded the state, and encouraged the Tribal people and other titanic hordes of medieval barbarism to carry loot, plunder, death and destruction into the hearths and homes of innocent Kashmiris in general and among Hindus in particular. Pakistan wanted to grab Kashmir, even though its ruler in the terms of Independance Act, had acceded toIndia, and signed the instrument of Accession as required under the said Act. The main burden of Pakistan invasion had to be borneby the Hindus of the districts of Muzzafarbad, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajuari, Mirpur, Bhimber, Kotli, Skardu, Gilgit and Ladhak. Thousands of people became the victims and lost their lives for no fault of theirs, and property worthcrores accumulated for decades was lost just within a weeks time. This was the result of the mighty Congress Party with its host of gallant leaders bowing disgracefully before fanaticism, ' Two Nation Theory ', and its author Mr. Jinah. The Congress leaders accepted the partition of India, but totally ignored or could not perhaps realise its disastrous consequences. In short, the Hindus here have paid the penaltyrather heavily. Kashmir was attacked in 1965 and 1971 by Pakistan. In spite of these historical vicissitudes the popular government has been trying its level best to mitigate the sufferingof the people, thanks to the generous financial assistance of the Central Government.”

http://kasheer.tk/site_111.xhtml

• Jawan (pg. 75)
Web definitions
(jawan) (India) a private soldier or male constable.
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• Houris (pg. 75)

Heavenly Maidens In Islam

Muslim men who die as martyrs (fighting in battle or other deaths) are promised 72 (or sometimes 73) beautiful, black-eyed perpetual virgins as wives in heaven. - And they have their regular wives on earth still tagging along too. This short page is simply a brief description of what the hadiths say about these heavenly virgins, called "houris."

http://www.muslimhope.com/HourisHeavenlyMaidensInIslam.htm

• Djinn (pg. 75)

A djinn is a spirit from Arabic mythology that can be either good or evil. The djinn are less powerful than angels, but can assume the shapes of humans, animals or whirlwinds.

http://asianhistory.about.com/od/glossaryae/g/djinnglos.html

 --Justa

(Edited by Noelia Valero)

Pages 55-71

By: Elaine W.

(Edited by Noelia Valero)

Bilquis (page 55): is the Islamic reference to the Queen of Sheba in the Quran. In the Quran, Sulaiman or Solomon converted Bilquis from a sun worshiper to Islam. Bilquis realized how unjust she was to herself by worshiping the sun, which was created by Allah, and that Solomon was not a mighty king who wished to increase his dominion in the name of religion, but a genuine Prophet of Allah (p), who strove to guide people and show them the right path.

For more info: http://alilmiyah.tumblr.com/post/4888552240/bilqis-queen-of-sheba-stories-of-the-quran
http://english.bayynat.org.lb/articles/article_Sheba.htm

Raza Hyder (page 55) is Gen. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq: Sixth President of Pakistan. Denationalized and deregulated and the state's Islamization. Revived Pakistan’s founding political party, the Pakistan Muslim League. Third Enforcer of Martial Law. At the time of Independence, like most of the Muslim officers in the British Army, Zia-ul-Haq opted to join the Pakistan Army. During his rule, Zia-ul-Haq tried his utmost to maintain close ties with the Muslim World.

Sources:
http://www.pakistanherald.com/Profile/General-Muhammad-Zia-ul-Haq-1183
http://storyofpakistan.com/general-muhammad-zia-ul-haq/

Red Fortress (page 61): The Red Fort is considered to represent the zenith of Mughal (Muslim) creativity in Delhi, India. Perhaps this was the one of the last bastions of Islamic India in Pakistan

Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/231

Loo (page 65): Called the Evil Wind; power over man; makes Bilquis crazy.

Source: http://www.victorianweb.org/neovictorian/gswift/wl/wlshame5.html

The bed chamber is invaded by the “Forty Thieves (page 70) : A poor woodcutter in the Arabian Nights who gains entrance to the treasure cave of the 40 thieves by saying the magic words "Open, Sesame!"

Source:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Ali+Baba+and+the+Forty+Thieves

Sind Club (71): An exclusive club for elite members of Pakistani society in Karachi. Built by the British in the 1860s, local Pakistanis were not allowed to become members until after Pakistan’s independence.

Source:
http://www.imagesofasia.com/html/pakistan/pakistan-sindh-club.html

Pages 41-60

Chapter 3 starts out with Omar’s life at school getting picked on by bullies for being a “fat boy.” He doesn’t react to these taunts, however, because he is shameless and they soon leave him alone, which he gladly prefers. He became a wallflower of sorts, not out of shyness or being timid, but out of the delight he got from looking at the lives of everyone else. His voyeurism thus began when he saw two seniors canoodling in the forest. Omar is also told about the legendary party his mothers had kept from him where he was conceived. These stories told by other boys to anger him did not rile him up. Instead, he ignored their remarks but always had the need to closely look at any of the Angrez (alternative name for the British) men for some resemblance to him. 

            Later on we meet Farah, who is a student of Edardo Rogeriuez just as Omar is and is also a part of the town gossip because of the suspicious arrival of her and her father. When Omar tries to kiss her she rejects his advances and responds, “there is something ugly about you”. After a silent moment, he asks Farah if she has ever been hypnotized and later on we find out she is pregnant.

 --Melissa C.
(Edited by Noelia Valero)

Pages 40-60

Shame pages 41-60

By: Gina L.

(Edited by Noelia Valero)

The school to which Omar Khayyam is sent is a “Cantonment School” (Rushdie 41). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a cantonment is “The place of lodging assigned to a section of a force when cantoned out; also (often inpl.) the place or places of encampment formed by troops for a more permanent stay in the course of a campaign, or while in winter quarters; ‘in India the permanent military stations are so termed’” (Stocqueler Mil. Encycl.) (OED). This school is, according to Rushdie, where children of British descent are sent, until age eight, when they are typically returned to Britain so as not to be corrupted by an “Oriental upbringing” (Rushdie 42). The native children who attend school remain longer, until age eighteen. The omnipresence and permanence of the British imperialists and the military undertones of their presence are evidenced here; Rushdie gives no evidence that there is another option for Omar’s schooling.

Rushdie refers to the “Angrez sahibs” who feel the need to change the environment (41). Sahib is “a respectful title used by an Indian in addressing an Englishman or other European (=‘Sir’); an Englishman, a European. Also affixed as a title (equivalent to ‘Mr.’) to the name or office of a European and to Indian and Bangladeshi titles and names” (OED).

Rushdie compares Omar Khayyam to “that bold fellow in Agra who, they say, looked over a high wall to spy on the building of the Taj Mahal” (43). There are many myths and legends surrounding this great building, one of which is that Shah Jahan ordered that the hands of the builders and architects be dismembered after the completion of the Taj Mahal (“Mutilations”). I am unable to locate anything on someone who had his eyes gouged for spying on the construction, though the myth of hands being cut-off conveys the same meaning. The fact that Rushdie cites a rumor that one can not confirm elsewhere is demonstrative of the meretricious nature of such apocryphal sayings. It also is resonant of the extreme privatism that other characters (the three mothers and Bilquìs especially) cling to to hide their shame.

A “kukri knife” (Rushdie 43) is “a curved knife, broader at the point than at the handle, and usually having the keen edge on the concave side, used by the Gurkas of India” (OED)

“Maharaja” (Rushdie 43) is a title for a high prince or person of rank, who would be one of the few who would have the means to such an escapade as a tiger hunt (OED).

In regards to Eduardo Rodriguez, his secret past is denoted only by “cheap pictures... of a balmy coastal land in which palm trees swayed” which we can assume to be Portugal because of his “Portuguese name.” However, he is a Catholic in a land of Muslims, and is scorned for his alleged “Christian perversions” in regards to Farah (Rushdie 44-45).

The term “wallah” can be used as a suffix attached to English nouns to imitate “native derivatives” or to mean a “routine administrative job” (OED). Rushdie uses this term throughout Shame, as in “mule-wallahs” and “customs-wallah’s” (45).

Farah and her father are both of the Zoroastrian religion (their last name is in fact Zoroaster). Farah says her father dreams of that “damn land of Ahuramazda” and the “ancestral land of Zarathustra” (Rushdie 45, 49). Ahura Mazda is the supreme god and creator and Zarathustra is the prophet in the Zoroastrian religion. In the Persian Empire, until the invasion of Mohammedanism, Zoroastrianism was the national religion (Zaehner 200-202). There is still a small group of people practicing Zoroastrianism in Q., the Parsees, when Shame takes place. Rushdie demonstrates by their presence the intermingling of cultures in Q. or Pakistan that does not prohibit, and perhaps cause, the biases that cause Farah’s father to yearn for a homeland to which he’s never been.

The customs office where Farah’s father works is on the “Irani frontier” (Rushdie 46). Q., then, is in the south-west of Pakistan.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/asia/pakistan
(“Map”)

The tonga that Eduardo and Farah leave for the train station in is simply a small cart or carriage with two wheels (OED).
Omar Kahayyam leaves Q. to attend medical school in Karachi, which is the capital of Sindh and the largest city in Pakistan (Wikipedia).

The garland of flowers that Omar’s mothers place around his neck as he leaves for Karachi could just have religious significance, as garlands of flowers do in Hindu culture (“garland”) (Rushdie 52). However, it is Muslim practice, as well as the practice of many other religions, to put garlands on the grave of a loved one, signifying that for his mothers, his quitting them for a faraway city is the same as his dying to them.

In Zoroastrianism, there is a period after which the world as we know it will end. Individual judgement has already occurred, but at the end of the 12,000 year cosmic period, all souls, both good and evil, will be “plunged into a sea of molten metal which purges them from all remaining stain of sin” (Zaehner 208). This is the end of the world that Farah’s father convinces the tribals he will bring about with the vehemence of his ranting (Rushdie 53).

The Loo that first is mentioned as Omar Khayyam boards the train and that later plagues Bilquìs (Rushdie 53) is the “the name given in Bihar and the Punjab to a hot dust-laden wind” (OED).
Khichri (Rushdie 60) is an “Indian dish of rice boiled with split pulse, onions, eggs, butter, and condiments” (OED).

When we meet Bilquis, she is in Delhi, India, although Rushdie also mentions “Indraprasth and Puranqila” (60), which are historical names and places in Delhi (OED). Rushdie is demonstrating the convoluted history of a place that has been controlled both by Muslim and Hindu peoples in the past, and the prejudices that still exist.

Works Cited

"garland". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 08
March 2013.

“Map of Pakistan.” Lonely Planet. BBC, 2013. Web. 8 March 2013.

“Mutilations in Taj Mahal Myth.” Taj Mahal. 2008. Web. 8 March 2013.

OED Online. December 2012. Oxford University Press. 8 March 2013

Rushdie, Salman. Shame. New York: Vintage International, 1983. Print.

Wikipedia contributors. "Karachi." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 8 March 2013.
Web. 9 March 2013.

Zaehner, R.C., ed. Encyclopedia of the World’s Religions. New York: Barnes and Nobel,
1988. Print.

Pages 21-40

Rushdie References (pg. 21-40/Chapter 2)

The chapter begins with the author returning home to visit family. After learning information of his old friend’s whereabouts, Rushdie visits him. Rushdie explains his ideas for a book he is planning to write. He also lets the audience in with some simple information on the main character in his novel, Omar. The story returns back to the sisters. Omar is imprisoned for 12 years in his mothers' mansion. One day while playing in the gates of his home, he notices a crack on the wall. Through the crack he sees the outside world. After this day, he develops a need to leave his mansion and enter the outside world. Omar grows to despise his mothers for their tight relationship and constant overprotection. He discovers a library within his house and with the mass amount of textbooks, he educates himself. He also teaches himself how to perform hypnosis. On his 12th birthday he asks his mother for two gifts: to know his father's name and for his mothers to let him outside the house. This request causes his mothers to argue, which brought out their differences for the first time. They agree to let him to go to school outside the house. As soon as he takes his first journey outside his house, a group of people armed with satchels confront him. They explained they were seeking revenge for his mothers' actions. Before anything dangerous escalated, his schoolmaster Rodrigues saves him.

References

Nishapur- a Northeast city in Iran

Rubaiyat- 4-line poems in a book by Omar Khayyam

Karachi- Financial centre in Pakistan and its largest city

-- Victor S.

(Edited by Noelia)

Pages 21-40

By: T. Babel

(Edited by Noelia Valero)

Summary:

In this chapter, our author returns home and takes a brief aside from the story. He goes to meet one of his dear friends. In this aside, he explains to his readers the idea behind his story and give us some background on the three women’s child. Rushdie provides a reasoning to the boys name, Omar Khayyam. After his break with his own life story, he continues on with the three sisters. He discusses the young boy's ambition and drive to escape. The boy is curious in his home and stumbles upon his grandfather's library, only to find it is a facade. He does discover one true collection of hypnosis books and begins to practice on the servants. In his exploration of hypnosis he becomes jealous of all the love and affection everyone seems to be feeling but him. He admires a young girl through his telescope and begin puberty early. With a wish to leave the house for his birthday, his mothers’ demise begins to unravel. The boy is allowed to go to school, which will then lead to the division of his mothers.

References:

Karachi - largest city, main seaport, and financial centre in Pakistan.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto - Pakistani politician and statesman. Served as the 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Baluchistan - arid desert and mountainous region on the Iranian plateau.

Rubaiyat - selection of poems from a book by Omar Khayyam. Done in the style of quatrains.

Patang - Indian Fighter Kite. Much heavier than traditional paper ones.