Myth in Midnight’s Children

irreverence irked many, particularly those who hold tradition in great awe. Rushdie’s allusion to Hindu myths became a serious point of debate. Could a Muslim draw on Hindu tradition? If he did, wasn’t it his moral duty to educate himself and use them accurately? What is the difference in the use of myth and tradition by the earlier generation of writers and Rushdie and his children? For example, as Viney Kirpal has pointed out, Raja Rao’s Kanthapura’s uses the language of myth and folktale to write a modem day sthalapurana or place legend the way there is a place legend about Ayodhya, the birthplace of ram..

Writers of Raja Rao’s generation share the mythic consciousness that Professor C D Narasimhaiah saw as characteristic of India -habit of perceiving the presentness in the light of the past. As mythological archetypes have a “meaningful presence” in Indian social life, the novel might rightfully be structured around a well know myth. Writers such as Rao could structure Kanthapura around the Ramayana myth with Sita (India) being rescued from Ravana (The British) by Rama (Moorthy). They could do so because the Ram Sita Ravana myth was a living presence in Indian society. It helped Rushdie to explain the natural freedom movement in the light of the ancient past which has great meaning for the people in India.