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Mumtaz Aziz / Amina Sinai
The personal secretary of the Hummingbird and Mumtaz Aziz’s first husband. Nadir, an amateur writer of little skill, is described as a “rhymeless poet” and a “verbless bard,” and he is a known coward. He runs away frightened when the Hummingbird is killed by unknown assassins, and he willingly divorces Mumtaz when her mother, Reverend Mother, objects to their sexless marriage on account of his impotence. After leaving Mumtaz and changing his name and identity to Qasim Khan, Nadir becomes an official candidate of the Communist Party in India’s 1957 election, narrowly losing to the All-India Congress. During Mumtaz’s second marriage to Ahmed Sinai, Nadir secretly pursues Mumtaz and frequently calls her, arousing the suspicions of her children, Saleem and the Brass Monkey. He finally exits Midnight’s Children after Commander Sabarmati murders Homi Catrack for having an affair with his wife, Lila. Homi’s murder effectively warns Mumtaz of the consequences of infidelity, and she stops accepting Nadir’s phone calls and secretly meeting up with him.
Nadir Khan / Qasim Khan Quotes in Midnight’s Children
The Midnight’s Children quotes below are all either spoken by Nadir Khan / Qasim Khan or refer to Nadir Khan / Qasim Khan. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 1: Under the Carpet
Quotes
“Change your name,” Ahmed Sinai said. “Time for a fresh start. Throw Mumtaz and her Nadir Khan out of the window, I’ll choose you a new name. Amina. Amina Sinai: you’d like that?”
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Book 1: A Public Announcement
Quotes
“See the whole world, come see everything!” The hyperbolic formula began, after a time, to prey upon his mind; more and more picture postcards went into his peepshow as he tried, desperately, to deliver what he promised, to put everything into his box. (I am suddenly reminded of Nadir Khan’s friend the painter: is this an Indian disease, this urge to encapsulate the whole of reality? Worse: am I infected, too?)
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Nadir Khan / Qasim Khan Quotes in Midnight’s Children
The Midnight’s Children quotes below are all either spoken by Nadir Khan / Qasim Khan or refer to Nadir Khan / Qasim Khan. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 1: Under the Carpet
Quotes
“Change your name,” Ahmed Sinai said. “Time for a fresh start. Throw Mumtaz and her Nadir Khan out of the window, I’ll choose you a new name. Amina. Amina Sinai: you’d like that?”
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 1: A Public Announcement
Quotes
“See the whole world, come see everything!” The hyperbolic formula began, after a time, to prey upon his mind; more and more picture postcards went into his peepshow as he tried, desperately, to deliver what he promised, to put everything into his box. (I am suddenly reminded of Nadir Khan’s friend the painter: is this an Indian disease, this urge to encapsulate the whole of reality? Worse: am I infected, too?)
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Explanation and Analysis:
