Saleem Sinai is a unique youngster who was born at the stroke of midnight on the precise day when India gained freedom. He is unprepared for the effects of this coincidental birth, however, as telepathic abilities link him to 1,000 other "midnight's children" who are all endowed with peculiar talents. Saleem's journey, which is inextricably linked to his country, is a tornado of failures and victories that reflects the history of contemporary India at its most impossible and beautiful.