I will be meeting Rushdie this fall, and possibly dining with him as well,
when he comes here to SLU to receive the St. Louis Literary Award.  That
should make for some good local media.

(In the past I have done the same with the likes of Richard Ford, Joan
didion, and last year, E. L. Doctorow; it's one of the highlights of the
year; if you happen to be in the vicinity and wish to meet Rushdie and hear
his lecture--free and open to the public--contact me for further info.)

I asked a colleague who knows much about Rushdie, and who also reguylarly
teaches the novel MC, and here is her response:

Hi Hal,
Thanks for your message, it made interesting reading.  I can only say
that it is highly probable that Rushdie did read some amount of
Twain's fiction (how much and what I don't know).  However,
__Midnight's Children__ is a lot more than a baby switching prince to
pauper story: it is part allegory part satire part magic and part
biography.  And it's also v political.

--
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Saint Louis University