The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
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This blog post is created as a component of a flipped learning exercise focused on Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. For this activity, we are required to watch videos connected to the novel and provide a summary of the content for each video. [Click Here]
The video explores the introduction of Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness and provides an overview of its characters and their relationships. The novel can be difficult to follow initially, even after multiple readings, due to its complex narrative structure and elements of magical realism.
The story spans five primary locations: Khwabgah, Jannat Guest House, Jantar Mantar, Kashmir, and Dandakaranya, and centers on Anjum, a hijra living in the Jannat Graveyard.
In the second chapter, Khwabgah, Anjum meets a blind Imam named Ziauddin, and the narrative then delves into Anjum’s past. Born to Mulaqat Ali and Jahanara Begum, Anjum was revealed by the midwife, Ahlam Baiji, to be intersex, possessing both male and female genitalia. Initially named Aftab, Anjum’s parents struggled to accept their child’s identity as a hijra.
Aftab eventually discovers Khwabgah while out shopping with his mother, a space where he encounters others like him, including Mary, Gudiya, Bulbul, Bismillah, Raziya, and Nimmu Gorakhpuri, under the guidance of matriarch Begum Kulsoom Bi. Over time, Aftab’s parents slowly come to accept their child’s third-gender identity, even visiting Hazrat Sarmad’s Dargah for blessings, though this yields no tangible change. The novel also recounts the story of Sarmad, who was executed at Jama Masjid for reciting an incomplete Kalima while in love with a man named Abhaychand.
Later, Aftab witnesses this execution and discovers an abandoned baby, Zainab, on the steps of Jama Masjid. He brings her to Khwabgah, but when she falls ill, he blames Saeeda, another hijra, whom he considers an adversary. Hoping for Zainab’s recovery, Aftab visits the Ajmer Sharif Dargah with Zakir Mian. Zakir then suggests a trip to Ahmedabad to settle some family matters.
This journey introduces the Gujarat Riots of 2002, a turning point in the novel. During the riots, Zakir is killed by a mob, while Aftab is spared, as it is believed that harming a hijra brings misfortune. The violence profoundly affects Aftab, prompting him to change both his and Zainab’s identities. Fully embracing the name and identity of Anjum, he begins an independent life at the Jannat Guest House.
The video introduces a character named Saddam Hussain, who moves into the Jannat Guest House. He works at a local hospital and previously served as a security guard. His real name is Dayachand, and he comes from the Chamar caste in Haryana—a community historically associated with leatherworking and considered socially low in the caste hierarchy. Dayachand’s father, a leatherworker, was brutally lynched by an inspector named Sehravat, who accused him of killing a “holy cow,” even though the animal was already dead. Seeking revenge, Dayachand renames himself Saddam Hussain, inspired by the execution of the former Iraqi leader, and vows to avenge his father by killing Sehravat.
The story then shifts to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, a prominent site for protests. Here, Anjum observes various groups demonstrating, including the Tubby Old Gandhian (representing Anna Hazare), Mr. Aggarwal (symbolizing Kejriwal), the Mothers of the Disappeared, Manipur nationalists, Delhi Kabadiwala, and Dr. Azad Bhartiya. Jantar Mantar serves as a platform for expressing grievances against the government, with Dr. Azad Bhartiya acting as a central figure connecting these movements. While there, Anjum notices a baby, which suddenly disappears just as quickly as it appeared.
As the lecture continues, we gain insight into the novel’s deeper themes and the connections between its characters. The narrative shifts between third-person and first-person perspectives, with Piglet, a landlord, narrating part of his own story. This section introduces key characters like Tilo, whose life is intertwined with others, and Musa, who becomes involved in terrorism. The story addresses major issues such as terrorism in Kashmir, the impact of violence, and the personal struggles of the characters, illustrating how tragedies often push people into cycles of revenge and conflict.
Towards the end, a letter highlights the close interconnections among all the characters. Each one represents a unique aspect of the human experience, showing how individual lives are shaped by broader social forces. For instance, Musa’s turn to terrorism is depicted not merely as a moral failing but as a consequence of the violence and loss he has endured, encouraging readers to understand his actions in a more nuanced way.
The narrative also explores the Kashmir conflict, portraying both victims and perpetrators of violence in a humanized manner. It demonstrates how violence perpetuates further violence and how individuals striving for peace or justice can become trapped in cycles of revenge. Overall, the story emphasizes how society shapes people’s choices and highlights the enduring psychological and social effects of violence on everyone involved.
The final chapter, Guih Kyom (meaning “a dung beetle”), marks a significant point in the story. It shows that Tilo has begun teaching children at the guest house, while the graves of other characters, including Ahlam Bazi, are also highlighted. In one moment, Ahlam shifts her sleeping position as the conversation among the characters continues. The chapter features a striking line: “How to tell a shattered story, by slowly becoming everybody, no, by slowly becoming everything,” emphasizing the narrative’s complexity.
Tragedy occurs when it is revealed that Musa has died in an encounter. One night, unable to sleep, Anjum takes Udaya Jebeen for a walk through the city. During the walk, Udaya pauses to relieve herself, and Anjum waits by her side. On their return, they notice a dung beetle lying on its back, staring at the sky as if it could save the world. This image serves as a symbol of hope and resilience. The novel ends on a note of optimism, suggesting that with Udaya Jebeen’s arrival, things may improve, and time will bring change.
Activity B: Mapping the Conflict
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Activity C: Automated Timeline & Character Arcs (Auto-mode with Comet)
Final Adjustments: Make any necessary updates to the timeline based on the verification process, ensuring all details regarding motivations and events align accurately with the content of the original lectures and transcripts.
The Nature of Paradise:
The Jannat Guest House represents a reimagined concept of paradise, challenging the traditional notion that heaven exists only in the afterlife. It suggests that a form of paradise can be created on earth through empathy, understanding, and peaceful coexistence among diverse communities.
Ambiguity and Diversity:
The novel highlights India’s immense cultural and social diversity and the tensions that arise from it. Everyday situations—like vegetarians dining with non-vegetarians—symbolize these differences. Religious traditions, such as Hindus offering prashad, Christians sharing wine, and Muslims sharing meat, reflect distinct cultural values while illustrating the possibility of coexisting identities.
The Cost of Modernization:
Development often carries significant consequences. Projects like urban modernization and infrastructure expansion frequently displace marginalized communities, including farmers and slum dwellers. The novel critiques such one-sided progress and calls for development that is equitable and benefits everyone rather than increasing social inequality.
Blurring Life and Death:
The boundaries between life and death are portrayed as fluid. Characters like Musa and Revathy continue to exist in memories and hearts, even after death. The practice of reburial, moving graves from one place to another, further illustrates this blending. The Jannat Guest House, named after paradise, becomes a space for the living, challenging conventional ideas about mortality.
Storytelling and Its Purpose:
Roy explores the complexity of storytelling through the line, “How to tell a shattered story? By slowly becoming everybody, no, by slowly becoming everything.” Multiple narratives—transgender struggles, the Kashmir conflict, Maoist resistance—are woven together to reflect the fractured reality of India. Storytelling becomes a cathartic, almost life-giving process, necessary to reveal truth despite its difficulty.
Social Status in Contemporary India:
The novel provides a panoramic view of modern India, addressing the lives of Hijras, urban transformation, and the Kashmir conflict. Although seemingly unrelated, these themes are connected through Roy’s critique of capitalism and her focus on marginalized communities.
Corruption, Political Violence, and Exploitation:
The novel examines socio-political issues in India, especially the Kashmir conflict, critiquing actors like the Indian Army, Kashmiri militants, and leftist activists for exploiting situations for personal or financial gain. Even under the guise of moral or religious justification, these actions harm innocent people.
Resilience and Hope:
Despite the hardships depicted, the novel emphasizes hope and resilience. Characters endure immense suffering but draw strength from relationships and beliefs. In Kashmir, people risk their lives to bury the dead, demonstrating perseverance. Udaya Jebeen, a child symbolizing new beginnings, embodies hope for a better future, suggesting that positive change is possible through resilience.
Gender Identity and Societal Divisions:
Anjum’s journey as a transgender woman highlights the discrimination Hijras face in India. Her resilience and unique identity challenge societal norms surrounding gender and belonging. Her survival during a massacre, based on superstitions about harming Hijras, underscores her strength. Through Anjum, Roy questions rigid gender roles while also addressing broader societal divides, including religion and nationality.
Social Hierarchy and Inclusivity:
India’s caste and religious hierarchies often lead to isolation and violence, as seen in Biplab, an intelligence officer disconnected despite his privilege. In contrast, Anjum’s inclusive approach at the Jannat Guest House fosters belonging and hope for marginalized people. Her actions show that kindness and inclusivity can bridge societal divides and promote harmony.
Religion and Power:
The novel critiques the dangerous intersection of religion and politics. It shows how Hindu-Muslim tensions, fueled by extremist figures like “Gujarat ka Lalla,” create division and violence. Islamic extremism in Kashmir also leads to internal conflict and narrow views of freedom. Roy warns that mixing religion and politics threatens individual freedoms, societal unity, and peace, urging readers to recognize the damage caused by such extremism.
Hazrat Sarmad Shaheed:
Originally from Armenia, Hazrat Sarmad Shaheed was a deeply spiritual figure who traveled to India, embraced Islam, and formed a close bond with a Hindu man named Abhaychand. He was executed due to his questioning of religious orthodoxy, yet his story endures as a symbol of love that transcends religion and identity. His shrine embodies inclusivity, welcoming people from all walks of life, and his life underscores how love and spirituality can overcome rigid societal norms.
The Old Man-Baby:
This elderly figure gained recognition for his hunger strike protests against corruption in India. He became a symbol of hope for marginalized communities, particularly those displaced from their homes. Over time, however, wealthier groups and political agendas co-opted his movement, shifting it away from its original purpose. Despite his vulnerability, his actions represented the potential for a better future for overlooked populations.
The Shiraz Cinema:
Shiraz Cinema symbolizes India’s cultural outreach, particularly in Kashmir. It was later shut down by Muslim separatists who saw it as a tool of cultural dominance. Subsequently, the Indian Army repurposed it as a detention center where people were tortured, highlighting how unresolved social tensions can escalate into violence and oppression.
Jannat Guest House and Funeral Parlor:
The Jannat Guest House serves as a sanctuary for those marginalized due to religion, class, or identity, embodying inclusivity and the potential of an accepting India. Located near spaces of death, it represents both fragility and hope, bridging the real world with a vision of paradise.
Duniya and Jannat:
“Duniya” (the world) and “Jannat” (paradise) are contrasting symbols in the novel. While the world reflects struggle and harshness, paradise signifies peace and harmony. The narrative, however, complicates these ideas, showing that even paradise can hide danger or violence.
Motherhood:
Motherhood recurs as a theme, seen through characters like Anjum, who aspires to become a mother but faces societal barriers. The novel also ties motherhood to the idea of “Mother India,” though characters from other religious backgrounds find it difficult to relate. Motherhood is redefined as an act of empathy and inclusiveness that transcends religion and culture.
Bodies, Waste, and Inner Struggles:
The novel uses imagery of bodies and waste to highlight systemic and social inequalities. Dalits, who handle cleaning and dead bodies, symbolize marginalized communities burdened with societal injustice. The body also serves as a metaphor for resistance against oppression, reflecting the inner conflicts and traumas of the characters.
Guih Kyom, the Dung Beetle:
The dung beetle in the final chapter symbolizes resilience and hope. Though small, it plays an essential role in maintaining environmental balance, illustrating how even seemingly minor actions can have a meaningful impact. The beetle serves as a reminder that hope and change can emerge from unexpected sources.
Gujarat ka Lalla:
“Gujarat ka Lalla” represents a political figure inspired by Narendra Modi, symbolizing the rise of Hindu nationalism in India. His connection to the 2002 Gujarat riots highlights the dangers of extremist ideologies, which exacerbate divisions and marginalize vulnerable groups.
The Color Saffron:
Saffron in the novel symbolizes Hindu extremism, associated with nationalist followers and the violence inflicted on minorities. Anjum’s survival of a massacre demonstrates the trauma caused by such violence, with saffron representing the oppressive nature of extremist ideologies.
The Vulture:
Vultures symbolize the impact of modernization on both society and the environment. Their decline, caused by chemical use in farming, also represents those who challenge dominant systems but are silenced. The disappearance of vultures mirrors the loss of voices that question societal harm.
Worksheet :
Activity A: The “Shattered Story” Structure
Shattered Storytelling in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness: Trauma and Non-linear Narrative
Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness employs a deliberately fragmented and non-chronological narrative, reflecting the shattered psyches of its characters. Prof. Dilip Barad notes that Roy tells stories in a “fragmented and non-chronological way” because the characters themselves are fragmented by personal and historical traumas. This method allows the novel to “slowly become everything,” merging multiple perspectives, locations, and timelines into a single, interconnected web that mirrors the fractured reality of postcolonial India.
The novel moves fluidly between spaces like the Khwabgah in Old Delhi, a haven for marginalized individuals, and the Graveyard (Jannat), where Anjum builds a home for those society discards. This spatial shift parallels the narrative fragmentation: just as the characters navigate multiple social and emotional terrains, the reader moves through a disjointed timeline that reflects the characters’ internal and external disruptions. For instance, Anjum’s experiences are interwoven with Tilo’s story in Kashmir, creating a narrative echo across time and space. The connection is literalized when Anjum finds the baby left by Tilo, demonstrating how the characters’ lives intersect in ways that defy linear causality.
Roy’s non-linear approach also mirrors the trauma of the characters. By presenting events out of order, the narrative replicates the way trauma disrupts memory: past and present co-exist in a jarring simultaneity. The reader experiences Tilo’s Kashmir backstory alongside Anjum’s life in Delhi and the Graveyard, highlighting the lingering effects of political violence and social marginalization. The temporal shifts force readers to reconstruct events, just as the characters themselves must piece together their identities amid loss, displacement, and societal neglect.
The concept of “telling a shattered story by slowly becoming everything” is embodied in the narrative’s interweaving of diverse voices and locations. Each fragment—whether it is a flashback to Tilo’s trauma in Kashmir or a vignette of Anjum’s care for the foundling—serves as a microcosm of the broader social and political fractures in India. The novel resists a single, authoritative perspective, instead embracing multiplicity, which emphasizes that understanding trauma requires inhabiting multiple viewpoints and spaces simultaneously.
In conclusion, the non-linear timeline and spatial shifts in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness are not mere stylistic choices but essential strategies to embody the characters’ trauma. By shattering chronology and perspective, Roy compels the reader to engage with the fragmented realities of her characters, while the interconnections—such as the linkage between Tilo’s tragedy and Anjum’s adoption of the baby—demonstrate how personal and collective histories are inseparably intertwined.
Activity B: Mapping the Conflict
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Activity C: Automated Timeline & Character Arcs (Auto-mode with Comet)
Automated Timeline of Events
Anjum's Journey
Birth as Aftab - Anjum is born into a family in Gujarat, where she experiences early life marked by community expectations and cultural norms.
Life in Khwabgah - Following the trauma faced during the Gujarat Riots in 2002, Anjum finds refuge in Khwabgah, a space for marginalized individuals. Here, she grapples with her identity and the impact of violence on her community.
Trauma in Gujarat (2002) - The Gujarat Riots cause significant upheaval in Anjum's life. She witnesses communal violence that shapes her perspective and drives her to seek justice and understanding of her identity.
Moving to the Graveyard - After her traumatic experiences and the loss of her community, Anjum relocates to a graveyard, which symbolizes her search for solace and acceptance. The graveyard becomes a metaphor for the lives lost during the riots and her own transformation.
Saddam Hussain's Journey
Witnessing Father's Lynching - As a child, Saddam witnesses the brutal lynching of his father due to cow protection violence, a horrific event that deeply traumatizes him and influences his views on oppression and violence in society.
Changing His Name to Saddam - In a powerful act of defiance against the oppressive circumstances surrounding him, Saddam adopts the name Saddam Hussain. This name change symbolizes his rejection of his past identity and his stance against perceived American imperialism and local oppression.
Meeting Anjum - Saddam encounters Anjum at a pivotal moment in their lives. Their meeting is marked by shared experiences of trauma and loss, fostering a deep connection that explores themes of identity, resistance, and the search for belonging.
Verification of Timeline
Timeline Consistency: Review the video transcripts for mentions of the key events and character motivations, focusing on context surrounding Anjum's trauma and Saddam's name change, ensuring they align with the established narrative.
Motivations Behind Events: Emphasize how Anjum's experiences during the Gujarat Riots directly impact her identity and choices. Similarly, focus on how Saddam’s choice of name serves as both an act of defiance and a reaction to the violence he has witnessed.
Final Adjustments: Make any necessary updates to the timeline based on the verification process, ensuring all details regarding motivations and events align accurately with the content of the original lectures and transcripts.
Activity D: The "Audio/Video" Synthesis
References :
DoE-MKBU. (2021a, December 28). Part 1 | Khwabgah | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-29vE53apGs
DoE-MKBU. (2021b, December 28). Part 2 | Jantar Mantar | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr1z1AEXPBU
DoE-MKBU. (2021c, December 28). Part 3 | Kashmir and Dandakaranyak | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIKH_89rML0
DoE-MKBU. (2021d, December 28). Part 4 | Udaya Jebeen & Dung Beetle | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH5EULOFP4g
DoE-MKBU. (2021e, December 30). Symbols and Motifs | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbBOqLB487U
DoE-MKBU. (2021f, December 30). Thematic Study | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NYSTUTBoSs
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