🥀The MInistry of utmost happiness 🥀

Hello !!

Here is my response to the activity given by dr.Dilip Barad sir in the google classroom related to the novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy one of the Contemporary fiction works published in 2017. This novel is about a Hermaphrodite Person named Anjum and how his life is surrounded by Gender biasedness, Caste discrimination, myths, Naxalites, etc..

To know more about the novel let's try to give answers of the following Questions..

Points to ponder while writing a blog -

1) Read -

The Reader’s Digest Book of English Grammar and Comprehension

for Very Young Children

By

S. Tilottama - Give answers to the questions asked regarding any three stories. Questions are given at the end of each story.

2) Three points mentioned in the photo of board-work.

3) Write about any one theme or character of the novel with the help of Chat OpenAI GPT. Ask to Chat GPT and put screenshots as well as copy-paste the answer generated by this response generator.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is the second novel by Indian writer Arundhati Roy Published in 2017, after her debut, The God of Small Things. The novel weaves together the stories of people navigating some of the darkest and most violent episodes of modern Indian history, from land reform that dispossessed poor farmers to the Bhopal disaster, the 2002 Godhra train burning, and Kashmir insurgency. Roy's Characters run the gamut of Indian society and indulge an intersex woman,a rebellious architec,t and her landlord who is a supervisor in the Intelligence service. The narrative spans decades the locations but primarily takes place in Delhi and Kashmir.

Arundhati Roy

Suzana Arundhati Roy (Born 24 November) is an Indian author best known for her novel The God of Small Things, which won the booker prize for fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. she is also a political activist involved in human rights and environmental causes. 

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness 

About Novel : 

Genre: Fiction 

Publication 2017

Cover Artist: Mayank Austen Soofi

1) List of characters

Mulaqat Ali(Father of Anjum ,hakim )

Jahanara Begum(Mother of Anjum)

Alham Baaji (Midwife of Mulaqat Ali)

Aftab/Anjum (Protagonist)

Ziauddin (Blind Imam)

Kulsoom Bi (UStad of Khwabgah)

Bombay silk, Saeeda, Mary, Gudia & Bulbul (Living in Khwabgah)

Razia,Bismillah(Bimla) (Living in Khwabgah)

Zainab - A child {who later on marries Saddam Hussein}

Zakir Mian

Contractor Gupta

Dr.Azad Bharatiya(One of the Protestors )

Saddam Hussein (Dayachand)

Sherawat(Allegedly wanted to take revenge for his father's death)

Biplab Dasgupta (IB)

Chitrarupa(Wife of Bilpab)

S.Tillotama (Friend of Musa,Nagaraj Marries, biplab )

Nagaraj (Journalist)

Musa Yeswi(Involved in Naxalite activities)

Arifa Yeswi(Wife of Musa)

Jebeen The First(Died)

Captain Amrik Singh(Officer)

Jalil Qadri(Human Rights activist)

Acp Pinky Sodhi(Brutal interrogator)

Balbir Sodhi(Pinkey's brother)

Revathy (Mother of Udaya, Raped)

Udaya( Jebeen the Second)

2) Summary 

Aftab is a hermaphrodite born in Old Delhi and raised as a boy. However, Aftab is never comfortable with this and when he reaches adulthood, he opts for gender reassignment surgery. Aftab is reborn as Anjum, a glamorous woman whose affectionate, outgoing manner quickly ingratiates her with many members of the community.

Anjum finds a home with the residents of the place called Khwabgah, meaning "House of Dreams." This is a community of non-conformists, many of who are either intersex or transgender like Anjum. Calling it home, she remains there for thirty years, during which time she becomes a mother figure to a little girl named Zainab and raises her to adulthood.

However, when she is forty-six, she survives in the 2002 riots in Ahmedabad and decides to leave the Khwabgah She moves into a local cemetery transforming it into a guesthouse that she names Jannat, or "Paradise.

She opens a funeral services company catering to marginalized and persecuted groups. One day, a baby is found at an observatory in Delhi. Anjum takes the child in, but she disappears one day. Anjum tracks the baby down to the house of the woman who took her.

Saddam Hussein, an untouchable, awaits the day when he can avenge his father’s lynching.

The narrative then shifts to the story of S. Tilottama, called "Tilo" for short, the woman who took the baby. The story flashes back to her college days, her narrative spliced together with the stories of two men who loved her during these years. One is an old bureaucrat called Garson Hobart, and the other is a mainstream journalist named Naga whom she eventually marries.

Tilo, a dark-skinned, smart woman, had been close to architecture student Musa Yeswi at university. After university, Musa and Tilo reconnected shortly after his wife died. However, Musa became involved with the Kashmiri separatist movement advocating for independence for the Muslim región at the border of Pakistan.

Musa and his friend, Commander Gulrez, raise the attention of Indian bureaucrats led by the ruthless Major Amrik Singh. Singh, known for torturing his suspects brutally, captures Musa and Gulrez.

Musa manages to escape, but Gulrez is killed as Tilo watches. Shaken and realizing how close she came to being caught up in an extremely dangerous, plot, Tilo decides to play it safe and marry Naga. Fourteen years later, they divorce, and Tilo rents an apartment. They reconnect, but she soon disappears again with the baby from the observatory. She has named the baby Miss Jebeen the Second, after Musa's slain daughter. Anjum finds her and invites both of them to move into the Jannat guesthouse With her.

The narrative then flashes back to show how Miss Jebeen the First died, in the conflict in Kashmir. She and Musa's wife, Arifa are shot by soldiers.

Although Major Singh later tries to make peace with Musa by paying him off, Musa angrily rejects him and goes undercover. We also see more of the night Gulrez died, and it is revealed that Tilo was pregnant (with Musa's child) when she escaped Kashmir and married Naga. However, she chooses to have an abortion.

Back in the present, the residents of Jannat celebrate Zainab's wedding to fellow resident Saddam. One day, they receive a letter written by Miss Jebeen the Second's mother.

A member of communist Comrade Maase Revathy was raped, and although she could not care for her child, she reveals she named her Udaya. The residents of Jannat agree to name the child Miss Udaya Jebeen. The book ends as Garson Hobart reads through Tila's documents, realizing that he now sides with her on Musa arrives at his apartment, and they talk about Kashmir, with Musa saying that the conflict will make the country explode one day.

Musa joins Tilo at Jannat for the night but leaves to rejoin the fight in Kashmir, where he's killed. Anjum takes Miss Udaya Jebeen for a walk around Delhi in the last scene, while a small dung beetle observes the world around them.

Narrative Style

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is written in a non-linear narrative style, using multiple perspectives and jumping back and forth in time. It is a complex, multi-layered story that interweaves the lives of different characters and their experiences and struggles in contemporary India. The novel also employs elements of magical realism and surrealism.

3) Fact&Fiction

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, written by Arundhati Roy, is a novel that combines elements of both fact and fiction. The novel is set in contemporary India and deals with real-world issues such as caste discrimination, political corruption, and the ongoing conflict in Kashmir. However, the novel also incorporates elements of magical realism and surrealism, blurring the line between fact and fiction.

The novel also deals with the lives and struggles of a diverse cast of characters, some of whom are based on real people, while others are purely fictional. In this way, the novel uses both fact and fiction to explore the complexities of life in contemporary India and to convey the author's political and social commentary.

Socio-Political Events 

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, written by Arundhati Roy, deals with a variety of socio-political events and issues in contemporary India. Some of the key themes and issues addressed in the novel include:

Caste discrimination: The novel explores the ongoing caste-based discrimination in Indian society and the ways in which it affects the lives and experiences of different characters.

Political corruption: The novel also deals with the theme of political corruption and the ways in which it undermines the functioning of democracy in India.

Conflict in Kashmir: The novel deals with the ongoing conflict in Kashmir and the human rights violations committed by Indian security forces in the region.

The rights of marginalized communities: The novel also deals with the rights of marginalized communities such as the transgender community and the struggles they face in India.

Environmental destruction and corporate greed: The novel also deals with the theme of environmental destruction and corporate greed, and how it affects the lives of the people living around it.

Overall, the novel uses a variety of literary techniques to explore the complexities of these socio-political issues and to convey the author's political and social commentary on them.

🠊 ChatGPT

Character Sketch of Anjum

Anjum of The Ministry of Utmost Happiness in Detail

Anjum is a character in the novel "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness" by Indian author Arundhati Roy. She is a hijra, a term used in South Asia for people who identify as a third gender. Anjum is born as a boy named Aftab, but identifies as female and eventually becomes a hijra.

Anjum is a central character in the novel and her story is interwoven with the other characters and their stories. Through Anjum, the novel explores themes of gender identity, marginalization, and the search for acceptance and community. Anjum's story is also a commentary on the treatment of hijras in Indian society. The novel shows how Anjum's experiences reflect the broader social and political issues faced by hijras in India.

Anjum is a complex character, she is tough and resilient, but also vulnerable and sensitive. She is both a victim of society's discrimination and a powerful voice for change. Throughout the novel, she struggles to find acceptance, both from society and from herself.

Anjum's story is one of the most memorable and powerful parts of the novel and showcases the author's ability to create a character that is both relatable and unique.

Q 1: Why was Mattoo shot?
(a) Because he was a Hindu
(b) Because he wanted Azadi
(c) Because he won the Nobel Prize
(d) None of the above
(e) All of the above.

Answer : (a) Because he was a Hindu

Q 2: Who could the unknown gunman have been?
(a) An Islamist militant who thought all kafirs should be killed
(b) An agent of the Occupation who wanted people to think that all Islamist militants thought that all kafirs should be killed
(c) Neither of the above
(d) Someone who wanted everyone to go crazy trying to figure it out.

Answer : (a) An Islamist militant who thought all kafirs should be killed

KHADIJA SAYS …
In Kashmir when we wake up and say ‘Good Morning’ what we really mean is ‘Good Mourning’.
THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’
Begum Dil Afroze was a well-known opportunist who believed, quite literally, in changing with the times. When the Movement seemed to be on the up and up, she would set the time on her wristwatch half an hour ahead to Pakistan Standard Time. When the Occupation regained its grip she would reset it to Indian Standard Time. In the Valley the saying went, ‘Begum Dil Afroze’s watch isn’t really a watch, it’s a newspaper.’

Q 1: What is the moral of this story?
Answer : May be the act of doing her wristwatch half an hour ahead to Pakistan Standard Time, And reset it to Indian Standard Time can be considered that how Kashmir is surviving under the fear of both the countries and it's pressure.

NOTHING

I would like to write one of those sophisticated stories in which even though nothing much happens there’s lots to write about. That can’t be done in Kashmir. It’s not sophisticated, what happens here. There’s too much blood for good literature.

Q 1: Why is it not sophisticated?
Answer : Kashmir is the land where people live under the fear and with the militants so the there are many incidents happen everyday which become the reason of bloodshade. As it is the land of Mourning. So it cannot consider as sophisticated one.

Q 2: What is the acceptable amount of blood for good literature?
Answer : According to me, there is nothing like any amount of blood to create good literature.