FL: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

 The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

This blog is assigned by Dr. Dilip Sir Barad and focuses on The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy, For further information Click Here 

Video 1 Part 1 | Khwabgah | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy

Summary of the Video

The video offers a critical reading of the novel’s first two sections, concentrating primarily on the character of Anjum (formerly Aftab). It opens in a graveyard and employs elements of magic realism by portraying the protagonist metaphorically as a tree. The lecture then moves into Anjum’s “backstory,” focusing on her birth as an intersex child and the trauma and identity crisis experienced by her mother, Jahanara Begum.

The narrative transitions from the Khwabgah (House of Dreams) to the Dunya (the outside world), emphasizing the hardships faced by the third gender in a society whose language recognizes only masculine or feminine identities. The summary concludes with Anjum’s traumatic experience during the 2002 Gujarat riots, an event that compels her to leave life at the Khwabgah and establish the Jannat Guest House in a graveyard, where she comes to live among the dead.

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Notes on Character Backstories

The sources provide detailed biographical accounts of several central and historical figures:

• Anjum (Aftab): Born as a boy named Aftab to Jahanara Begum, it was discovered by the midwife, Bhaji Ahalam, that the child possessed both male and female genitalia. Although his mother initially believed that the female organs would “seal off” naturally, the reality of Aftab’s dual identity eventually pushed him to search for a world of his own. At the age of 14 or 15, he followed a beautifully dressed Hijra named Bombay Silk to the Khwabgah, where he transitioned into Anjum. After surviving the 2002 riots—spared only because the mob believed killing a Hijra would bring bad luck—she suffered severe psychological trauma, changed her clothing to a male Pathani suit, and moved into a graveyard.

• Jahanara Begum: Anjum’s mother. Her backstory is marked by the five stages of shock she experiences upon realizing her child’s identity: a constriction of the heart, disbelief, recoil from her “creation,” contemplation of suicide, and finally, a protective yet confused love for a child who existed outside the “language” she understood.

• Sarmad: A historical or mythical saint used as a parallel to the struggles of the characters. He was a naked saint who fell in love with a Hindu boy, Abhay Chand, and later rejected orthodox Islam. He was beheaded on the steps of Jama Masjid by Emperor Aurangzeb for reciting only “There is no God,” omitting the phrase “but Allah.”

• Zainab: A three-year-old baby discovered by Anjum on the steps of Jama Masjid. Anjum adopts her to fulfill a deep and unfulfilled desire for motherhood.

• Kulsumbi: The leader (Nayak) of the Khwabgah. She represents the historical tradition of Hijras who were once respected caretakers of women in the Mughal Janana Khannas.

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Specific Symbols Mentioned

The lecture highlights several symbols that convey themes of displacement, identity, and conflict:

• The Tree: At the beginning of the novel, Anjum is likened to a tree growing in a graveyard. This symbolizes her displacement; like a sapling uprooted from its nursery and replanted in unfamiliar soil, she must endure “casual cruelty” and struggle to survive in a hostile environment.

• Old Birds: The section titled “Where do old birds go to die?” functions as a surreal symbol. Since we rarely encounter the bodies of birds that die naturally, the graveyard becomes a magical-realist space—a mysterious final resting place.

• The Graveyard / Jannat Guest House: This setting represents a space “beyond sorrows and suffering.” It is both literal and symbolic, where the living and the dead coexist. Beds placed between graves suggest a life lived on the margins of the conventional world.

• The Internal Riot/War: A powerful metaphor for the intersex body. The lecturer explains that for characters like Anjum, external conflicts such as Hindu-Muslim riots or the Indo-Pak war are experienced internally. Their struggle to reconcile their own biology becomes a permanent internal war.

• Language: Language symbolizes the limits of social acceptance. The absence of words for the third gender implies that what cannot be named is denied existence within collective consciousness.

• The Motorist’s Helmet: A postmodern symbol used in describing Sarmad’s execution. He is portrayed as picking up his severed head as casually as a motorist retrieving a fallen helmet, blending the sacred and tragic with the ordinary.

Summary of the Video Analysis

The lecture moves from the intimate, domestic struggles of Anjum within the Khwabgah (House of Dreams) to the broader sociopolitical landscape of India, particularly the spaces of the Jannat Guest House and the protest site at Jantar Mantar. It examines how marginalized identities—such as the third gender (Hijras) and Dalits—intersect within a “Ministry” created by those excluded from the “Dunya” (the outside world). The narrative traces a progression from the 2002 Gujarat riots to the 2011 anti-corruption movements in Delhi, presenting a society in which both internal and external “riots” are ongoing and persistent.

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Character Backstories

Saddam Hussain (Dayachand)

• Identity and Origin: Born as Dayachand, a Dalit (Chamar) from Haryana, he later adopts the name Saddam Hussain.

• The Traumatic Turning Point: His father, a leather worker who skinned dead cattle, is falsely accused by a mob—described as a “Jaishree Ram gang”—of killing a cow. He is brutally lynched, and the act is recorded and circulated on social media.

• Adopting the Name: Dayachand watches the execution of Iraqi President Saddam Hussain on television and is struck by the dignity with which the leader faces the “mighty Goliath” of the U.S. military. He chooses the name as a symbol of vengeance and resistance against those responsible for his father’s murder.

• Professional Life: Prior to joining Anjum, he works in a mortuary, conducting post-mortems on “crooked” bodies that higher-caste doctors refuse to touch. He later becomes a security guard, where he encounters systemic corruption and wage theft by private agencies.

The Baby (Found at Jantar Mantar)

• Discovery: During a large-scale protest at Jantar Mantar, a newly born baby is unexpectedly found abandoned on a footpath.

• Conflict of Custody: Anjum immediately wishes to claim and care for the child, but faces resistance from others, including a character named Mr. Agarwal (a fictional figure representing political changes in Delhi), who argues that a Hijra should not be permitted to raise a child.

• Disappearance: As the police are summoned and a heated dispute unfolds between Anjum and the protestors, the baby mysteriously disappears from the site, creating a central enigma in the narrative.

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Specific Symbols and the Protests

Jantar Mantar: The Site of Dissent

• Symbol of Democracy: Originally an astronomical observatory, Jantar Mantar is depicted as New Delhi’s official protest site, where people from “remote states” gather to voice the diverse concerns of the nation.

• The 2011 Movement: The sources link the protests specifically to the anti-corruption movement led by an “old Gandhian” (Anna Hazare), which captured widespread public attention and received extensive media coverage.

• A “Ministry” of the Marginalized: While media narratives focused primarily on anti-corruption, the site also became home to numerous overlooked groups. Roy uses this convergence to symbolize the fragmented and unresolved grievances of India, including:

  • Mothers of the Disappeared: Kashmiri women searching for information about missing husbands and children.

  • Manipur Nationalists: Protestors opposing AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) and protesting military atrocities.

  • Bhopal Gas Victims: Survivors of the Union Carbide disaster who continue to seek justice decades later.

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Other Specific Symbols

• Saffron Parakeets: This phrase symbolizes political supporters who arrive in organized “parades” to flutter around and endorse the anti-corruption movement, representing a particular ideological shift within the country.

• The Graveyard as “Parliament”: The Jannat Guest House, constructed amid graves, is symbolically portrayed as a parliament of the marginalized—a space where the “Ministry of Utmost Happiness” operates outside the rules and structures of the Dunya.

• The Motorist’s Helmet: This symbol is used in the depiction of the saint Sarmad’s beheading. His act of lifting his severed head like a motorist retrieving a fallen helmet merges the sacred with the postmodern and the mundane.

Summary of the Video (Part 3)

The narrative shifts from Anjum’s story to the perspective of Biplab Dasgupta, referred to as “The Landlord,” an officer in the Intelligence Bureau who offers a first-person account of his connection to Tilo (Tilottama). The lecture explains that the baby who disappeared at Jantar Mantar was in fact rescued by Tilo, who later brings the child to Anjum’s Jannat Guest House. The focus then moves to the personal tragedies of individuals caught within political conflicts, particularly in Kashmir and the forests of Dandakaranya, and illustrates how their lives are “stitched together” through shared trauma and resistance. The narrative concludes with a confrontation between state authority (Biplab) and insurgency (Musa), underscoring the self-destructive nature of nationalist violence.

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Character Backstories

Tilo (Tilottama)

• Identity and Origin: Tilo is portrayed as an enigmatic woman and a Bengali student of architecture in Delhi. Her mother, Mary Das, is from Kerala, creating an autobiographical connection to the author, Arundhati Roy.

• Professional Life: During her college years, she worked as a lighting and set designer for theatre productions, where she first encountered Biplab, Naga, and Musa—the men who would remain deeply obsessed with her.

• Life in Conflict: Although she is neither Muslim nor Kashmiri, she strongly identifies with the Kashmiri cause. She lived with Naga (Nagaraj Hariharan) for fourteen years before resurfacing in Delhi, where she rents an apartment from Biplab.

• The Mother Figure: Tilo is the one who swiftly takes the abandoned baby from the protest site and names her Miss Jebeen (Jebeen II) in memory of Musa’s deceased daughter.

Musa (Musa Yeswi)

• The Transition to Insurgency: Musa was not initially a militant; he lived a contented life in Kashmir with his wife, Arifa, and their daughter, Jebeen.

• The Traumatic Trigger: During a security encounter, a single bullet passes through his daughter’s temple and into his wife’s heart, killing both instantly. This devastating loss becomes his “personal cause” for joining a militant group in pursuit of revenge.

• The Shadow Figure: Musa is described as an “enigmatic” and elusive figure who spends years as a wanted militant. He eventually traces the man responsible for his family’s deaths, Captain Amrit Singh, to California—not to kill him directly, but to create a climate of terror that drives the Captain to murder his own family and then himself in madness and fear.

Revathy (The Letter)

• Identity: Revathy is a Maoist (Naxalite) fighter operating in the forests of Dandakaranya.

• The Mother of the Baby: She is the biological mother of the baby found at Jantar Mantar. In a nine-page letter revealed at the end of the novel, she recounts her tragic personal history.

• The Trauma of War: Revathy was brutally raped by six police officers while she was unconscious and bleeding. The baby is the result of this assault. She leaves the child at the protest site in the hope that it might have a better future, far removed from the “fight for the forest.”

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Specific Symbols Mentioned

• “The Landlord”: Biplab Dasgupta’s title symbolizes the Government of India and the Intelligence Bureau, suggesting that the state perceives itself as the owner or landlord of both land and people.

• One Bullet: This symbolizes the swift and impersonal brutality of war, as a single bullet annihilates an entire family and creates a lifelong insurgent.

• Six Fathers and Three Mothers: This phrase describes the baby’s fractured yet collective identity. The “six fathers” refer to the anonymous police rapists, while the “three mothers” represent the biological mother (Revathy), the adoptive mother (Tilo), and the nurturing community (Anjum and the Ministry).

• The Motorist’s Helmet: Used in the description of the saint Sarmad’s beheading, this symbol blends the sacred and historical with the ordinary modern world.

• Lal Salaam (Red Salute): A symbol of the Maoist revolution and the figure of the “beloved mother” within the movement.

• Ice Injection: This metaphor conveys the chilling force of Musa’s prophecy—that India is not destroying Kashmiris, but rather destroying its own soul and future through its actions in the valley.

• Pellet Guns: A symbol of state violence that “blinds” the population, both literally and metaphorically.

Summary of the Video (Part 4)

The final segment of the lecture series examines how the “shattered stories” of the characters ultimately come together at the Jannat Guest House in the graveyard. The discussion stresses that the novel is not merely a compilation of tragedies but a powerful testament to resilience. It explains how characters such as Anjum, Tilo, and Saddam Hussain—each rejected by the “Dunya” (the world)—create their own “Ministry,” a space where happiness is possible even amid sorrow. The narrative closes by shifting away from revenge and state-sponsored violence toward themes of collective care and the survival of marginalized communities.

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Character Backstories and Resilience

• Udaya Jebeen (The Baby): She is symbolically described as having “six fathers” (the anonymous police officers who raped her biological mother) and “three mothers” (Revathy, Tilo, and Anjum). Her journey from abandonment at a protest site to being raised in a graveyard represents the ultimate act of resilience. She is portrayed as a “fish in the water,” thriving despite the “monsters” of the city.

• Saddam Hussain (Dayachand): His narrative reaches a turning point as he moves away from his earlier “revenge drama.” Initially driven by the need to avenge his father’s lynching, the ending shows him discovering a “new purpose in life” and a sense of belonging within the graveyard community, even contemplating marriage.

• Tilo (Tilottama): Her resilience is expressed through her quiet yet determined protection of Udaya. She navigates a “shattered” world marked by state surveillance and personal loss to bring the child safely to the refuge of Anjum’s guest house.

• Mumtaz Afzal Malik: The lecture recounts the backstory of this taxi driver who was killed by Captain Amrit Singh. His story is one among many interconnected tragedies that reveal the casual cruelty of the state—cruelties the main characters must endure and overcome.

• Anjum: Her resilience is underscored by her transformation of a space of death—the graveyard—into a space of life. By sheltering and protecting “shattered” individuals, she demonstrates that even after the trauma of the Gujarat riots, she can lead a true “Ministry of Utmost Happiness.”

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Specific Symbols of Resilience and the Ending

• The Dung Beetle (Guih-Kyany): One of the most significant symbols in the ending, the dung beetle is described as “environmentally friendly” because it works with waste while keeping its surroundings clean. It symbolizes characters who live amid society’s “waste”—graveyards and margins—yet preserve their dignity and humanity.

• The Shattered Story: The lecturer points out that the novel’s fragmented structure is itself symbolic. To narrate a “shattered story,” one must “become everybody,” reflecting the resilience required to create meaning in a world fractured by politics and violence.

• The Graveyard (Jannat Guest House): No longer merely a place for the dead, the graveyard becomes a sanctuary. It is a space where the living and the dead coexist, and where characters are “liberated” from the rigid language and laws of the outside world.

• Chitli Qabar (The Spotted Grave): This symbol represents the layered and complex history of Old Delhi, as well as the interconnected nature of the characters’ lives.

• The Rickshaw in Traffic: A scene in which Anjum and the baby are trapped in heavy traffic symbolizes the slow and difficult progress of marginalized people as they attempt to move through a world largely indifferent to their existence.

• The “Ministry” Itself: The Ministry stands as a symbol of alternative governance. While the state—represented by “The Landlord”—is destructive, the Ministry is founded on compassion and the inclusion of individuals burdened with “all kinds of troubles and problems.”

Summary of the Video Analysis

The video functions as a concluding thematic analysis of Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, examining how the novel’s complex and “shattered” narrative structure mirrors the fragmented reality of contemporary India. The lecture explores key themes such as the paradoxical idea of paradise, the challenges of living with diversity, the human cost of modernization, and the dangerous convergence of religion and power. A central argument presented is that the novel is not simply a tragedy, but a study of resilience, demonstrating how marginalized individuals construct a “secular paradise” in spaces rejected by the rest of society.

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Notes on Character Backstories

The transcript offers further insight into the backgrounds of several characters:

• Professor Abdullah: A university professor who urged Kashmiris to worship local, “homegrown” saints and shrines—such as Sarmad or Chitli Qabar—rather than adhering to extremist interpretations of Islam. He was eventually killed by militants who perceived his moderate, locally rooted beliefs as a threat.

• Anjum: Her backstory includes her “illegal” occupation of the graveyard. She initially began staying there because her ancestors were buried on the land, but over time expanded the space by constructing multiple rooms to shelter a community of marginalized people and even animals.

• Musa (The Commander): The lecture clarifies confusion surrounding Musa’s identity. During an encounter in which many believed Musa had been killed, it was actually a commander who died. Musa subsequently “acquired” the title or role, leading to uncertainty regarding his survival.

• Saddam Hussain’s Father: His story is defined by the traumatic lynching episode in which he was murdered by a mob—an event that permanently altered Saddam’s life and shaped his future actions.

• Tilottama’s Mother: She is described as undergoing a “second burial” ritual in the graveyard. The lecturer explains that this practice is intended more to bring peace to the living than to affect the soul of the dead.

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The Nature of Paradise (Focus Area)

The sources emphasize a distinctive, secular interpretation of “Jannat” (Paradise) in the novel:

• The Graveyard Paradox: The novel both begins and ends in a graveyard named “Jannat” (Paradise). This creates a paradox, as a graveyard—traditionally associated with death and suffering—is depicted as the only place where true paradise exists.

• Paradise on Earth: Roy presents paradise not as a religious afterlife, but as something that must be created on earth through social and political action. The lecturer notes that those who speak most insistently about religious paradise are often the most fearful of death, exposing the hypocrisy of purely spiritual conceptions of heaven.

• Harmonious Coexistence: Paradise is defined as a space where people from different regions (such as Kashmir and Manipur) and varied forms of life—human, animal, and vegetation—can coexist peacefully.

• “Another World is Possible”: This slogan, used by protesters at Jantar Mantar, symbolizes the belief that a more just and peaceful world can be achieved through struggle, solidarity, and collective effort.

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Specific Symbols Mentioned

The lecture identifies several symbols that convey the novel’s central themes:

• The Dung Beetle (Guih-Kyany): A powerful emblem of hope and resilience. Because it works with waste yet remains “environmentally friendly” and sustains its own ecosystem, it represents marginalized individuals who create dignity and beauty from society’s discarded spaces.

• The Mercedes Car: A symbol of corruption and economic inequality in modern India. It represents those who benefit from modernization while the poor bear its costs through displacement and suffering.

• The Diamond: A metaphor for life and truth. Like a diamond with many facets, life consists of multiple, interconnected perspectives—life and death, joy and sorrow—that cannot be separated.

• The Shattered Story: The novel’s fragmented, non-linear structure symbolizes the broken condition of contemporary India. To narrate a “shattered story,” one must “slowly become everything.”

• Saffron Parakeets: This symbol refers to religious extremists or political reactionaries who display religious identity for power, thereby perpetuating cycles of violence.

• The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: A metaphor for leaders who disguise predatory political ambitions beneath the appearance of religion, deceiving the “sheep,” or the general public.

The video analysis focuses on eleven key symbols that define the narrative landscape of the novel. It examines the historical and political context of the 2011 anti-corruption movement in India, the shift in cinema’s role from a secular space to a site of military interrogation in Kashmir, and the fragmentation of the human body as a metaphor for internal trauma. Central to the discussion is the tension between “Dunya” (the world) and “Jannat” (paradise), showing how those rejected by society create utopian spaces in unconventional locations such as graveyards in order to survive the violence of the “real” world.

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Character Backstories

The sources describe the backgrounds of several characters, often connecting their personal histories to larger social conflicts:

• Sarmad: An ancient saint who functions as a symbol of apostasy and “dangerous” love. He was executed for his religious doubts and his refusal to conform to orthodox interpretations of Islam.

• Anjum: A major character who strongly desires motherhood but is biologically unable to bear a child. Her trauma, especially her experience during the Gujarat riots, leads her to create a sanctuary, the Jannat Guest House, for others who are also considered “unacceptable” by society.

• Saddam Hussain: A member of the Dalit (Chamar) community whose family traditionally disposed of dead cows. His position at the bottom of the caste hierarchy makes him a symbol of the “unclean” and “unimportant” people whom Roy suggests hold the country’s true future.

• Revathy: A Maoist guerrilla fighter who fights government forces in the jungles. She leaves her biological child, Udaya Jebeen II, in order to fight and eventually die for her motherland, viewing the government’s promise of a “mainstream” paradise as a form of torture.

• Musa: A guerrilla fighter whose backstory is marked by extreme alienation. His trauma is so intense that his internal organs are described as being unable to function together, symbolically “whispering” to one another across a “silent void.”

• Amrit Singh: A military figure who cynically uses the term “Jannat Express” to describe his role in killing Kashmiri militants, viewing their deaths as merely “facilitating their journeys to heaven.”

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Specific Symbols and the Nature of Paradise

1. Dunya vs. Jannat

The sources define these as the central oppositions of the novel:

• Dunya: Refers to the “world” outside—the political and social reality that is frequently marked by horror, corruption, and violence.

• Jannat: Means “paradise.” In the novel, this is the name Anjum gives to her home in the graveyard. It operates as a “utopian bubble” where the boundaries between life and death are blurred, offering refuge to those who cannot survive in the Dunya as it exists.

2. Modernization and Its Casualties

• Vultures: These birds are described as an “unintended post-casualty of modernization.” They died out because of chemicals used to increase milk production for market demands. Symbolically, they represent marginalized groups whose survival is threatened by rapid economic and social change.

• Cinema Halls: Once symbols of a secular and inclusive Indian culture, cinema halls in Kashmir were shut down by insurgents and later transformed into military interrogation centers. This change represents the “atrocity” of state power and the loss of cultural space to military imperialism.

3. Motherhood and “Bharat Mata”

• Nationalism as Motherhood: The sources contrast the inclusive motherhood of Anjum and Tilo, who adopt a child with “six fathers and three mothers,” with the nationalistic figure of “Bharat Mata” (Mother India).

• The Aggressive Mother: The lecture notes that the image of Bharat Mata has shifted from that of a struggling farmer to an aggressive figure accompanied by a lion and placed against a saffron background. This symbol is often used to justify violence against the “children” of India who do not fit a particular ideological framework.

4. The Fragmented Body

• Internal Organs: Roy uses images of organs such as the liver, spleen, and lungs fighting or whispering to one another to represent the internal conflicts of traumatized individuals. This suggests that war exists not only externally but within the bodies of the characters themselves.

5. The “Old Gandhian” (Anna Hazare / Mr. Agarwal)

• This figure represents the 2011 anti-corruption movement. He symbolizes how historical images, especially Gandhi’s, are used to capture public imagination and bring about political change, even when deeper issues of corruption remain unresolved or grow more complex.

IV. PHASE 2: AI-ASSISTED WORKSHEET ACTIVITIES

Activity A: The "Shattered Story" Structure (Textual Analysis with ChatGPT)

Non-linear Narrative as a Form of Trauma Representation

Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness employs a deliberately non-linear and fragmented narrative structure that mirrors the psychological and social trauma experienced by its characters. Trauma in the novel is not remembered or narrated sequentially; instead, it resurfaces through broken memories, sudden shifts in setting, and intersecting life stories. The narrative movement from the Khwabgah (House of Dreams) in Old Delhi to the graveyard transformed into the Jannat Guest House exemplifies this fractured temporality, where Anjum’s past, present, and survival exist simultaneously rather than progressing in a linear order. This structural dislocation reflects how traumatized lives resist orderly storytelling.

“How to Tell a Shattered Story by Slowly Becoming Everything”

Roy’s narrative strategy follows the principle articulated in the lecture as “how to tell a shattered story by slowly becoming everything.” Rather than focusing on a single protagonist or unified plot, the novel expands outward to include marginalized individuals, historical violence, and symbolic spaces. Anjum’s personal trauma as a Hijra survivor of the 2002 Gujarat riots does not remain confined to her individual experience but extends into a collective space when she leaves the Khwabgah and establishes the Jannat Guest House in a graveyard, creating a refuge for those rejected by the Dunya. The shattered story, therefore, can only be narrated through accumulation and plurality rather than linear coherence.

Fragmented Spaces, Memory, and Trauma

The novel’s abrupt shifts between intimate spaces (the Khwabgah), sites of political violence (the Gujarat riots), public protest zones (Jantar Mantar), and conflict regions (Kashmir and Dandakaranya) replicate the intrusive and unpredictable nature of traumatic memory. The graveyard, where beds are placed among graves and the living coexist with the dead, functions as a symbolic space that collapses temporal boundaries, allowing past violence to remain visibly present. This fragmented narrative form compels readers to assemble meaning from disjointed episodes, mirroring the characters’ struggle to live with unresolved trauma.

Connecting Anjum and Tilo Through the Found Baby

Although Anjum and Tilo initially appear to inhabit separate narrative worlds, Roy’s non-linear structure gradually reveals their deep interconnection. Tilo’s story of political trauma in Kashmir converges with Anjum’s life when Tilo rescues the abandoned baby from the protest site at Jantar Mantar and later brings her to the Jannat Guest House. The child, Miss Jebeen (Udaya Jebeen II), becomes a living link that stitches together Anjum’s survival after communal violence and Tilo’s resistance to state oppression in Kashmir. Through the baby’s journey, Roy demonstrates how individual traumas intersect to form a collective narrative of care and endurance.

Collective Trauma and Ethical Storytelling

By rejecting a conventional beginning, middle, and end, Roy resists the notion that trauma can be neatly resolved or contained. The gathering of shattered lives at the graveyard, which functions as a “parliament” of the marginalized, illustrates that survival arises not from erasing trauma but from holding multiple broken stories together. In slowly “becoming everything,” the novel transforms narrative fragmentation into an ethical mode of storytelling, affirming resilience, solidarity, and humanity amid persistent violence.

Activity B: Mapping the Conflict

Activity C: Automated Timeline & Character Arcs

Chronological Timeline of Anjum and Saddam Hussain’s Journeys

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Anjum’s Journey: From Aftab to the Graveyard

1. Birth as Aftab (Old Delhi)

   • Motivation: Anjum is born as a boy named Aftab. The midwife discovers that the child has dual genitals. Jahanara Begum, her mother, faces five stages of shock and chooses to conceal Aftab’s gender identity, hoping the female genitals will "seal off" naturally.

   • Key Event: Birth of Aftab with dual genitals, hidden identity.

2. Childhood and Secret Identity

   • Motivation: Jahanara Begum’s secretive handling of Aftab’s gender situation stems from fear, societal pressures, and a desire for normalcy.

   • Key Event: Aftab’s upbringing under the disguise of a regular male child, hiding his true identity.

3. Move to Khwabgah (Ages 14–15)

   • Motivation: Aftab is drawn to the Hijra community after encountering Bombay Silk, a beautiful Hijra on the streets. The desire for self-expression and finding a community pushes Aftab to leave home.

   • Key Event: Aftab transitions into Anjum and moves into the Khwabgah (House of Dreams), a traditional sanctuary for the third gender.

4. Motherhood and Raising Zainab

   • Motivation: Anjum’s internal sense of womanhood and motherhood leads her to find a three-year-old abandoned girl, Zainab, and raise her as her daughter.

   • Key Event: Anjum adopts Zainab and takes on a maternal role.

5. Trauma of the 2002 Gujarat Riots

   • Motivation: Anjum witnesses the brutal murder of Zakir Miya by a mob during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Her survival is attributed to the belief that killing a Hijra is an "ill omen". This traumatic experience fundamentally alters her view of the world.

   • Key Event: Anjum experiences the traumatic loss of Zakir Miya, her deep disillusionment, and the loss of interest in "worldly matters".

6. Post-Traumatic Change

   • Motivation: After the riots, Anjum is forever changed. She cuts her hair, dresses in a male Pathani suit, and retreats from her previous identity. This act signifies her withdrawal from the world and her new purpose.

   • Key Event: Anjum changes her appearance, shedding her earlier identity, signaling retreat from worldly concerns.

7. Move to the Graveyard

   • Motivation: Following conflict with Kulsumbi, the leader of the Khwabgah, and the trauma of the Gujarat riots, Anjum seeks peace among the dead. She moves to a graveyard near a government hospital and starts the Jannat Guest House around the graves of her ancestors, symbolizing her desire to live "like a tree", rooted and calm.

   • Key Event: Anjum's move to the graveyard to start the Jannat Guest House, a retreat from societal pressures.

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Saddam Hussain’s Journey: From Dayachand to Vengeance

1. Witnessing the Lynching (Haryana)

   • Motivation: Dayachand, a Dalit (Chamar), witnesses the brutal lynching of his father by a group called the "Jaishree Ram gang". His father, a traditional cow-skinner, is accused of cow slaughter, and Dayachand's life is forever altered by the trauma and systemic oppression surrounding this act of violence.

   • Key Event: Dayachand’s father is lynched over a false cow slaughter accusation, and Dayachand vows revenge.

2. The Vow of Revenge

   • Motivation: After witnessing the lynching and enduring systemic corruption (including from a police officer, Shahrawat), Dayachand is consumed by a deep desire for revenge against those who wronged him and his father.

   • Key Event: Dayachand runs away, driven by vengeance, marking the beginning of his transformation.

3. The Name Change (Act of Defiance)

   • Motivation: While in Delhi, Dayachand watches the execution of Iraqi President Saddam Hussain. Inspired by Saddam’s defiance in the face of overwhelming American power, Dayachand adopts the name “Saddam Hussain”. The name change is an act of defiance against oppressive forces—both the "Goliath" of American imperialism and local, oppressive systems.

   • Key Event: Dayachand renames himself Saddam Hussain as an act of defiance, identifying with Saddam's resistance to oppression.

4. Life on the Margins

   • Motivation: Saddam, now using his new name, struggles with life on the margins. He works in a mortuary, performing post-mortems on bodies that higher-caste doctors refuse to touch, and later works as a security guard, witnessing further corruption and oppression. His life is marked by the systems of caste discrimination and economic exploitation.

   • Key Event: Saddam works in various menial jobs, continuing to experience systemic oppression and marginalization.

5. Meeting Anjum

   • Motivation: Saddam eventually moves into the Jannat Guest House. Initially, he hides his Dalit identity, pretending to be Muslim. His lie is uncovered by Anjum, leading to his eventual acceptance into the community.

   • Key Event: Saddam meets Anjum at the Jannat Guest House, and his true background is revealed after Anjum catches him in a lie.

6. New Purpose Beyond Revenge

• Motivation: Saddam finds a new purpose in the "Ministry" (a group that resides in the Jannat Guest House), shifting from his earlier obsession with revenge to a new sense of belonging and community with Anjum and the other members. He begins to heal and reframe his identity.

• Key Event: Saddam becomes a permanent member of the "Ministry" at the Jannat Guest House, moving beyond his past revenge.

Activity D: The "Audio/Video" Synthesis (Multimedia with NotebookLM)

V. Phase 3: Critical Reflection 

"Cost of Modernization"

In Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, the "Cost of Modernization" is a central theme that explores the intersection of material progress and human displacement. The sources define this "cost" as the heavy price paid by the poor and marginalized to facilitate the rapid westernization and industrialization of India during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

The Paradox of Development

The sources characterize modernization as a race for skyscrapers, steel factories, and express highways that often result in the destruction of fertile land and natural resources. This "progress" is described as a "land grabbing" or "land acquisition" process where the state takes fertile land from villagers, replacing sustainable hereditary farming with unstable service jobs.

Key insights from the sources regarding this cost include:

• Economic Disparity: While development produces "shining missiles" and "massive dams," it benefits a specific class while the poor lose their livelihoods.

• The Mercedes Symbol: The Mercedes car is used as a potent symbol of modernization and corruption. Ironically, the very express highways built for these luxury cars are constructed on land taken from the poor, who are then forbidden from walking on those roads to avoid accidents.

• Ecological Loss (The Vulture): The vulture serves as a symbol for the "unintended post-causality of modernization". These birds died out due to chemicals used in commercial milk production to meet market demands, mirroring how marginalized human groups are erased by economic shifts.

Displacement to the Margins (The Graveyard and Slums)

The sources explain that "development" often necessitates the beautification of city spaces, which results in the systematic removal of those who do not fit the modern aesthetic.

• Slum Dwellers and Homelessness: The sources provide the example of joggers' parks being built on old railway tracks. These tracks were previously the only homes for the homeless and slum dwellers, who are subsequently "thrown off" to create a pleasant environment for the middle class to walk in the morning. This illustrates how human lives are frequently dislocated and displaced for the sake of urban "modernization".

• Anjum and the Jannat Guest House: Anjum’s move to the graveyard is a form of self-marginalization after the trauma of the "Dunya" (the real world). She builds her sanctuary, the Jannat Guest House, on land she occupies illegally, since a graveyard is a community space and not private property.

• The Threat of the State: The sources suggest that Anjum’s paradise is temporary; eventually, the bulldozers of the Delhi Municipal Corporation will likely arrive to destroy the guest house as part of a city-wide modernization effort. This highlights that even the "margins"—the graveyards and the ruins—are not safe from the encroaching reach of "development".

Ultimately, the sources argue that modernization creates a shattered reality where the state views land as an asset for national development, while the individual is left to ask, "Why only I have to give a piece of land?" For characters like Anjum and Saddam Hussain, the "Jannat" they build in a graveyard is a "utopian bubble" created specifically because they cannot live in the "Dunya" as it has been modernized.

Reflect on the ending of the novel with Refer to Prof. Barad’s view on resilience

The Letter from Revathy: Tragedy Stitched into Hope

The letter from Revathy, a Maoist guerrilla fighter, reveals a backstory of extreme state-sponsored cruelty. She details being gang-raped by six police officers while unconscious, an act of violence that resulted in the birth of the baby found at Jantar Mantar.

However, as Prof. Barad highlights, this tragedy is transformed into a symbol of collective motherhood. The baby, Udaya Jebeen II, is described as having "six fathers and three mothers" (Revathy, Tilo, and Anjum) who are "stitched together by threads of light". This image suggests that the fragments of a broken society can be mended through unconventional bonds of care and solidarity, turning a child born of "fire and burning" into a "fish in the water" of a new, inclusive community.

The Dung Beetle: A Symbol of Resilience

The novel concludes with the symbolic image of the dung beetle . According to the sources, this creature serves as a metaphor for the characters’ ability to survive and find dignity in the "waste" of the world:

• Environmentally Friendly: Like the beetle, characters such as Anjum and Saddam Hussain live in a graveyard—a space society rejects as "unclean" or "unimportant"—yet they manage their own world with grace.

• Building Paradise from Filth: The beetle works with dung but stays clean, representing how the marginalized build a "Jannat" (Paradise) out of the trauma and refuse of the "Dunya" (the real world).

• A "Secular" Heaven: This symbol reinforces the idea that paradise is not an afterlife but a "harmonious existence" created on earth through the struggle of the living.

Hope vs. Hopelessness: The Prof. Barad Perspective

When addressing whether the novel is hopeful or hopeless, Prof. Barad argues that it is fundamentally a novel of hope. This hope is not naive but is rooted in the concept of resilience—the human ability to "bounce back" from utterly adverse situations.

• Moving On: Prof. Barad notes that the act of "moving on" is itself an act of hope. For example, Saddam Hussain moves away from his "revenge drama" to find a new purpose in Anjum’s community.

• Prophecy of Survival: Although characters like Musa provide an "ice-cold" warning that the state is "self-destructing" through its violence, the presence of the new generation (Udaya Jebeen) suggests that the marginalized will outlast the systems that attempt to destroy them.

• The Ministry's Triumph: The Jannat Guest House stands as a "utopian bubble" where the living and dead coexist, proving that "another world is possible" through acceptance and the embracing of difference.

the novel suggests that while the "Dunya" may be broken and full of "troubles and problems," the resilience of characters who have "slowly become everything" creates a sanctuary where happiness can finally be attained.

Reference :

Barad, Dilip. "Flipped Learning Worksheet on The Ministry of Utmost Happiness." ResearchGate, Feb. 2025, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/399801292_Flipped_Learning_Worksheet_on_The_Ministry_of_Utmost_Happiness

DoE-MKBU. "Part 1 | Khwabgah | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy." YouTube, 28 Dec. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-29vE53apGs.

DoE-MKBU. "Part 2 | Saddam Hussein and Jantar Mantar | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy." YouTube, 28 Dec. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr1z1AEXPBU.

DoE-MKBU. "Part 3 | Kashmir and Dandakaranyak | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy." YouTube, 28 Dec. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIKH_89rML0.

DoE-MKBU. "Part 4 | Udaya Jebeen & Dung Beetle | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy." YouTube, 28 Dec. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH5EULOFP4g.

DoE-MKBU. "Thematic Study | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy." YouTube, 28 Dec. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NYSTUTBoSs.

DoE-MKBU. "Symbols and Motifs | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy." YouTube, 28 Dec. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbBOqLB487U.

Roy, Arundhati. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Knopf, 2017.