Sunday, 15 January 2023

Ministry of Utmost Happiness

 Hello friends 

I am Bhavna Sosa from the Department of English MKBU. This task is about The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. This blog is assigned by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad sir.

       The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

                       by Arundhati Roy

About Arundhati Roy : 

Arundhati Roy was born in 1959 in Shillong, India. She studied architecture in New Delhi, where she now lives. She has worked as a film designer and screenplay writer in India. Roy is the author of the novel The God of Small Things, for which she received the 1997 Man Booker Prize. The novel has been translated into dozens of languages worldwide. She has written several non-fiction books, including The Cost of Living, Power Politics, War Talk, An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire and Public Power in the Age of Empire. Roy was featured in the BBC television documentary Dam/age, which is about the struggle against big dams in India. A collection of interviews with Arundhati Roy by David Barsamian was published as The Chequebook and the Cruise Missile. Her newest book, published by Haymarket, is Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers. Roy is the recipient of the 2002 Lannan Foundation Cultural Freedom Prize.

About Novel :

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is the second novel by Indian writer Arundhati Roy, published in 2017, twenty years 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, 2002 Godhra train burning and Kashmir insurgency. Roy's characters run the gamut of Indian society and include an intersex woman (hijra), a rebellious architect, and her landlord who is a supervisor in the intelligence service. The narrative spans across decades and locations, but primarily takes place in Delhi and Kashmir.

Characters :-

Jahanara Begam

Mulakaat Ali

Aftab/Anjum

Man who know English

Ahlam Baji(middle Wife) 

Bombay Silk

Mary(only Christian) 

Gudiya

Saeeda

Bulbul

Bismilla (Bimla) 

Nimo Gorakhpur

Kulsoom Bi (Nayak of Hijra House) 

Ziauddin Imam

Zainab

Zakir Mia

Mansoor(zakir mia son) 

Abhay Chand

Sakeem (anjum Brother) 

Aurangjeb

Hazrat Sarman

Changez Khan

Borte Khatun

Dr. Azad Bharati

Sadam Hussein

Dayachand

Sangita madam

Inspector Sherawat

Tubby old Gandhian (anna Hazare

Mr. Agarwal (kejariwal) 

Gujrat ka lalla (Narendra Modi) 

Manmohan singh (trapped Rabbit) 

S. Tilottama(Tilo) 

Mariyam Ipe(mother of Tilottama) 

Musa Yeswi

Arifa (wife of Musa) 

Jebeen 

Biplav Das Gupta

Chitra(Wife of Biplav Das) 

Rabiya, Aania (Daughter of Biplav Das) 

Nagraj Hariharan

Captain Amrik Singh

Lovleet singh (Amrik singh's wife) 

Acp Pinky Sodhi

Balveer Sodhi (brother of pinky) 

Aijaz (one of the Terrorist interviewed by Nagraj) 

Khadija (lady give accompany to Tilo) 

Jainab

Jalil Qadri 

Revathy 

Plot Summary:

The story begins with A strange older woman living in Graveyard named Jannat. There is one another man named Imam Ziauddin who is old blind man became frequent companion of Anjum. Who came to know that the woman’s name is Anjum. She is a Hijra, a transwoman, who left Khwabgah many years ago. Then there is a story of Anjum's birth. Who born as a intersex, but her mother, Jahanara, gendered the child a boy and named him Aftab.

In his childhood Aftab was a very good singer that caused the neighbourhood kids to tease him about being too feminine. His father Mulaqat gave him a suggestion to undergo a gender-change surgery, and also told him stories about his great warrior ancestors to inspire him towards masculinity. One day he noticed one Hijra girl walking beautifully and he followed her which led him to Khwabgah, after that he kept visiting the place until he got 15 years old and then permanently moved there to live. In Khwabgah Aftab becomes Anjum permanently. She also went through gender transition surgery and became Female finally. She also became very famous among NGOs, human rights groups and journalists because of her beauty and aggressive femininity. All the way she becomes a successful Hijra.

One day Anjum finds one abandoned baby girl outside the mosque and takes her with her. She treated the baby like her child and became her mother. She named the baby Zainab. She mostly tells realistic stories of her life. When Zainab reaches the age when she is ready to go to school suddenly she goes through a bout of ill health. So Anjum decided to take her for pilgrimage with Zakir Mian to a holy Muslim site in Gujarat. In pilgrimage, Anjum and Zakir Mian face the worst massacre, in which Zakir Mian was killed, but Anjum is spared because they believe that killing Hijra is bad luck. Anjum after returning from Gujarat started behaving strangely. She started wearing boys' clothes and trying to dress Zainab as a little boy to protect her from suffering violence. When Ustad Kulsoom Bi Opposed this division, Anjum left Khwabgah, moved to Graveyard behind the government hospital and started living there. She leaves Zainab in Saeeda’s care.

Slowly Anjum built a house in graveyard, where after some time Saddam Hussain, an unemployed Dalit young man on a mission to murder the police officer who caused the death of his father came and started living there. Who once witnessed his father's murder. Saddam Hussain also suggested Anjum that she should start charge to guests and for funeral services, And Anjum started calling her home Jannat Guest House and Funeral Services.

After that we find there is a character of Biplab, a bureaucrat in the Indian government discovers that a tenant of his, Tilottama, has gone missing. He secretly loves Tilottama throughout his life. He met Tilottama in a play performance as a student of university. But unfortunately Tilottama was dating Musa, a Kashmiri architect. There is one another character Naga who is a journalist, who also is in love with Tilottama.Biplab is involved in the Kashmir conflict as a bureaucrat whose work serves primarily to cover up the atrocities committed by the Indian Army in the region. But soon he finds himself a puppet of the government, who reveals only as much as the government wants him to reveal. Naga is a journalist, and although he doesn’t see himself as corrupt in any way. One day Biplab received a message from Tilottama that the army had captured her so Biplab sent Naga to save her, and Naga saved her from jail and soon Naga and Tilottama married. But soon they divorced and Tilottama asked Biplab if she could rent one of his apartments. Here Biplav thought that it's his chance for Tilottama. Before Biplab comes to Tilottama's apartment, there is a wide public protest at Jantar Mantar. It was started as an anti corruption protest by Gandhian. And later turned into a hunger strike against corruption in India. There are many other causes and groups also joined the protest to get media coverage. Anjum and Hussain move to Jantar Mantar to see what is happening there. There is a group called the Mothers of the Disappeared that finds a baby abandoned on the pavement in front of the protest. Anjum decided to take the baby with her but another protester Mr.Aggarwal. Anjum got into a fight with him as Mr. Aggarwal wanted to handover the baby to a police officer but Anjum was against it and wanted to take the baby with her. In between the conflict the baby disappeared and no one knows who took the baby so Anjum and Hussain leave Jantar Mantar to find the baby.

Later on readers come to know that the baby was taken by Tilottama. The baby was named as Miss Jebeen the Second by Tilottama. The name is given after Musa's daughter who was murdered in a massacre by the Indian government in Kashmir. Also her mother Arifa died in the same massacre. Tilottama was also involved in the Kashmir massacre after meeting Musa. After Musa and Tilottama returned from the houseboat, the boat was raided by military police.Gulrez, a friend of musa killed by the military police.the military was led by Major Amrik Singh. Tilottama and Musa vows to take revenge for their deaths. But Amrik Singh fled to California with his wife and childrens.

After taking the baby from Jantar Mantar, The police are after her, so Tilottama wants a safe place to live, her friend Dr. Azad Bhartiya suggested her to Jannat Guest house and gave the number of Sadam Hussain. Tilottama moved to Jannat Guest House and started living there. She begins to work as a teacher for the poor, local children, and greatly enjoys her work. On the other hand, Sadam Hussain and Zainab fell in love and married. Many outcast people came and started living in Jannat guest house. All the people at Jannat guest house are very happy. Jabeen the second raised surrounds peace, love and safety. The story ends here.

Fact-Fiction

-2002 Godhra kand Gujarat - Trauma to Anjum

-Mr.Aggarwal- Arvind Kejriwal

-Gujarat ka Lalla -Narendra Modi

-Leaching of Dalit (Una-Gujrat) - Saddam Father's death

-Trapped Rabbit - Manmohan Singh

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

The theme of religion and power in "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness"

The theme of religion and power is central to Arundhati Roy's novel "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness." The novel explores the ways in which religious institutions and leaders wield power over individuals and communities, often to the detriment of marginalised groups such as the poor, women, and sexual minorities. The novel features several characters who struggle against the oppressive forces of religion and tradition, including Anjum, a hijra who creates a safe haven for other hijras and outcasts, and Tilo, a woman who defies societal norms by living outside of traditional gender roles.

The novel also explores the intersection of religion and politics, showing how religious leaders and political figures use religion to justify their actions and maintain their power. The novel portrays a scathing view on the use of religion to justify discrimination, oppression and violence, as well as the use of religious institutions as a tool of control and manipulation by the powerful.

Additionally, the novel also portrays the theme of how the marginalised communities use their own, more inclusive and compassionate interpretations of religion to create spaces of safety and resistance.

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.

NEWS

Kashmir Guideline News ServiceDozens of Cattle Cross Line of Control (LoC) in RajouriAt least 33 cattle including 29 buffaloes have crossed over to Pakistan side in Nowshera Sector of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir.According to KGNS, the cattle crossed the LoC in Kalsian sub-sector. ‘The cattle which belong to Ram Saroop, Ashok Kumar, Charan Das, Ved Prakash and others were grazing near LoC when they crossed over to otherside,’ locals told KGNS.

Q 1: Why did the cattle cross the LoC?

(a) For training

(b) For sneak-in ops

(c) Neither of the above.


Ans:- (c) Neither of the above.

THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNER

Manohar Mattoo was a Kashmiri Pandit who stayed on in the Valley even after all the otherHindus had gone. He was secretly tired of and deeply hurt by the barbs from his Muslimfriends who said that all Hindus in Kashmir were actually, in one way or another, agents of the Indian Occupation Forces. Manohar had participated in all the anti-India protests, and had shouted Azadi! louder than everybody else. But nothing seemed to help. At one point he had even contemplated taking up arms and joining the Hizb, but eventually he decided against it. One day an old school friend of his, Aziz Mohammed, an intelligence officer,visited him at home to tell him that he was worried for him. He said that he had seen his(Mattoo’s) surveillance file. It suggested that he be put under watch because he displayed anti-national tendencies’.

When he heard the news Mattoo beamed and felt his chest swell with pride. ‘You have given me the Nobel Prize!’ he told his friend.He took Aziz Mohammed out to Café Arabica and bought him coffee and pastries worthRs 500.A year later he (Mattoo) was shot by an unknown gunman for being a kafir.

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.


Ans:- (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 allIslamist 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.


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

THE CAREERIST

The boy had always wanted to make something of himself. He invited four militants for dinner and slipped sleeping pills into their food. Once they had fallen asleep he called the army. They killed the militants and burned down the house. The army had promised the boy two canals of land and one hundred and fifty thousand rupees. They gave him only fifty thousand and accommodated him in quarters just outside an army camp. They told him that if he wanted a permanent job with them instead of being just a daily wage worker he would have to get them two foreign militants. He managed to get them one ‘live’ Pakistani but was having trouble finding another. ‘Unfortunately these days business is bad,’ he told PI.‘Things have become such that you cannot any longer just kill someone and pretend he’s a foreign militant. So my job cannot be made permanent.’PI asked him, if there was a referendum whom he would vote for, India or Pakistan?‘Pakistan of course.’‘Why?’‘Because it is our Mulk (country). But Pakistan militants can’t help us in this way. If I can kill them and get a good job it helps me.’He told PI that when Kashmir became a part of Pakistan, he (PI) would not be able to survive in it. But he (the boy) would. But that, he said, was just a theoretical matter. Becausehe would be killed shortly.

Q 1: Who did the boy expect to be killed by?

(a) The army

(b) Militants

(c) Pakistanis

(d) Owners of the house that was burned.

Ans:- (a) The army


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