Flipped Learning Activity: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness By Arundhati Roy

Hello Everyone!

This blog is a part of the Flipped Learning activity on Arundhati Roy’s novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, assigned by Dilip Barad Sir for the course Post-Graduate English Literature: Contemporary Indian Fiction. The objective of this task is to move from passive reading to active literary creation, using AI tools to analyze the complex narrative, characters, and themes of the novel.

Through this flipped classroom activity, we first explored the video lectures by Prof. Barad, which helped us understand the non-linear narrative structure, character backstories, and the significance of key locations such as Khwabgah, Jantar Mantar, the Graveyard (Jannat Guest House), and Kashmir. The novel presents a fragmented world where gender identity, caste politics, state violence, and national conflict intersect, and each character contributes to redefining the meaning of “Jannat” (Paradise) for the marginalized.

In this blog, I will critically examine how Roy’s “shattered story” technique reflects the trauma and resilience of her characters, especially Anjum, Saddam Hussain, and Tilo. I will also analyze the themes of modernization, motherhood, displacement, and resistance, showing how the graveyard becomes not a space of death, but a living paradise for society’s rejected people.

This blog includes the outcomes of the assigned AI-assisted activities — such as the textual analysis of the shattered narrative (Activity A), the character-location mind map (Activity B), the automated timeline of character arcs (Activity C), and the audio-visual thematic synthesis (Activity D). Together, these activities help present a multimedia critical reflection on Roy’s vision of survival, dignity, and inclusive humanity. For more infornmation Visit Sir's Blog:

Part 1: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness –  Khwabgah

This lecture introduces the novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy, focusing on the symbolic and narrative importance of the Khwabgah, a safe space for the transgender community in Old Delhi. The video explains how Roy uses Khwabgah to represent identity, belonging, and marginalization. The central character Anjum (born Aftab) is discussed as someone who struggles between biological identity and social acceptance. The Khwabgah becomes a “paradise of the rejected,” showing how gender-nonconforming people build their own supportive world when mainstream society excludes them.

The lecture further analyzes Anjum’s emotional and psychological journey, especially her transition from Aftab to Anjum. It highlights how Roy portrays gender not as fixed, but as fluid and deeply connected to trauma, history, and survival. The Khwabgah is not only a shelter, but also a symbol of resistance against social, religious, and political oppression. The instructor explains that Roy’s fragmented storytelling style reflects the “shattered lives” of these marginalized characters.

Another major theme discussed in the lecture is the idea of paradise versus reality. The Khwabgah appears as a dream-like haven, but the outside world (the “Dunya”) is filled with violence, prejudice, and fear. The video connects Anjum’s life in Khwabgah with her later move to the graveyard (Jannat Guest House), showing how Roy transforms the concept of paradise into a place of healing and rebirth for society’s outcasts.

Finally, the lecture emphasizes how Roy’s narrative structure and symbolism challenge traditional ideas of gender, power, and belonging. It shows that Khwabgah is more than a location; it is a metaphor for the search for identity and dignity. The key takeaway is that Roy’s novel does not simply tell a story of suffering, but of resilience, survival, and the creation of inclusive spaces for those whom society has silenced.

Part 2 | Jantar Mantar | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness – Characters & Conflict

This lecture (Part 2 of a series on The Ministry of Utmost Happiness) focuses on the scenes and characters associated with Jantar Mantar, a major protest site in New Delhi that represents political dissent and social struggle. The instructor explains how Arundhati Roy shifts the narrative from the more intimate, community-based world of Khwabgah (in Part 1) to the public and political arena at Jantar Mantar, where issues of caste, state violence, and civil rights come to the forefront. This part of the story broadens the novel’s scope from personal identity struggles to national political conflicts, showing how the personal is political in contemporary India.

A key character discussed in this video is Saddam Hussain, whose traumatic past and protest at Jantar Mantar symbolize resistance against caste-based oppression and mob violence. Saddam’s life story — including the loss of his father to vigilante violence — highlights how caste politics and religious nationalism are deeply interwoven with everyday violence against lower-caste individuals in India. His years of protest at Jantar Mantar become a focal point for understanding how marginalized individuals use public protest and symbolic spaces to assert their humanity and resist systemic injustice.

The lecture also explores how the baby found near Jantar Mantar connects individual lives to political struggle. This moment in the novel acts as a bridge between the personal tragedies of characters and the larger narrative of resistance against a society that devalues certain bodies and lives. The uncertainty around the baby’s identity becomes a powerful motif, emphasizing vulnerability, innocence, and shared humanity amidst political chaos. Through this, Roy juxtaposes the hope for new life with the enduring turmoil of Indian society, making the baby a symbol of both fragility and future possibility.

Finally, the lecture highlights how Jantar Mantar in the novel stands for collective memory, protest, and political identity. The site — historically a gathering place for dissent, rights movements, and public petitions — frames the novel’s critique of state power and its treatment of dissenters. By placing key events and characters here, Roy anchors her storytelling in real geopolitical spaces, showing how personal narratives of suffering and resistance intersect with broader struggles for justice, equity, and dignity in India.

Part 3 | Kashmir and Dandakaranyak | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness – Themes of Conflict and Struggle

In this lecture segment, the focus shifts to the novel’s exploration of Kashmir and Dandakaranyak as central geopolitical and emotional landscapes that represent violence, resistance, and human suffering in contemporary India. Arundhati Roy uses Kashmir not merely as a setting but as an epicenter of political conflict, demonstrating how the decades-long struggle in the Valley deeply impacts the lives of characters like Tilo and Musa, whose personal narratives become entangled with the region’s turmoil. The lecture connects the collective traumatic history of Kashmir with broader questions of identity, nationalism, and human rights, emphasizing how Roy’s storytelling weaves personal suffering into national critique.

Another major focus in this part is Dandakaranyak, a forested region in central India associated with tribal resistance movements and state violence. Roy situates some of her characters within or near such conflict zones to highlight the marginalization of indigenous and adivasi communities, whose struggles against displacement, militarization, and exploitation have historically been overlooked. Through these landscapes, the lecture argues, the novel juxtaposes urban political protests (like Jantar Mantar) with rural insurgencies, underscoring how state power and violent resistance operate across diverse Indian terrains.

The lecture further explains that these regions (Kashmir and Dandakaranyak) are not just physical backdrops; they symbolize two forms of systemic oppression — ethnic/political conflict in Kashmir and class/tribal conflict in the forests. The narrative attendance to these places reveals Roy’s broader literary strategy of confronting state authority, militarization, and social invisibility. Characters affected by these conflicts embody the novel’s central assertion that personal histories are inseparable from national histories, and that trauma and resilience co-exist in contested spaces that defy easy resolution.

Ultimately, the lecture interprets The Ministry of Utmost Happiness as a politically charged mosaic that refuses to isolate individual experience from collective suffering. By situating key narrative moments in Kashmir and Dandakaranyak, Roy illustrates the entanglement of love, loss, ideology, and geography, showing how violence — both structural and interpersonal — shapes human lives across India. The lecture posits that Roy’s work demands that readers see beyond conventional literary boundaries, engaging instead with the lived realities of conflict, displacement, and the quest for dignity within fractured communities.

Main Points

• Kashmir as a site of political conflict, where personal narratives intersect with decades of violence and resistance.

• Dandakaranyak representing indigenous and tribal struggles against displacement and state power.

• The novel connects urban and rural forms of resistance, showing oppression across different Indian geographies.

• Roy’s narrative suggests that individual trauma is inseparable from collective histories of conflict and marginalization.

 Part 4 | Udaya Jebeen & the Dung Beetle | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

This lecture focuses on two deeply symbolic elements in Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness: Udaya Jebeen and the dung beetle, both of which represent resilience and marginalized existence. Udaya Jebeen is one of the “Miss Jebeens” whose life becomes central to understanding how abandoned or socially invisible children embody the emotional core of the novel. Through her story, Roy highlights themes of loss, displacement, identity, and survival, showing how fragile lives are shaped by violence and neglect in contemporary India.

The lecture explains that Roy uses Udaya Jebeen not only as a character but as a symbol of innocence destroyed by political and social chaos. Her story intersects with Anjum and Tilo’s lives, showing how the “shattered narrative” brings together multiple marginalized identities. By connecting Udaya Jebeen’s fate with larger social conflicts, Roy emphasizes that even the smallest, most silenced lives reveal the deepest truths about injustice and humanity.

A major symbolic focus in this video is the dung beetle, which represents the idea of turning decay into renewal. Roy uses this creature to show how the marginalized, like the beetle, transform what society discards into something meaningful and sustaining. The beetle becomes a metaphor for regeneration, endurance, and the cycle of life, especially within the graveyard where Anjum builds Jannat Guest House. This reflects Roy’s larger idea that life and hope can grow even from spaces associated with death and destruction.

The lecture further connects the dung beetle’s ecological importance with Roy’s political message: that those pushed to the margins still sustain the moral and social fabric of the nation. Just as the beetle restores balance in nature, Roy’s marginalized characters restore compassion and humanity in a fractured world. The symbol reinforces the theme that true paradise is not found in perfection, but in collective survival and acceptance.

Ultimately, this lecture interprets Udaya Jebeen and the dung beetle as twin symbols of hope and resilience in broken landscapes and broken lives. Roy’s narrative suggests that the novel is not hopeless; rather, it celebrates the power of inclusion, renewal, and the creation of belonging for those rejected by society. Through this, the lecture concludes that Roy transforms tragedy into a message of healing, dignity, and survival.

Main Points 

• Udaya Jebeen symbolizes abandoned and marginalized children.

• Roy’s fragmented narrative connects her life with Anjum and Tilo.

• The dung beetle represents renewal, resilience, and transformation.

• Marginalized characters create their own inclusive paradise (Jannat).

• The novel presents hope through survival, dignity, and regeneration.

Part 5 : Thematic study - The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

This part of the lecture series builds on earlier discussion of characters and places by focusing on the interwoven themes of identity, resistance, and redemption in Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. The lecture explains that the novel’s narrative uses personal stories of marginalised individuals to critique social exclusion and structural violence in India — including caste inequity, religious prejudice, gender discrimination, and state oppression. At the heart of this exploration is the idea that identity is fluid, contested, and shaped through both personal suffering and collective struggle.

The lecture highlights how characters like Anjum, Tilo, Musa, and Saddam represent different forms of resistance against dominant social forces. Anjum’s journey from a marginalized hijra to the caregiver of Jannat Guest House symbolizes self-creation and resilience in the face of exclusion. Meanwhile, Tilo and Musa’s involvement in the Kashmir conflict represents the intersection of personal longing and political resistance, showing how love and loss are both entangled with national struggle. Through these arcs, Roy suggests that resistance is not merely physical rebellion but also an assertion of dignity and self-worth.

A major focus in this lecture is how personal trauma becomes collective testimony in the narrative. For example, the found baby and Udaya Jebeen’s story — which represent abandonment and vulnerability — become narrative threads that connect individual suffering to larger questions of social injustice. This convergence of stories shows that the novel refuses simple closure, instead portraying identity as comprised of multiple intersecting histories. Roy’s approach reframes marginality not just as absence but as a source of profound insight and shared humanity.

The lecture also discusses the political context surrounding the novel’s events, emphasizing how Roy uses precise geopolitical settings — from Old Delhi’s graveyards to Kashmir and tribal regions — to illustrate the pervasiveness of violence, whether systemic or interpersonal. These spaces are not mere backdrops; they are charged landscapes that shape the characters’ identities and experiences. Roy’s narrative invites readers to consider how social structures like religion, caste, and nationalism contribute to both alienation and belonging.

Ultimately, this part of the lecture concludes that The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is a literary call to recognize shared humanity in places of fragmentation. Through its richly interconnected narratives of marginalised lives, the novel argues that true redemption lies in collective empathy, solidarity, and the courage to rewrite one’s identity against forces of exclusion. Roy’s work becomes not just a story about individual struggle, but a broader commentary on how societies can move toward inclusivity and justice.

Themes	Description / Key Points	Characters / Incidents	Examples / Quotes
Life & Death	Explores the fragile boundary between life and death, and how violence shapes existence.	Anjum, Tilo, other marginalized people	Anjum’s experiences in graveyard; Tilo’s struggles with personal loss.
Gender & Identity	Questions fixed notions of gender and social roles; highlights gender diversity.	Anjum (Hijra), various transgender communities	Anjum’s life as a transwoman; Hijra community’s social interactions.
Political Violence	Depicts the impact of political corruption, communal riots, and state violence.	Jahan, community members, insurgents	Bomb blasts, riots, killings; commentary on Kashmir insurgency.
Social Inequality	Shows caste, religion, and class divisions affecting daily life.	Various urban and rural characters	Tilo’s encounters with slum dwellers; marginalization in cities.
Modernization vs Tradition	Conflict between development and displacement; how cities ignore the vulnerable.	Citizens affected by urban planning	Eviction scenes; government projects destroying homes.
Love & Human Connection	Human relationships as a source of resilience and hope amid chaos.	Tilo & Zainab, Anjum & companions	Bonds formed in slums, friendships bridging communities.
Storytelling & Memory	Importance of narratives to preserve history and identity.	Anjum as narrator; multiple viewpoints	Interwoven personal histories; use of multiple perspectives.
Hope & Resistance	Despite suffering, characters exhibit resilience and fight societal norms.	All major characters	Building a home, forming communities, activism.

Main Points:

• Identity in the novel is fluid, shaped by personal and political history.
• Resistance is portrayed not only as rebellion but as dignity and self-assertion.
• Individual trauma becomes collective testimony and shared experience.
• Geopolitical landscapes influence and reflect social marginalisation.
• Redemption comes through empathy, solidarity, and shared humanity.

Symbols and Motifs in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Video Summary

 

The video begins by focusing on Hazrat Sarmad Shaheed, a historical figure and spiritual symbol in Arundhati Roy’s novel. Hazrat Sarmad’s shrine becomes a space where people of different faiths, genders, and identities converge. It is portrayed as a place of spiritual tolerance, freedom, and resistance against rigid societal norms. This symbol emphasizes that identity is not fixed and that individuals can seek truth beyond labels. The shrine is both a physical location and a metaphor for liberation and human connection.

Next, the video highlights Duniya and Jannat as central motifs. Duniya serves as a refuge for marginalized groups like the hijra community, illustrating a society outside traditional social hierarchies. Jannat, similarly, represents utopian possibilities and belonging that defy conventional boundaries of caste, class, and religion. Through these motifs, Roy conveys that happiness and community can exist in spaces beyond mainstream definitions of acceptance.

The video then explores the recurring color saffron, which is traditionally linked with Hindu nationalism. In the novel, saffron becomes a symbol of violence, exclusion, and political ideology. Its repeated appearance critiques how religious symbols are co-opted for power, reflecting the tension between culture, politics, and human rights. Saffron in this context shows the contrast between sacredness and political domination.

Another motif discussed in the video is cemeteries and graveyards. These spaces signify the intersection of life and death, and highlight how society often treats marginalized people as socially “dead” while they continue to live, resist, and form communities. Cemeteries in the narrative are liminal spaces where pain, hope, and resilience coexist, reinforcing the novel’s theme that happiness can arise even in the harshest conditions.

The video also emphasizes the nonlinear narrative structure of the novel. By weaving multiple timelines and perspectives, Roy mirrors the fragmented yet interconnected social and historical realities of India. This structure allows the reader to see how individual stories of love, loss, identity, and rebellion are intertwined with national conflicts and histories, making symbols and motifs not isolated elements but threads connecting personal and collective experiences.

In conclusion, the video illustrates that Arundhati Roy’s use of symbols and motifs — such as Hazrat Sarmad Shaheed, Duniya and Jannat, saffron, cemeteries, and the narrative structure — deepens the novel’s exploration of identity, belonging, resilience, and happiness. These literary tools help readers understand how marginalized lives negotiate space and meaning in a world marked by violence, exclusion, and social hierarchy. The motifs act as both literal and metaphorical spaces for resistance, hope, and freedom.

Main Points:

1. Hazrat Sarmad Shaheed symbolizes spiritual freedom and resistance to rigid identity definitions.
2. Duniya and Jannat represent inclusive communities and utopian spaces beyond caste and religion.
3. The color saffron signifies political violence, ideological control, and exclusion.
4. Cemeteries and graveyards highlight life, death, pain, and resilience.
5. Nonlinear narrative connects personal stories with larger social and historical realities.
6. Overall, symbols and motifs explore identity, marginalization, resistance, and redefined happiness.

Activity - A

Textual Analysis: Narrative Structure in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness(ChatGPT)

Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness employs a deliberately fragmented, non-linear narrative structure that mirrors the psychological, social, and political trauma of its characters. Rather than presenting events chronologically, Roy constructs the novel as a series of interwoven life-stories that move across time, space, and identity. This narrative method reflects the idea that a “shattered story” can only be told by gradually becoming everything—absorbing multiple voices, experiences, and perspectives. The structure itself becomes an act of resistance against traditional storytelling, much like the characters resist fixed identities imposed by society.

Roy’s shifting timeline reflects the emotional and existential disintegration of individuals living on the margins. The narrative opens in the Khwabgah of Old Delhi, where Anjum’s early life unfolds in a community of hijras who exist outside mainstream social norms. However, this space of belonging collapses after the Gujarat riots, and the narrative abruptly moves Anjum into the graveyard (Jannat Guest House). This transition is symbolic: it reflects how trauma fractures both time and identity. The move from Khwabgah to the graveyard demonstrates how Anjum’s life shifts from a place of dreamlike acceptance (“Khwab”) to a space that represents death, loss, and rebirth. The non-linear storytelling captures Anjum’s emotional fragmentation and the way trauma erases continuity in her life.

The novel’s structure also connects Anjum’s Delhi narrative to Tilo’s Kashmir narrative, showing how trauma unites characters across geography and ideology. Tilo’s experiences in Kashmir—where she witnesses military violence, insurgency, and displacement—are narrated through a similarly disjointed timeline. Roy does not present Kashmir as a separate subplot but as a parallel world of shattered lives, mirroring Anjum’s struggles. The connection becomes explicit through the found baby, whom Anjum and Tilo eventually share responsibility for. This baby symbolizes not only innocence but also the fragile thread that binds fragmented narratives. Through this shared child, Roy demonstrates how personal trauma and political trauma intersect, creating a collective story of survival and hope.

The non-linear structure thus embodies the phrase “How to tell a shattered story by slowly becoming everything.” Roy allows the novel to absorb diverse histories—religious, gendered, political, and emotional—so that the narrative itself becomes a space of inclusivity. Each character’s broken experience contributes to a larger mosaic of resistance and belonging. Instead of one unified storyline, the novel presents a polyphonic structure, where trauma reshapes memory, identity, and narrative form. The disjointed chronology forces readers to confront the instability of reality itself, reflecting the instability of the characters’ worlds.

Ultimately, Roy’s narrative method suggests that healing and wholeness emerge from fragmentation rather than order. By allowing shattered voices to coexist, the novel transforms trauma into meaning and connection. The structure becomes an ethical statement: in a world fractured by violence and exclusion, stories must be told in ways that reflect that brokenness. Through her layered and non-linear storytelling, Roy shows that the only way to narrate a shattered world is by embracing multiplicity, empathy, and transformation.

Key Evidence :

• Transition from Khwabgah (Old Delhi) → Graveyard (Jannat Guest House) reflects Anjum’s trauma after the Gujarat riots.

• Tilo’s Kashmir narrative connects to Anjum’s Delhi story through the found baby.

• The fragmented storytelling symbolizes the broken identities and social displacement of characters.

• Roy’s narrative becomes a metaphor for becoming everything to tell the truth of a shattered world.

Activity B: 

Mapping the Conflict (Mind Mapping with NotebookLM)

Connections Between Anjum, Saddam Hussain, and Tilo :

In The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy interlinks the lives of Anjum, Saddam Hussain, and Tilo through the shared experience of exclusion, violence, and survival in a fractured India. Though their stories unfold in different regions—Old Delhi, the mortuary, and Kashmir—they converge in the graveyard sanctuary called Jannat Guest House, which becomes a symbolic “Ministry of Utmost Happiness” for society’s outcasts.

Anjum, born as Aftab, represents gender and religious marginalization. Her trauma after the Gujarat massacre of 2002 shatters her identity and belonging. Unable to live in the Khwabgah again, she chooses the graveyard as her new home. By establishing the Jannat Guest House, Anjum converts a place of death into a space of life, dignity, and healing, symbolizing Roy’s vision of alternative belonging beyond societal and religious norms.

Saddam Hussain, originally Dayachand, represents Dalit identity and caste oppression. His father’s lynching under the pretext of cow-protection violence reflects the brutality of social and political systems. Working in the hospital’s mortuary, Saddam exists literally between life and death, mirroring Anjum’s liminal existence in the graveyard. Their bond grows from shared trauma, and eventually becomes familial when Saddam marries Zainab, Anjum’s adopted daughter, creating a new form of chosen kinship.

Tilo, an architect and activist, embodies the political and emotional trauma of Kashmir. Her fragmented narrative parallels Anjum’s shattered identity. Through the found baby at Jantar Mantar, Tilo’s story connects with the graveyard world. Saddam helps her and the child reach Jannat, symbolizing how Roy’s “shattered stories” of the marginalized are slowly woven together into one larger narrative of survival and resistance.

Together, these characters belong to what Roy calls the “other world” (Duniya of the marginalized). They are “falling people” who hold onto each other for survival. The graveyard thus becomes a place where the living, the socially dead, and the politically displaced coexist, challenging the dominant idea of who deserves life, dignity, and happiness.

By the end of the novel, Anjum, Saddam, and Tilo collectively transform the graveyard into a living paradise for the rejected. Their unity shows that utmost happiness is not an escape from trauma, but a shared act of rebuilding life in the ruins of violence.

Redefining “Jannat” (Paradise) in the Novel

Roy redefines Jannat (Paradise) as a space of ethical survival for the “living dead.” Instead of an afterlife reward, it becomes a physical and emotional sanctuary for those rejected by the nation, religion, caste, and gender.

For Anjum, Jannat is her rebirth after social and communal trauma.

For Saddam Hussain, Jannat represents justice, belonging, and chosen identity.

For Tilo, Jannat becomes a healing ground where the violence of Kashmir finds human continuity through the baby.

Roy’s Jannat is not pure or heavenly—it is filled with ruins, graves, animals, pain, and survival, proving that paradise can exist even in the most broken spaces. It becomes a metaphor for a new India where coexistence, care, and resistance replace hierarchy and exclusion.

Main Analytical Points

• Anjum represents gender and communal trauma, rebuilding identity in Jannat.

• Saddam Hussain reflects caste violence and justice through chosen belonging.

• Tilo embodies Kashmir’s political trauma and connects to Jannat through the baby.

• Jannat becomes a shared refuge for marginalized identities — the “living dead.”

• Paradise is redefined as survival, coexistence, and collective healing.

Activity C: 

Automated Timeline & Character Arcs (Auto-mode with Comet) 

I. Anjum’s Journey: From Aftab to the Graveyard

Birth and Identity Conflict:

Aftab is born in Old Delhi to Jahanara Begum. Soon after, his mother realizes that Aftab is intersex, possessing both male and incomplete female characteristics. This discovery creates the foundation for Aftab’s lifelong struggle with identity and belonging.

Early Childhood and Talent:

Despite societal prejudice, Aftab displays exceptional talent in classical music and trains under Ustad Hameed Khan. However, constant bullying and humiliation from schoolmates force him to abandon formal education and retreat inward.

Medical and Familial Rejection:

Aftab’s father takes him to a sexologist, who labels him a hermaphrodite with hijra tendencies, confirming the family’s fears. This moment deepens Aftab’s sense of alienation from the “normal world” (Duniya).

Move to Khwabgah and Transformation:

Inspired by Bombay Silk, Aftab leaves home at age fifteen and enters the Khwabgah, where he is initiated into the hijra community and becomes Anjum. This marks her transition into a space of collective identity, gender freedom, and protection.

Gender Affirmation Surgery:

In her twenties, Anjum undergoes gender realignment surgery. Though the surgery physically transforms her, it also reflects the emotional cost of becoming who she truly is.

Adoption and Motherhood:

Anjum later adopts Zainab, giving her life a new sense of purpose and family. Through motherhood, Anjum attempts to rebuild the love and acceptance she was denied.

Trauma and Survival in Gujarat:

Anjum’s life is shattered during the 2002 Gujarat riots, where she witnesses mass killings. She survives by pretending to be dead, an experience that leaves her psychologically broken and displaced.

Exile to the Graveyard (Jannat Guest House):

Unable to live in Khwabgah after the trauma, Anjum settles in a graveyard behind a government hospital. There she establishes Jannat Guest House, transforming a space of death into one of life, healing, and community for the marginalized.

Additional Insight:

Through Anjum, Roy shows how identity is shaped by survival and chosen belonging rather than biology or social norms.

II. Saddam Hussain’s Journey: From Witness to Meeting Anjum

Birth and Caste Background:

Born as Dayachand in a Dalit Chamar family, he grows up facing systemic caste oppression and economic hardship.

Witnessing Brutal Lynching:

Dayachand’s life changes when he witnesses his father’s lynching over cow-protection politics, exposing the cruelty of state and communal violence. This event becomes the root of his anger and desire for justice.

Escape and Migration to Delhi:

After losing both parents, he flees to Delhi, where he survives through menial and dehumanizing labor, symbolizing the struggle of India’s marginalized classes.

Renaming and Search for Power:

After watching the execution of Saddam Hussein, Dayachand adopts the name Saddam Hussain as an act of defiance and self-reinvention. His new identity becomes a psychological shield against oppression.

Working at the Mortuary:

Saddam later works in the hospital mortuary, where he handles dead bodies that upper-caste doctors refuse to touch. This reinforces Roy’s theme of “living among the dead” — those who survive outside social dignity.

Meeting Anjum and Joining Jannat:

He meets Anjum in the graveyard and becomes her companion and helper. Their bond represents solidarity among the socially displaced.

Becoming Part of Anjum’s Family:

Saddam eventually marries Zainab, strengthening his role in Anjum’s chosen family and symbolizing the creation of a new inclusive community.

Additional Insight:

Saddam’s arc represents how violence and injustice push individuals to reshape their identity and find belonging beyond caste and religion.

Conclusion :

This activity helps us understand how Arundhati Roy connects different characters and places in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness to show the lives of marginalized people. Through NotebookLM, we see how Anjum, Saddam Hussain, and Tilo are linked by their experiences of violence, loss, and social rejection.

The idea of “Jannat” (Paradise) is redefined—not as a peaceful heaven for the dead, but as a space where the “living dead” find shelter and dignity. The graveyard becomes a symbol of resistance, survival, and belonging for those whom society has pushed aside.

Overall, this activity shows that the novel’s real “paradise” is a community built from pain, solidarity, and hope among the oppressed.

Activity D: 

The "Audio/Video" Synthesis (Multimedia with NotebookLM)

This video मिनिस्ट्री: जन्नत का अध्ययन explores some of the major themes and meanings in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, focusing on how Arundhati Roy portrays life on the margins of modern Indian society. The video explains how characters like Anjum, Saddam Hussain, and Tilo represent lives that do not fit comfortably within mainstream narratives of progress and development. Through their stories, the novel critiques how the external world of politics, nationalism, and material advancement often excludes the most vulnerable groups, highlighting how modernity and the promise of progress can push many people to the margins.

A key focus of the video is the symbolism of spaces in the novel, such as Khwabgah (the transgender community space), Jantar Mantar (site of protest), and Jannat Guest House (the graveyard community). These locations function as counter-spaces to mainstream society, each revealing different aspects of oppression and resistance. The video emphasizes that belonging and community must often be constructed outside the rigid structures of caste, state power, and capitalism, illustrating how these alternative spaces create identities and networks of support that challenge societal exclusion.

The video also highlights the novel’s non-linear narrative structure, showing how its fragmented storytelling mirrors the fragmented lives of the characters. Rather than following a single coherent timeline, the novel weaves multiple stories together to depict the interconnectedness of personal trauma, political conflict, and social exclusion. The video points out that this structure allows readers to experience the complexity of marginalization while understanding the characters’ struggles in a broader social and political context.

Finally, the video examines Roy’s use of symbolic images, such as the graveyard, the found baby, and the dung beetle, to redefine the concept of “paradise” (Jannat). In these images, spaces and creatures traditionally associated with neglect or death become sites of resilience, dignity, and renewal. The video argues that the novel shows how true belonging and meaning emerge through solidarity, empathy, and resistance to structures that marginalize and erase human lives, suggesting that happiness and community are created in the stories of those society often leaves behind.

In The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy examines the human cost of modernization, revealing how the external world—Dunya, shaped by material progress, nationalism, capitalism, and state authority—systematically marginalizes and dehumanizes those who do not conform to its ideals. The promise of development in modern India is depicted as a structure built on violence, exclusion, and social hierarchies, leaving many characters feeling internally displaced even while physically present within the nation. Against this backdrop, Roy brings the inner lives of her characters to the forefront, exploring how memory, trauma, belief, and survival persist beyond the logic of productivity, efficiency, and societal success imposed by modernity.

A central symbol in the novel, the Dung Beetle, represents resilience and endurance. Thriving on waste and decay, it embodies marginalized communities who survive on what society discards—materially, culturally, and socially. Rather than being a figure of degradation, the beetle transforms what is rejected into continuity and life, reflecting an alternative ethic of survival that challenges capitalist ideas of value and purity. In this way, the Dung Beetle mirrors the novel’s characters, who adapt, endure, and reconstruct their lives despite exclusion, trauma, and loss.

The graveyard, particularly Anjum’s Jannat Guest House, operates as another crucial symbol and counter-space to Dunya. While traditionally associated with death and abandonment, it becomes a haven of inclusive living, welcoming hijras, Dalits, Muslims, abandoned children, and political outsiders. Unlike cities dominated by surveillance, borders, and rigid hierarchies, the graveyard allows coexistence without the imposition of identity, status, or nationalist allegiance. By situating hope and community among the dead rather than within modern institutions, Roy emphasizes that genuine belonging and ethical solidarity are often forged outside the oppressive structures of contemporary society.

Together, the Dung Beetle and the graveyard subvert the notion of progress propagated by Dunya. They highlight that survival, dignity, and meaningful coexistence do not emerge from grand narratives of modernization, but from marginal spaces where life continues quietly, inclusively, and resiliently despite systemic neglect. Through these symbols, the novel underscores how those excluded from mainstream society cultivate their own forms of community, resilience, and ethical belonging.

Ultimately, Roy’s narrative invites readers to rethink the meaning of happiness and belonging. True fulfillment, the video argues, is found not in the promises of development and modernization, but in the solidarity, empathy, and quiet resistance demonstrated by marginalized lives. The novel asserts that resilience, dignity, and communal bonds flourish in spaces that society overlooks, reminding us that life and meaning often emerge where we least expect them.

References :

 Barad, D. (2026). Flipped Learning Worksheet on The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. ResearchGate. https://doi.org/10.13140/rg.2.2.19004.09607

  DoE-MKBU. (2021, 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). Thematic Study | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NYSTUTBoSs

 DoE-MKBU. (2021e, December 30). Symbols and Motifs | The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Arundhati Roy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbBOqLB487U

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