07 Conclusion
In the novel, The Ministry of Utmost
Happiness by Arundhati Roy, there are many marginalized characters portrayed.
But Roy is keeping these characters in the center and speaking on their behalf
trying to give voice to them. There are dalits, muslims, untouchables, women,
kashmiris, hijras and such characters that are left out from the mainstream of
the society. In this research, the focus is on the transgender identities.
Anjum is the protagonist in the first half of the novel. She undergoes many
struggles. At first she had to leave her parents’ home and move to Khwabgah,
then after thirty years spending there she also had to leave Khwabgah and move
to a graveyard. In all these circumstances she single handedly managed to come
out of many of the unpleasant situations of life. She emerges as a successful
person regardless of her gender. She has also become the supporting system
through her Jannat Guest House. In her guest house all the downtrodden,
rejected, oppressed, marginalized people are allowed to come and live with freedom
and choice.
"How
to
tell
a
shattered
story?
By
slowly
becoming
everybody.
No.
By
slowly becoming everything."
In this novel, all the major characters
are suffering. They are broken. They experience everything worse in their life
but still are alive. They are like living dead. They are broken due to the
circumstances they are facing in life. They experience terrible pains in their
life. So the stories they tell of their own lives are broken, fragmented, and
in pieces.
"She lived in the graveyard like a
tree. At dawn she saw the crows off and welcomed the bats home. At dusk she did
the opposite."
Here she is Anjum, the transgender, she
lives in a graveyard and no humans to interact with. The only companions she
can have were birds and trees around in the bosom company of nature. She lived
like a tree. It means she had to bear so many pains while living in the
graveyard.
"When people called her names -
clown without a circus, queen without a palace - she let the hurt blow through
her branches like a breeze and used the music of her rustling leaves as balm to
ease the pain."
These lines tell how society created
problems for a transgender to survive. But she now was strong enough and let
the pain flow away without affecting her much. She eased the pain with the
music of leaves. When no humans help humans then nature plays a very vital role
in soothing the pains of humans and calms them down. So in this way people in
the society create disturbances and don't allow these others, transgender to
live peacefully. Then they have to survive overcoming many struggles and
hardships. Roy highlights the pain of the marginalized, transgender in this
novel. She gives voice to the voiceless and in this way the novel "The
Ministry of Utmost Happiness" is getting happiness by giving voice to the
others and subalterns, by giving justice through the novel. Real happiness is
when a person tries to remove tears from the eyes of other people and this is
what Roy has done through this novel. By giving happiness to others one can
gain real happiness and this is what Roy does, she has given voice to the
marginalized people, she has tried to console the unconsoled.
"Who says my name is Anjum? I'm
not Anjum, I'm Anjuman. I'm a mehfil, I'm a gathering. Of everybody and
nobody, of everything and nothing. Is there anyone else you would like to
invite? Everyone's invited."
The above lines tell the open and happy
spirits of the protagonist Anjum. She is good to all being transgender but
society is not good to her. She is brave enough to make her own new world in
the graveyard and she is the leader of her own life and also supports many
other downtrodden or rejected people, she welcomes everyone in her Jannat Guest
House. She tries to bring freedom and happiness in her as well as the life of
the people around her. Her name is truly reflected through her deeds in the
novel throughout.
All the minor hijra characters in the
novel are also facing struggles in one way or the other. They are also rejected
by their families or the society and forced to leave the home. Some of such
characters are Bombay Silk, Mary, Gudiya - Bulbul, Bismillah (Bimla), Razia,
and Nimmo Gorakhpuri. These hijras form a part of the hijra community. In our
society also we find that hijras move in such groups led by one main hijra just
as here in the novel Kulsoom Bi is the senior in the Khwabgah. So it is
observed that trangender identities are economically, socially and culturally
backward and not accepted in mainstream society. In order to meet the economic
needs they are forced to do the job of clapping and demanding the money from
the marriage and various such celebrations. If they are well educated and well
respected in the society then there won’t be any need to go for the alms. The
main basic acceptance is that they should be well accepted and respected, loved
and cared for by family first, then comes society. The problem is in the
structure and the mentality of the people who are in proper gender roles like
parents and society. If they allow such people to flourish then it will give a
different look and bring new progress and developments in the society which
none others can bring. The ones who have suffered in different way, the one who
are created for some special purpose, these are the transgender people, the
very very special creation of God. The beings that are nature's creation and if
people don’t accept them then they are doing a big mistake and then as humanity
all have to suffer for that. The solution is that if transgender identities are
given equal opportunities then it will help in the progress and the development
of the Earth at large, because now as Earth is facing many calamities, Global
warming and disasters, then in order to tackle everything in life, we need to
take the help from each and every kind and types of people and it won’t be
possible without taking the group who are totally excluded from the society. If
someday Earth is destroyed then all humans might have to shift themselves to
another planet, and in such circumstances if there is no unity among human
beings then it’s not possible to go ahead in life, to get the desired success.
If nature has created something, some
people like transgender then it is responsiblity of all humans to accept, it is
not possible to challenge the nature and it’s creation and if it is happening
anywhere then it will only result into the ultimate loss. To face the
challenges of nature, one has to include all the species and everyone including
transgenders and hijras then and then only people, humans can fight against the
challenges of nature, and if someone, somebody or something is missing the
humanity might have to suffer a huge loss.
Something to ponder upon:
Are humans ready to suffer or to accept
nature's creation?
Is it possible to challenge nature and
to what extent?
In this novel, Roy has tried to bring
happiness to the lives of the marginalized characters in contemporary Indian
society. She has spoken on their behalf. She has given voice to the voiceless.
So, in a way, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is in the happiness of these
people. By giving is what we receive. So by giving justice through literature,
through this novel, Roy is trying to give happiness To the Unconsoled." In
this novel transgender, Anjum has to undergo many struggles from childhood to
later in life. First, she has to leave her own home, and then she has to leave
the Khwabgah also. But she is brave enough to live the life she wants and
rejects everything that is curbing her liberty. She is not allowed to be in
mainstream society and finds a place in a graveyard. Anjum's graveyard is the
place of multicultural and multi-faith and all are welcomed. This is the lesson
society needs to learn from the protagonist Anjum. If one person is good enough
to all then why not all can be good to all? Let the vibes of goodness spread in
all the directions of the world.