Review of “The Ministry
of Utmost Happiness” – Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy is back with a long-awaited fiction. ‘The Ministry of
Utmost Happiness’ delivers what it promises. The expectations from the author
do not go unwarranted. It captures the very existence of all the characters and
their emotional stance is very much relatable, be it the old school eunuch, the
underground militant, an anonymous skinner, a fasting protester or the narrator
who works with Information Bureau and pines for love in the time when the air
is thick putrid stench of politics and corruption.
Spanning across the old world charm of Delhi and the war troubled Kashmir,
the story follows the lives of different people who are essentially looking for
happiness in their own ‘Duniya’. A boy whose mother prays at the Dargah to give
her strength to accept her as a girl, a child who is left alone only to be
picked and nurtured by a houseful of eunuchs, a journalist who is actually a
minor royalty, a lady who knows names an adopted child in the memory of her
lover’s first child.
The highlight of the book is the poetic way in which the saga unfolds.
The words lift you into the pages and not just show you, but make you feel and
become a part of this shattered story. The proses and paraphrases are an icing
on the cake. The years of wait for this one were spent researching by the
author and that shows in the expressions used herein. This is one of the few
books which caused me no regret. After a long time has somebody’s writing
matched up to my ‘reading-bliss’ world. A re-read of this one is very much
called for because I’m every time I read this, I’ll find something new to be
happy about. This, though, is not a very happy story. Like a river merges into
a sea the narrative reaches its end, not with a bang, but an equally loud
whisper. Or is it just another beginning?
My take: There is no need to put words here. Just go and grab one for
yourself.
Book Courtesy: Vivek Tejuja (Flipkart)
