Book Review: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

Let’s begin with what is to be said at the end. There is a certain bewildering sense of acknowledgement that this book can’t be reviewed in terms of common nuances related to plot lines and character development, which are usual in case of a novel. One can see that Roy has an exceptional craftsmanship but its resulting art is something you would gawk at with a scrunched up face, because there are elements which would leave you emotionally drained and then there are others which are plain awkward.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness has one of the most beautiful beginnings, with allusions and metaphors and motifs and motives, clearly etched in every single word. It sets a certain mood which unfortunately doesn’t last. The poetic prose is something to cherish all through the book indeed, just that it comes heavy handed sometimes.

The storyline follows the trajectory of contemporary India, from the streets of old Delhi and activism hub of Jantar Mantar to war-torn and militarized Kashmir valley and the lush tribal forests of Central India. It seems to work out an interwoven tale of characters who are seeped in the political ideology of the author. Emotions are parlayed in favor of politics and politics is parlayed in favor of preaching in its exploration.

The characters work well enough – the Hijra, Anjum and the eccentric architect/activist/traitor, Tilottama or Tilo (modeled after the author herself) have gripping tales of pain and coming of age and political maturity, while the secondary characters create the interconnecting web through their identification as a Dalit masquerading as a Muslim, a Kashmiri militant, a civil servant, a charismatic reporter, a military commander, an Imam confidante, et al – it’s still burdensome to encompass the depth of such important issues like military occupancy, tribal rights, caste conflict, religious fundamentalism, third gender struggle in one piece of text even through such myriad characters, so much so that it just comes out hollow.

With such writing devices as letters and random scribbles on pages and manifestos and poetry, all the tropes succeed to some degree in telling a shattered story. But it’s not by slowly becoming everything or even everybody.

It’s a good book but it could have been something so profound – how though – it is hard to tell. That “lack of” though just can’t be overlooked and that undoes wherever it was headed.

Advertisement

Day 16: Your favorite genre

Okay, now it comes to favorite genre. I don’t know how to answer that question. Because I enjoy reading books just like that. I read the books of different genre based on my desire of what I want to read. If I want to read suspense/thriller, I will pick up a novel by Sidney Sheldon or explore some other spy/crime thrillers.

Hence, I am going to list down the genres I like and some of the books I like, which can be interpreted to be belonging to that genre:-

1. Mythology- I am like a teenager that way because I like the Percy Jackson series as well as The Kane Chronicles, both by Rick Riordan.

2. Horror- Desperation and Salem’s Lot, both by Stephen King

3. Mystery/Suspense/Thriller- Sidney Sheldon novels, A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer, Dan Brown books to some extent

4. Historical Fiction- The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, novels by Khaled Hosseini, The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh

5. Biography- Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

6. Drama- Books by John Green, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

7. Fantasy/Supernatural- The Dead Zone by Stephen King, Every Day by David Levithan, Harry Potter series

8. Science Fiction- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro,

9. Short Stories- Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, short stories collection by Jeffrey Archer

10. Adult Fiction- The Zahir and The Winner Stands Alone, by Paulo Coelho, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

and etc, etc…

I don’t like the idea of literary genres. I rather believe in something like this:

source

Day 14: Favorite author from your childhood

Well, I was exposed to books quite late. I enjoyed reading even when I was little but I was too innocent to ask my parents to buy me books. I had only a book or two in my book shelf. Yes, I was quite shy. I am an introvert and have been like that since forever. Therefore, I used to spend time reading short stories from my language textbooks at school. I still recall many of them because I had read them quite a few number of times.

Of course, I can’t recount my favorite authors because I hadn’t any. That time the image I had of an author was obscured by the heavy books of biology, physics and chemistry, my sister used to study. Rather I will discuss the few stories I enjoyed then which were not based on the curriculum.

Panchatantra Tales by Vishnu Sharma were quite an enjoyable read. I had (still have) a kid’s book with certain stories of Panchatantra like that of the crocodile and the monkey and of the greedy milkman, etc. I liked reading them because of the simple language and a moral at the end of every story.

The Monkey and the Crocodile

Also, I spent a lot of time reading religious books that belonged to my mother. I liked and still like reading mythological tales. I was always amazed by the prayer of the devotees and the power of the gods and goddesses. It is quite an irony because I am an agnostic and sometimes an atheist.

source

Furthermore, I used to read every single page of a kid’s magazine that used to come  along with the newspaper every Friday.

I know this post is getting really boring for you to read. I will finish by writing that it is never too late to start reading. The books mean a lot to me. I like them. I live in their stories.

I am not reading much right now. But I know I just need to get into the flow of it once again which I would eventually.

Day 10: Favorite Classic Book

I haven’t read many classic books. Or shall I say I have completed only a few of those books which can be considered a classic?

I am presently reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I have started reading it yesterday; so it hasn’t been much that I have read. I am liking it so far. I haven’t read any of the work of Charles Dickens to my heart’s dismay. I am stuck in between of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. I never completed To Kill A Mockingbird; I had crossed the half-way mark but then something came between me and the book.

The book I have read and liked a lot is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

source

I liked the character of Holden Caulfield which is subjected to a lot of criticism. Many people believed him to be a selfish, heartless, ignorant, while I saw in him the quality of being a normal teenager. He has his own viewpoint which is quite strongly depicted in the whole novel. I could relate with his confusion and the feeling of just running away, that is a normal part of teenage. He is quite a cynic and resents others for somethings that do not even matter much. But aren’t many of us just like him?

He may anger you but think about it. What is wrong about him? He is not wrong; the society has deemed him wrong. I sometimes feel myself into his shoes and that is when I could see him clearly for who he is. He has his faults but I won’t consider his thoughts to be one of them.

Another book which I quite liked was The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. The depression and the journey of Esther Greenwood was too concrete for me. I would rather not discuss more about it.

source

That is all. 🙂

What is writing to me?

Many people have asked me- What is writing to me?

Well, that’s a very simple question with a very complex answer which is dynamic in nature.

“Writing- writing is writing to me. What else could have been the best answer to this particular question?”

“To write is writing”- would it be the better answer?”

Well, I haven’t put much thought to it but I think I should.

What is writing to me?

Well, writing to me is passion, the passion to mark my words with something I feel deeply attached with. It is the passion that helps me in incorporating my thoughts in some identifiable shape which are otherwise always messed up. Writing is the passion which helps me deal with the situations in daily life. Writing- the passion to achieve the highest limit I can think of achieving to come out as a better person, a better interpreter. Writing is the passion for me to strive, struggle to reach that limit and then, set an even higher limit to achieve.

What is writing to me?

Well, writing to me is knowing, knowing myself in a better way. I can never realize rather I will never realize who I am as an individual if there was an absence of writing in my life. Writing is the way of knowing the hidden thoughts deeply set up in the intricate structures of my mind which I can only know while writing by putting them in appropriate words. Writing is the way for me to know my ambitions, what I want to achieve in life. What I write is real- my writing denotes the real me. Writing, therefore, is a way of knowing everything I want to know. That is the easiest way I can formulate all this much into.

What is writing to me?

Well, writing to me is expressing, expressing myself to me. Well, expressing myself in general is knowing myself. But sometimes it becomes so much difficult to know yourself even through writing, it is the time when you have to express yourself without giving a second-thought to what comes to your mind from within your heart, you just write and write- thereby expressing yourself. It is such a beautiful exercise but deeply addicting- it may be of great significance but may be it would show you the side of yourself that you couldn’t know- the side which had been hiding which all of a sudden sprints out, the resultant thoughts may not be so pleasant.

What is writing to me?

Well, writing to me is reading, reading what I want to read. Now that is surely going to confuse you. But yes, its true. It isn’t complex. Writing to me is reading- when I want to read something, give a vent to my thoughts reading something peculiar to my interests, then there is nothing better to read but my own creations. So, writing is a way of reading and amusing myself by way of reading what I write. Easy?

What is writing to me?

Well, writing to me is compulsion, compulsion to write. It compels to write- writing compels me to write. As I have earlier written that writing has dynamic meanings for me- hence, particularly even though when I don’t want to write- the germ of writing that I am rearing in me compels me to write. Once you keep on writing, it doesn’t always come out to be a leisure activity- sometimes, it becomes compulsory for you to write for no reason in particular at all. I have to write, that means I have to write- that comes out to be a message from the inner-self with no explanation, no reasoning.

What is writing to me?

Well, writing to me is passion, way of knowing and expressing myself, it is reading to me and henceforth, it is a compulsion to me.

Do tell:- What is writing to you? What does it mean to you?