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A review by surabhichatrapathy
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
5.0
Many a times when I have been part of discussions regarding patriotism, nationalism, citizenship etc, I've found it difficult to explain how I don't subscribe to any of those ideas and how having been brought up in India, these ideas are far more complex and diverse.
Our history is vivid, stretching across thousands of years, kings, colonizers, governments and politics. There is a element of 'chaotic beauty' and frustration attached to it.
The bittersweet experience of being "Indian" is so picturesquely portrayed in this book. The multitude of narratives co-existing (or not), the contested inclusion or exclusion of castes, languages, religions, people, Kashmir, gender and its poetic suffering is the heart of this book.
I've personally found Roy to be an enigma, not only in the way she writes, but the way in which she acknowledges all sides, their truth, their futility and their struggle.
At the end, people might argue that is a specific narrative of a country, history woven into a narrative of the 'left'. But I would beg to differ and say this a beautiful description of the colourful, painful and scary reality of 'Incredible India'.
Our history is vivid, stretching across thousands of years, kings, colonizers, governments and politics. There is a element of 'chaotic beauty' and frustration attached to it.
The bittersweet experience of being "Indian" is so picturesquely portrayed in this book. The multitude of narratives co-existing (or not), the contested inclusion or exclusion of castes, languages, religions, people, Kashmir, gender and its poetic suffering is the heart of this book.
I've personally found Roy to be an enigma, not only in the way she writes, but the way in which she acknowledges all sides, their truth, their futility and their struggle.
At the end, people might argue that is a specific narrative of a country, history woven into a narrative of the 'left'. But I would beg to differ and say this a beautiful description of the colourful, painful and scary reality of 'Incredible India'.