Unveiling Queer Spaces: A Narrative Against Societal Taboos in Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

Abstract

This research primarily focuses on the identity/ place of the intersex community and its treatment by other genders. Contemporary South Asian writers are making efforts to write about societal taboos to confront and demolish stereotypical thinking of society. Arundhati Roy, who is known for activism, has voiced certain social, political, and environmental issues about India through her critically engaging works. Her novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness brings forward queer narratives and subversive perspectives set against the backdrop of the present-day Indian society. It touches upon the concept of queer spaces and explores themes of marginalization and identity crisis being witnessed in these spaces. People belonging to this community are not considered an equal and legitimate part of society. They live among other people but receive alienated treatment from them. As a consequence, they adopt an anti-normative way of living while struggling as marginalized entities (third gender) against the established standards and pretenses of Indian culture. However, Arundhati Roy’s intersex characters represent a journey of survival, revolt, and liberation from those stereotypes that dehumanize them.