The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

by

Arundhati Roy

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Ministry of Utmost Happiness makes teaching easy.
A friend of Musa’s who has special needs. Sweet and attentive, Gulrez comes to meet Tilo at the bus station when she first arrives in Kashmir, and cooks meals for her and Musa during their stays on the houseboat. Gulrez is traumatized from his experiences with the Indian army. As a young man, he mistakes the Indian army for the Pakistani army, imagining Pakistan has come to free Kashmir. He runs towards soldiers to kiss their hands only to be shot in the leg and severely beaten. Gulrez has relationships with animals that are very dear to him, including one with a rooster called Sultan who is murdered by the army as well. When the military raid the houseboat where Gulrez is staying with Tilo, Musa has just left, and the military, led by Major Amrik Singh, mistake him for Musa and severely torture and murder him. This murder is what inspires Tilo and Musa to go after Major Singh for revenge.

Gulrez Quotes in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

The The Ministry of Utmost Happiness quotes below are all either spoken by Gulrez or refer to Gulrez. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Corruption, Political Violence, and Capitalism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 9 Quotes

“If that fool didn’t know how to live here with the military, why did he have to come into this world in the first place?”

Related Characters: Gulrez (speaker), Tilo, Musa
Page Number: 363
Explanation and Analysis:
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Gulrez Quotes in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

The The Ministry of Utmost Happiness quotes below are all either spoken by Gulrez or refer to Gulrez. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Corruption, Political Violence, and Capitalism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 9 Quotes

“If that fool didn’t know how to live here with the military, why did he have to come into this world in the first place?”

Related Characters: Gulrez (speaker), Tilo, Musa
Page Number: 363
Explanation and Analysis: