The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

Anjum’s mother. When her baby is born, Jahanara believes it is a boy and names it Aftab. Although she discovers the second day after Aftab’s birth that he has female as well as male genitalia, Jahanara keeps this secret to herself, telling no one that the son she has wanted for so long (after bearing three daughters) is, in fact, intersex. Instead, she goes to the shrine of Hazrat Sarmad Shaheed to bless her baby, not knowing why she was called to that particular site but going all the same. When Aftab begins to be teased for having a feminine singing voice, Jahanara finally confides in her husband, Mulaqat Ali, who decides that Aftab should undergo sex change surgery. Once Aftab left her home and gone to live in the Khwabgah, Jahanara continues to see her child, now Anjum, at first in weekly visits to the Khwabgah, and then, later, occasionally at the shrine of Hazrat Sarmad Shaheed. When Jahanara passes away, she is buried at Anjum’s new home, Jannat Guest House and Funeral Services.