Reading the Silence of Bengi in Arupa Patangia’s ‘Aai’

Abstract

Arupa Patangia’s  Aai, tells the story of Pomeela Bengi, a dim witted imbecile who has been a victim of the insurgency and has been rendered invisible after the death of her only surviving son Mohan. But, her silence acted as a voice of resistance because through it she could powerfully express how the state and its mechanisms function and makes the ordinary people like Pomeela victims, and how they are searching for an alternative.