Theme of Identity Crisis in Yeshe Dorjee Thongchis Novel Mouna Ounth Mukhar Hriday (Silent Lips And Murmuring Heart)

Identity crisis is one of the most controversial issues of North - Eastern region of India. Problems related to identities are beautifully dealt with by a number of novelists who belong to the tribal communities of this region. These writers wholeheartedly make efforts to highlight the colourful and diverse traditions, customs, rites and rituals of the tribal communities in their writings. Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, an innovative and creative novelist from Arunachal Pradesh, is a prominent figure among them who very realistically and vividly mirrors the ethnic voices in his novels. Thongchi�s fictional world is centered around the life and society of the tribes dwelling in the remotest world of Arunachal Pradesh. Thongchi has received the Sahitya Academy Award in 2005 for his famous novel �Mouna Ounth Mukhar Hriday� (Silent Lips and Murmuring Hearts). This novel throws light on the social diversity and rich cultural heritage of Arunachal Pradesh. Problems and issues leading to identity crisis is one of the most outstanding themes of the novel �Mouna Ounth Mukhar Hriday� which has been exhibited through a tragic love story set against the backdrop of Arunachal Pradesh going through a process of transition. The novel represents the identity of two indigenous communities; i. e. Wangi (Nyishi) on the one hand and Serdukpen (an ethnic group related to both the Akas and Monpas of present Arunachal Pradesh) on the other. The present study attempts to explore the issues of identity crisis between these two ethnic tribes, the Nyishi and the Serdukpen, which has been reflected throughout the novel.