The Silent Voices: Child Widows and their Enlightenment Beyond Tradition in Mona Verma’s Lost and Found in Banaras (2018)

Abstract

A significant form of “social death” that deprives children of their rights and innocence is child marriage and its tragic consequence, child widowhood. Within the framework of traditional and superstitious Indian society, this article examines these themes through an analysis of Mona Verma’s book Lost and Found in Banaras. The protagonist, Brinda, was married to an eleven-year-old boy at the age of three and was subsequently abandoned by her family after her young husband was lost in a flood. Labelled a “bad omen,” she is compelled to live in mourning at the Nirmal Ashram in Banaras, a city renowned for its large population of marginalized widows.

The present study aims to examine the consequences of child marriage and the sufferings of the bride when she becomes a widow and to consider how child widows are treated by society.  The study also posits that the intervention of educated individuals such as Sia and Uday disrupts the cycle of suffering and silence. These characters demonstrate that, although tradition marginalizes, education and enlightenment provide essential means of reclaiming identity and agency by promoting economic independence and highlighting the widows’ plight. While tradition and lack of education marginalize child widows in India, enlightenment facilitated by educated intervention offers a path toward restoration and agency.