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Abstract
According to G.N.Devy, silence is a communication zone which has the potency of language but no desire for verbal articulation. It is not absence of language, but a language frontier is negotiating with unexplored fields of great importance. The present paper is an attempt to appreciate the potential of silence among the tribals and also the non-tribal journalist’s experience of such silence in Mahasweta Devi’s Pterodactyl ,Puran Sahay, and Pirtha. The story refers to a painting on stone-wall by Bikhia, a tribal boy in the famine stricken Pirtha block. When asked about the painting, the boy remains silent .What is the message of the prehistoric world messenger Pterodactyl? What is the quality of silence experienced by Bikhia , the journalist Puran and the bird in absence of verbal communication? The paper tries to address the questions related with the myth of Pterodactyl.