Lives In Exile: Exploring the Inner World of Tibetan Refugees

This book recounts the life stories - stories of loss and hope, of anxieties and aspirations - of generations of exiled Tibetans living in India since the late 1950s after the Chinese takeover of Tibet.

Located in the realm of psycho-historical analysis, this work has a dual focus in interpreting and analyzing these life stories. First, a consistent effort is made to unravel the psychologically devastating consequences following refugeehood and torture. A simultaneous focus searches for symbols of human resilience - the opening up of creative possibilities and a return to renewed meanings in the lives of these exiles. Two central symbols of continuity among this community which are discussed are the Dalai Lama and the philosophy of Buddhism. This is a unique book that looks at issues of contemporary interest and relevance to the Tibetan community today, providing a different view of their ‘place’ in the wider political sphere.

Lives in Exile - Exploring the World of Tibetan Refugees will be of interest to scholars in the fields of psychology, history, and refugee studies and to the general reader.

Honey Oberoi is Reader, Department of Psychology, University of Delhi