‘Behind a Cultural Cage’ with Dr Pranav S Joshi

Saturday, 24 October, 2.00 – 3.30 pm .  Visitors’ Briefing Room, Level 1, National Library Building

Please register at http://golibrary.nlb.gov.sg, ‘Experience Singapore Literature.’

Dr Joshi is an environmental professional based in Singapore. Being passionate about the literary and cultural art, he tries to blend the colours of science and environment in his thinking universe. Besides novels and technical stuff, he also writes poetry during his free time, and does research on the origin of universe and the meaning of life.

‘Enjoy in the circus of the human society. You and me, we are cage dwellers!’ Are we born into life cages? Limited by the social elements and requirements of the stages of our lives? Do we live within our cages, walking with or against the forces of life? 

Sailing across the shores of India, Singapore, Malaysia and the US, ‘Behind a Cultural Cage’ is a literary, multicultural novel that describes the life story (or struggle!) of a Bengali Chindian – Chinese Indian man who wonder how much Chinese-ness and Indian-ness he possesses. He eventually comes to Singapore to build his life.

In recent years, there has been much talk about migration, globalisation and multiculturalism in the media, but nothing comes closer to what the story unearths. Do foreigners encounter an identity crisis in the human landscape of the country they migrate? Do their hearts hold tearful conversations with their land of ancestors? The novel explores these answers, revealing the realities of life in an astonishing way, often emitting the mist of humour.

Join the author as he shares his journey in ‘Behind a Cultural Cage’. What’s more, after the session, participants will be asked to share their personal experiences about living in their life cages and 2 lucky participants will walk away with signed, complimentary copies of the book!