Spring 2021 Chaplain Interview Series: Hindu Advisor Dr. Preeta Banerjee
Summary
TLDRIn this interview, Dr. Preeta Banerjee, a Hindu chaplain at Tufts University, shares her journey from a business school professor to a spiritual advisor. She emphasizes the importance of breath, connection with nature, and the diversity within Hinduism. Dr. Banerjee discusses the significance of pastoral care, aiming to embrace diversity and find common ground among different faiths. She also shares her memorable experiences, including interfaith events and her love for travel, martial arts, and art.
Takeaways
- 😀 Dr. Preeta Banerjee is a Hindu advisor and chaplain at Tufts University, who was born and brought up in the United States as the daughter of immigrants.
- 🎓 She pursued a career in business, earning a PhD from Wharton and becoming a business school professor and corporate executive before transitioning to chaplaincy.
- 🌿 Dr. Banerjee emphasizes the importance of breath and connecting with nature, drawing from the Hindu concept of the elements and the importance of community.
- 🙏 She describes pastoral care as being present with individuals, acknowledging the diversity within Hinduism, and supporting people in exploring their beliefs.
- 🌟 Dr. Banerjee wishes for the chaplaincy at Tufts to foster an environment where individuals can embrace their complexities and diversities without tension.
- 🕊 She had a memorable experience during the one-year anniversary of a significant event, which involved interfaith celebration and appreciation.
- 🎤 Outside of her chaplaincy work, Dr. Banerjee enjoys singing, martial arts, and has a black belt in taekwondo.
- 👨👩👧👦 She is a mother of two young children and enjoys activities like tickle contests and exploring various forms of art.
- ✈️ Dr. Banerjee has traveled extensively, making friends around the world, with a recent memorable trip to Melbourne, Australia.
- 🔥 She has been in touch with friends from Australia, offering support during significant events such as the bushfires, highlighting the importance of global unity.
Q & A
What was Dr. Prieta Banerjee's background before becoming a chaplain?
-Dr. Prieta Banerjee grew up in the Midwest, born and brought up in the United States as the daughter of immigrants. She pursued a PhD at Wharton and became a business school professor and corporate executive before realizing her passion for service in accompaniment, friendship, making meaning, and building community.
Why did Dr. Banerjee decide to change her career to chaplaincy?
-Dr. Banerjee felt her service was more about accompaniment, helping make meaning, and building community, which she felt were lacking in her previous roles. She wanted to become what she needed and saw a need for in the world.
What is one ritual practice that Dr. Banerjee finds important?
-Dr. Banerjee emphasizes the importance of breath and grounding in the knowledge of Mother Earth, known as 'Bhoomi Mata'. She also mentions extending arms like trees to connect with the elements of water, earth, fire, air, and ether.
How does Dr. Banerjee describe pastoral care?
-Pastoral care for Dr. Banerjee means being present with the person or people she is with, exploring what it means to be with them in their diversity, and recognizing that diversity as a strength, especially in a world that is trying to embrace complexity.
What does Dr. Banerjee wish more students knew about pastoral care?
-Dr. Banerjee wishes more students knew that Hinduism is not a monolith and that there are many ways to be Hindu. She encourages students to embrace their complexities and diversities and to find beauty in the and, not just the or.
What is Dr. Banerjee's vision for the future of the Tufts University chaplaincy?
-Dr. Banerjee envisions a future where everyone at Tufts University can lean into their complexities and diversities, embracing practices from different faiths and finding ways to coexist and practice together without tension.
What was Dr. Banerjee's most memorable moment as a chaplain at Tufts?
-Dr. Banerjee's most memorable moment was the interfaith celebration and appreciation during the one-year anniversary of a significant event, which was a powerful experience of community and grief.
What are some of Dr. Banerjee's hobbies or interests outside of chaplaincy?
-Dr. Banerjee enjoys singing, is a black belt in taekwondo, loves art in any form, and has a fondness for travel and making friends around the world.
What is a fun fact about Dr. Banerjee's travel experiences?
-Dr. Banerjee has traveled to many places and has made lasting friendships through chance encounters in different countries. One of her most recent and memorable trips was to Melbourne, Australia, where she made best friends and stayed in touch, even supporting them during the fires that occurred there.
How does Dr. Banerjee feel about the role of interfaith events at Tufts?
-Dr. Banerjee appreciates the role of interfaith events at Tufts, as they provide a grounded space for community members to come together, think about significant events, and process them in an open and collective way.
Outlines
🌟 Journey to Chaplaincy and Personal Practices
In the first paragraph, Dr. Preeta Banerjee, a Hindu advisor and chaplain at Tufts University, shares her background as an immigrant's daughter and her initial pursuit of a career in business, which led her to earn a PhD from Wharton and become a business school professor and corporate executive. However, she felt a stronger pull towards service in the form of accompaniment, friendship, and community building, which led her to her current role. She emphasizes the importance of breath and connecting with nature as part of her ritual practices. The conversation also touches on the diversity within Hinduism and the role of pastoral care in embracing this diversity and supporting individuals in their spiritual journeys.
🌈 Vision for Tufts Chaplaincy and Memorable Experiences
In the second paragraph, Dr. Banerjee expresses her vision for the future of the Tufts University chaplaincy, which includes fostering an environment where individuals can embrace their complexities and diversities without tension. She hopes to see a community that practices together and finds bliss in their shared experiences. Reflecting on her first year as a chaplain, she shares a memorable moment of grief and loss at the one-year anniversary of a significant event, which was a powerful experience of community and interfaith celebration. She also shares personal interests and hobbies, such as singing, martial arts, art, and traveling, highlighting her love for exploration and connection with people around the world. Her most recent and cherished travel memory is of Melbourne, Australia, where she formed lasting friendships and experienced a deep sense of community and support.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Chaplain
💡Spiritual Care
💡Diversity
💡Pastoral Care
💡Immigrant Experience
💡Ritual Practice
💡Interfaith
💡Grief and Loss
💡Community Building
💡Personal Identity
💡Cultural Exchange
Highlights
Dr. Prieta Banerjee shares her journey from being a business school professor and corporate executive to becoming a chaplain at Tufts University.
Dr. Banerjee discusses the importance of service and how it was intertwined with her immigrant background.
She explains her realization that her true calling was in accompaniment, making meaning, and building community.
Dr. Banerjee emphasizes the significance of breath and connecting with nature as a ritual practice.
She describes pastoral care as being present with individuals, acknowledging the diversity within Hinduism.
Dr. Banerjee highlights the importance of recognizing Hinduism's diversity and the strength it brings.
She shares her vision for the future of Tufts University chaplaincy, encouraging interfaith understanding and coexistence.
Dr. Banerjee reflects on a memorable moment of grief and loss at the one-year anniversary event.
She talks about the power of being in community and processing emotions during interfaith celebrations.
Dr. Banerjee shares fun facts about herself, including her love for singing, being a martial artist, and her travels.
She expresses her fondness for Melbourne, Australia, and the meaningful friendships she formed there.
Dr. Banerjee discusses the impact of global events, such as the Australian fires, on her personal connections.
She shares her hope for global unity in the face of collective experiences.
The interview concludes with Dr. Banerjee looking forward to future connections and collaborations.
Transcripts
all right good afternoon my name is iman
ali
i use the she series pronouns and today
i have the pleasure of being here with
dr prieta banerjee who is our hindu
advisor
welcome would you like to introduce
yourself with your name and pronouns
thank you dr prieta banerjee
she series i'm so honored to be here
with you
thank you thank you
so i would love to start by
understanding
how did you come to be a chaplain at
tufts um
and why did you choose to pursue a
career like chaplaincy
what a beautiful question um
so i grew up in the midwest
i'm born and brought up in the states
daughter of immigrants and from a young
age i really
felt pulled into service
part of being an immigrant's daughter is
that that service
often gets translated into economic
wealth or trying to establish oneself in
a new country and so
i tried to meld the two my service and
pursuing economic pursuits i did my phd
at wharton and i became
a business school professor and then i
was leading a team i was a corporate
executive
for many years before i realized that my
service
was more in accompaniment or friendship
meaning um helping making meaning and
helping build community
and those were things i lacked and i
wanted when i was
younger so i tried to become what i
needed and need
in this world
thank you for sharing that and i
definitely resonate with that a lot as
someone who's first-gen daughter of
immigrants
always balancing like the passion versus
you know this aspect of being in
survival mode and trying to support the
family so thank you for sharing that
um what is one ritual practice
or idea that's been on your mind lately
breath is so important to me um i think
just
grounding in the knowledge of mother
earth we call
boomi mata and straightening and
lengthening
into vodka energies or air
um and then extending our arms like our
um brethren the siblings of our trees
um and just feeling all the elements of
like
water earth fire air ether
that has been really important to me
um taking walks in nature breathing
and then definitely i have particular
stories and spiritual sayings that i go
to every day
beautifully said um and how do you
describe
pastoral care a couple of sort of
follow-up questions to that what kinds
of things do people usually come talk to
about and
is there anything that you wish more
students knew about pastoral care
it's really important to know that
hinduism is not a monolith
there's no one way to be a hindu there's
as many ways to be hindu as there are
hindus
there are many scripts there's many
teachers
and it ranges all the way from
philosophical
to spiritual to religious and so
um what pastoral care for me means
is being in the ands
a and d with the the person who i'm with
or the people i'm with
um when really exploring what that means
and how that diversity can be a strength
uh especially in a world that is trying
to open up to complexity
that things are not always one way
and we can find beauty in that word
a-n-d
and
thank you um where would you like to see
the tufts university chaplaincy go in
the future
i know that you joined us pretty
recently but i think that you've already
had such powerful impact so
would love to hear your perspective on
that
again um helping everyone to lean into
that and
to have that curiosity to
be okay to say things like i
practice yoga and i know it's a hindu
practice
and i am a devout christian or whatever
faith it is that those things can
coexist
and that we can embrace each other and
practice together and
find our bliss without the tension of
the word
and and having to escape
to or or but
and either that we can
be together in our complexities and
diversities
that's my one wish for everyone who's
listening to this
what has been your most memorable moment
working as a chaplain
and do you have any favorite chaplaincy
slash community events at tufts and why
this is my first year it's been a very
special year
um i hope that the moments
are um not repeated in
their specificness but this year's grief
and loss
at the one year anniversary was very
powerful for me
um i was in community
with amazing fellows and we were able to
celebrate
this past year in interfaith uh
celebration and appreciation
absolutely i i had a chance to um
attend one of those events as well and
it was just kind of being in a grounded
space with other people
thinking about what happened and
processing it in a very open way i think
for me was really powerful
given you know everything that's
happened in the span of a
one-year time window um
and my last question is what's a fun
fact about you
oh so many fun facts let's see
um i love to sing
i am a martial artist a black belt in
taekwondo
uh i have two young kids and we love to
do tickle
contests um i love
art and will explore any means
of art any kind of expression it's
really
a joy for me and i think the last fun
fact
is that um you know growing up i had
many opportunities to travel
and so i've been to amazing places and
met friends
around the world and some of my best
friends i've made in chance encounters
when traveling
to different countries
that's so cool what's um your favorite
place that you've visited amongst
all those countries most recent i made a
trip
to australia and it was melbourne in
particular and it was like so
welcoming and loving and i have best
friends from that trip
uh it was like about a week a little
over a week and
um just i'm still in touch and learning
um and i know when the fires happened
earlier last year i was able to
be in constant contact and be a friend
um in that journey and i'm seeing what
can happen after that and hoping
that the whole world can unite around
our collective experiences
thank you for sharing that well thank
you so much dr preeta it was a pleasure
talking with you today
and i look forward to being able to
connect in the future
thank you
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