Welcome to the ‘Being at University’ podcast. I’m Harriet
Harris, Chaplain to the University of Edinburgh, and in this first series, we
explore what it is like being people of particular faith or belief at
University.
If we follow faith or belief traditions, these are profound
shapers of our values, our choices, and lifestyles, how we conduct our
relationships: in short, they provide the inner compass by which we navigate
our lives.
What I love about this series is hearing students talk about
how their faith or beliefs bring them joy, deep friendships, a feeling of
support during hard times, and a sense of perspective. They also talk about
challenges, with mental health, with discrimination and micro-aggressions, with
visibility and also invisibility. And we hear lots throughout this series about
choosing a university, arriving at university, making friends, joining
societies – the stuff of student life.
Today I am joined by Vaishnavi Gangadharmath, a final year
Business and Economics undergraduate from India, who is speaking about ‘Being
Hindu at University’. Vaishnavi talks about Hinduism not as a religion but as a
way of life-based on karma. She tells us about starting university, feeling
that life crashing down in her second year and picking up again in her third
year, and then finishing her fourth year back home in Bangalore because of
Covid. Her conversation is interwoven with the ways in which prayer,
meditation, devotion to Lord Shiva, and knowing from the heart have been
mainstays for Vaishnavi, especially during her final semester when she was a
volunteer dealing with the extremities of suffering, supporting people during
the terrible intensity of the pandemic in India.
Music: ‘Avulekile’ by Soweto Melodic Voices, from their CD
Harambee, 2014.
Soweto Melodic Voices is a youth choir from Soweto,
supported by the University of Edinburgh Chaplaincy to perform at the Edinburgh
Fringe, to inspire young people and schools in Edinburgh, and to record music
in Soweto. For details of the Edinburgh-Soweto link see here.