Welcome to Volume 2
We are very happy to present the second issue of Kutumba, the journal of the Hindu Community Institute (HCI). HCI trains professionals from all fields for community service and for further studies towards Hindu Chaplaincy. Our objective is to provide spiritual care and compassionate services to the broader community, regardless of race, religion or ethnic background.
In this issue, HCI President, Dr. Kailash Joshi and Dean Mr. Gaurav Rastogi highlight HCI's ambitious vision to develop both trained chaplains and dedicated CHT's (Counselors of Hindu Tradition) to provide spiritual services in institutions and social support in the community, respectively. We also recognize the pioneering collaboration between HCI and the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley to train Hindu inter-religious chaplains to administer spiritual counseling in times of illness, stress or bereavement. We are honored to include an article from Dr Abu-Shamsieh, director of GTU's interreligious chaplaincy service, that illustrates the value that Hindu scholars bring to the study and practice of chaplaincy.
We hope you enjoy reading the 2nd issue of Kutumba, and we welcome your feedback.
Dr. Sulochina Lulla, a physician who provides volunteer spiritual care, and Ms Nandita Bhatnagar, CHT scholar, give critical context on why it is important to create a formal chaplaincy pathway program for the Hindu community.
At Kutumba, we continue our efforts to provide essential information to aid with life transitions. Our HCI faculty members, Dr. Mukund Acharya and Dr. Kuttancheri V. Rema discuss the importance of preparing an Advance Healthcare Directive. We hope this knowledge will encourage the community to complete this process and thus decrease some of the burden that families face when a loved one is seriously ill or disabled.
This issue also contains HCI Registrar Ms. Usha Narasimhan's reports on the dual course pathway at HCI. Current Australian scholar Mr. Amit Mehta shares his thoughts on the growing benefits of the CHT program in Australia, and Mr. Anil Diddi, CHT provides a comprehensive overview of HCI's volunteer services which he directs at HCI.
We are ever-grateful to our HCI family.
Lakshmi Srinivasan, M.D.
Dr. Srinivasan is a practicing physician. She lives in Northern California with her husband and children. She is a 2022 graduate of the CHT course and enjoys serving as the chair of the Kutumba Editorial Board.