BISHOP ERIC BENJAMIN MEMORIAL LECTURE 2025

Bishop Eric Benjamin Memorial Lecture 2025

• Posted on 03-Sep-2025
• Uploaded by | NITIKA DON BOSCO

Sonada, 03 September 2025 - The Department of Philosophy of Salesian College, Sonada organized the annual Bishop Eric Benjamin Memorial Lecture  on 2 September, 2025. The topic of this year’s lecture was “Traditional and Modern Society in the Darjeeling Hills.”

The programme began with a brief introduction by Fr. Pritam Barla, the Campus Minister, who presented a short life sketch of Bishop Eric Benjamin and highlighted his remarkable contributions to Salesian College Sonada. This was followed by the official welcome address by Fr. Johny Nedungatt, the Rector of the College, who extended a warm welcome to the guests and dignitaries after which the speaker, Mr. Rashik Chettri  of the day was welcomed with the traditional khada.

As the programme of the day proceeded a short video presentation on the life and legacy of Bishop Eric Benjamin was presented by Mr. Bruno Thapa. The video featured touching testimonies from Bishop Eric’s  own siblings, recalling him as a tireless pastor and a man of deep faith.

Fr. Clement Lakra introduced  Mr. Rashik Chettri, the speaker of the day as a professional trainer, teacher, counsellor, entrepreneur, and a former lecturer at Salesian College Sonada. 

In his lecture, Mr. Chettri discussed the characteristics of traditional society in the Darjeeling hills, marked by joint families, rituals, festivals, folk songs, dances, storytelling, local governance, community orientation, and an agriculture-based lifestyle. He then elaborated on the transition to modern society, shaped by factors such as the spread of education, migration, tourism, and the growth of technology and communication. The transformed modern society, he noted, is now characterized by nuclear families, service-based occupations, internet dependence, individualism, hybrid festivals, fusion arts, and pop culture.

Mr. Chettri also highlighted the challenges facing modern Darjeeling society, including cultural erosion threatening indigenous Nepali and Lepcha languages, as well as the ecological risks posed by unregulated tourism and urban sprawl. He emphasized the urgent need to balance tradition and modernity through conscious cultural preservation and sustainable development.

Speaking about the learning from the lecture Br. Bikash Ranasingh SDB said, “The lecture helped me to see the transition that Nepali community has made from traditional to the modern life. It has been a big help for me to understand the people of Darjeeling hills with whom I interact on weekends”. 

The session concluded with an interactive round of questions and clarifications chaired by Dr. Terence Mukhia, Dean of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, who also delivered the concluding remarks. The event of the day came to a close with a melodious choir performed  by the Brothers.

 

Br. Abishek Rai SDB