We are heading or rather rolling fast towards
the close of 2019. This year will go down as part of a critical, whirlwind phase
in my life. It has sent my happily, cocooned and quotidian existence from a cluttered,
noisy and native habitat to an alien, silent, cold (read bone-chilling freeze
zone) and barely populated city, across the Indian Ocean. 2019 was the year I
moved from India to Australia- from one capital Delhi to another, Canberra.
Eight months down the line, I am immensely proud of the way I have adapted from
a very well-habituated life to one that continues to spring surprises. I have
certainly made a substantial transition from being a senior professional at
most organisations I have worked with in the past 14 years to turning student
and learning at the basic professional level at an age when most people have
achieved stability in their workplace. It’s been a highly schizophrenic
professional life, almost a double life one might say as I continued to contribute
as a journalist/blogger to Inchin Closer which takes an in-depth view to the crucial
relationship between two of the world’s largest economies India and China. I
also regularly lend my services as a copyeditor to numerous clients, including
multinational companies of trillion-dollar worth. One of the perks of working
with such companies is frequent trips to the US if that is something one
enjoys. However, my move to Aussie shores meant I have had to let go of such an
opportunity once this year so when it came up again barely five months after I
had moved base to Canberra, I could not refuse. So there I was hardly settled
in one foreign country with bag and baggage and packing away for a month to
another! Thankfully, my trip to San Francisco mid-year was welcomed with
pleasant weather and wonderful sunsets. I am also grateful that the largely
official trip gave me the time to explore the local sights and sounds, experience
Silicon Valley culture and check out the local attractions given it was my
first trip. Generous colleagues and hospitable old batchmates came to my rescue
to ensure I had a very pleasant trip indeed and am tempted to go back again.
This brings me to answering a question I have
often been asked now that I have seen a slice of life in both the US and
Australia. How are the two countries different or similar? Why would I prefer
living in one and not the other? Are all foreign countries welcoming to
Indians? Is it possible to lead the good life in both? Let me try and reflect
on some of these very relevant queries. It’s an open secret that everyone in
India who aspires to become an “NRI” first thinks of the US. For millions of
Indians settled there, the progressive mindset, growth opportunities and good
money have been enough reasons to make the move. For someone who has never
really been that ambitious in life, these were not enough to make me follow
suit. I have been very happy in home territory and while I like travelling,
settling in a foreign land and calling it home was not something I could relate
to.
So why would I or someone move to Australia? The clickbait for me was my only sister living here who has been a living proof of how one can live away from one’s motherland and still nurture a sense of belonging in another geography. Australia is a country for those who are seeking peace and an easygoing life in a fairly liberal and naturally bountiful setting. Australians are not born to live corporate lives or work their youth in to making billions before they retire at 40. They have an innate tendency to veer towards nature- toddlers will be seen taking to the waves at three, every youngster will know kayaking or play footie, their daddies will be shooting a racket ball out of the court come spring and every grandparent will own a garden they can nurture in their twilight years and a sprawling alfresco area where they can take in the beach or mountain view depending on which city they live! So much so that it is very common to see Australians settled for years in the bustling cities of Sydney or Melbourne to migrate to quieter and slower cities or regions in their middle years for a better, more engaging family life. The hunky-dory ‘Aussie’ life is such a lure that whether you are a migrant from Britain or Afghanistan, it is reason enough to make you come here. This often gets construed as ‘laziness’ or a ‘laissez faire attitude’ for identifying people Down Under. This is a common misunderstanding as Australia has some of the best liveable cities in the world (Melbourne and Sydney are ranked at second and third places in the ‘The world's 10 most liveable cities in 2019’) and scores high at 11th position in the World Happiness Report which is a survey of 156 nations by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. This is simply because people here choose to opt out of the rat race before they regret wasting the best years of their lives in running after a pipe dream.
Americans on the other hand, are enterprising, charged with a zest to make the most of what their peak years can offer and
grab at every opportunity to prove their worth. These are two kinds of people,
and I don’t think one can judge one to be superior to the other. It is a choice
that people make either way and as long as they feel up to it and are happy going
with it, so be it. One may find the Silicon Valley too staid and San Francisco
a bit too glamorous for one’s taste. Canberra for a lot of people smells of bureaucracy
and politics but I choose to believe there is more to the city than meets the
eye. Yes, it is wintry for over eight months of the year but it is also hilly,
green, simple (almost country-like in its lifestyle) and packed with all the
advantages of an urban landscape. High standard education, low crime rate and a
thriving family life are good enough reasons for me to have made the move. I
have no idea if this is where I will be for the rest of my life as I have
learnt not to plan too far, too soon from past experience. So find your own
reason to migrate to a country and find out why it best suits you in the first
place, rather than seeing how it generally tempts or has tempted others. Personally,
I feel Australians and Americans overall are very friendly and exhibit a
healthy respect for diversity but while an Australian may have a fabulous sense
of humour and enjoy a good joke over a frothing mug of beer, an American is
more likely to put up a stand-up comedy act and make some money out of it!
