My life in Australia

I was 11 when I moved to Australia with my family. Now I’m sure I can vouch for Indians, living in Australia is like a holiday.  A cleaner, less polluted, far more less corrupt country, a fair, just salary and the list goes on for the many amazing benefits of living in Australia. My family and I resided in Tamil Nadu in South India. We immigrated to Australia in 2004 through. My Father bought my family to Australia on an Independent skilled visa My family decided that moving to Australia would give me and my sister better tertiary education and a much better lifestyle, opportunities and facilities than India ever could.

Now if you are Indian you understand exactly this situation. I was only 11 but I fully understood the extent in all aspects in moving from a very underdeveloped country to a beautiful well developed country. My Father said to us, ‘’this will be just like an experiment to see if we like the Australian life style’’ We had heard only good things about Australia. We heard that it was clean, not corrupt, little homelessness, safe, everyone was treated the same no matter what gender. In India, not all parts, there are some very well developed parts but a lot of it is all full of corruption, genders are not treated equally as they are here in Australia. In India women are put down lower than men, and have lesser opportunities for work and education, and just all round female culture compared to female culture in Australia is completely different. In Australia women are treated equal, and that would be probably one of the highlights for me.

I may have moved to Australia when I was young but I still do have Indian culture with my family and some parts of the Indian community in Australia, so I can talk from a standing point as and Indian child that immigrated to Australia and lived and grown up in Australia, and I have adjusted my Indian culture to fit into the Australian cultural way of life. We came to Australia and we took in what my Father had said to us, so we just took it as a holiday. The moment we stepped into Australia we moved to Brisbane, it was like a breath of fresh air. It was so clean, there people just minded their own business, which was refreshing because Indians sometimes have a tendency to stare at people and not mind their own business. We were shocked to so many random smiles from people we didn’t even know. I think I can speak for my family that this instantly felt like home. The holiday feeling had gone and we were all so excited, but at the same time we couldn’t make the ultimate statement and say this is home, as there was a lot of cultural differences and customs that we had to get accustomed to.

As I was only young I can’t give advice on Indians or other nationalities moving to Australia as a student or an adult, but I can speak from a point of view of as Indian in particular or a another nationality and how I adjusted to Australian customs and culture. Australia has given my family hope and a much better life than we could have ever imagined. As my family was Indian we still held our Indians views, culture and customs. The person that found it the most hardest to get used to Australian culture was Mum. As I said we all loved Australia once we came here, my Mum included, but being the very cultural Indian women she was you could she had a bit of a culture shock. I remember my Mum arriving in Australia wearing her saree and catching the taxi and seeing many Australia women wearing shorts, singlets, skirts and dresses above your knees it was quite different for us me included, as you would never see an Indian women wearing any of the clothing that here in Australia, because we weren’t allowed to in India we have a certain dress code that women have to follow and aren’t allowed to cross. We would see the odd foreigners in India dressing this way but to see in real life was very strange and different.

When we came to Australia it was the Christmas holidays so we had a chance to learn a bit more of the Australian culture and learn more about this country we would call home before we had to get enrolled a school. My Dad had an Australian Indian friend that had lived in Australia for 22 years so he helped us a lot in enrolling in schools, finding accommodation bank accounts, immigration etc. He linked us in with some multi-cultural companies that would help us with all our needs us well. My Dad’s friend had introduced us to some Indian communities and some Australian people. The people in the India community here very different to how Indian people are in India. All I am speaking of now is as an adult now rather than my actual thoughts or feelings than as a child as I now understand and can explain my thoughts now that I am older. The Indian people here seemed a lot better spoken and more educated than in India, to me at the time I thought they were very strange because I was used to seeing Indians as very closed off and somewhat arrogant, but the Indians here just minded their own business and were very down to earth, which was very odd to see in Indian person. The Australian people we had met, I should add that my sister and I went to international school so we knew some English and was ore fluent in English than my Mum and Dad so we translated and the would have to ask bus drivers, train, shops questions on behalf of our parents. The Australian people my Dad’s friends were just so lovely, they were so welcoming and were very eager to know of India and our culture.

One of the best things about the Australia culture is that it such an open culturally diverse country, so that’s definitely one of the beauties of Australia, the different cultures and races, just the multi-culturalism of Australia is just beautiful. The people here in Australia here in Australia are just so down to earth so open minded, they have some of the most caring hearts in this planets. Feeling welcomed to Australia was just exceptional. My family had no issues in feeling welcomed here, the government organisations that we were linked with helped us so much, and helped us from the bottom of their hearts not just as a job, which is sadly the sometimes the cases in India workers work just for money and for the title of their job, but here workers do it for the love of their job and the community. We didn’t experience any racism or negativity when adjusting to Australia. When we moved into our new house the neighbours were lovely and minded their own business where as in India there’s a lot of gossiping around neighbours and villages.

For my sister and I there wasn’t much problem in adjusting into Australian customs and cultures. For my Mum as she had lived in India all her life as a traditional Indian women, and she was used to the general Indian wife/mother duties, but the good thing about my parents, my Dad in particular he was very opened minded and understand that were now living in a new country with different laws, cultures and customs, so he was really calm and understanding with my Mum. My Mum was a little bit lost at first as the culture was just completely the other way round. My Dad had told her to let lose a bit and to not feel so guarded and that she wasn’t expected to live fully under the cultural ways of an Indian women, which is very different. Indian women are a lot more labelled as the house wife/mother that cooks, cleans and looks after the kids and house. India women don’t generally smoke and drink like men do especially in public spaces in India, in Australia women are smoking anywhere, drinking in bars etc., wearing less restricted clothing, so for my Mum it was a bit hard to fit in and get used to Australia. I remember she would wear a saree for most laces she went. She went to English class and her English was getting more fluent. Slowly you could see a big change in her whole persona. We would often get invited to our neighbours for dinner and I remember she would often wear saree’s, in her mind it was like a party or like a very fancy dinner so she would treat it like that and war a saree. Until she gradually started changing her clothes from saree’s to salwar’s which a very traditional Indian dress.

When going out my Mum would get me or my sister to translate, but as time passed she got more confident in her English and her style had turned more western her whole attitude turned from the cultural Indian Mum we were used to this a little bit in a way less strict cultural Mother. She was slowly starting to adjust and get used to the Australian way of life.

School was very different to India. It was cleaner, actually everything in Australia was cleaner, shops, trains, busses it was all so clean. The kids were very open minded for their age. They were so interested in who I was and where I was from. They were very nice and I made lots of friends easily. I think this is where I first encountered racism you know how kids can be very cruel at this age and tend to not have a filter. That was personally the only negativity I received in Australian society. As I got older though I did start to see a bit of racism and a bit of cultural implications as I was growing up as an Indian girl in Australia. My dress expectations were a bit hard as we I getting to that stage where girls start to change their looks and dress style. I still had the Indian respect but I didn’t know how to present myself, is it wrong for me to dress in the accepted outfits of tight skin skirts and dresses and shorts and go against my culture and traditions, or fit it and wear how I like. My parents were not strict on how dressed but they did except some level of Indian culture at other Indian events, parties or dinners. For me I found problems when I got to my teen and early adulthood stage as I was still figuring out who I am and where I fit in.

I still had my Indian customs and cultures and I would dress according to events, uni I would wear just casual clothes, shopping and going out with friends would be a mix of casual clothes and the occasional modest shorts and skirts. I figured I was worrying to much about my culture and how to act as an Indian woman forgetting I’m living in Australia. I worried too much on my attitudes and presenting myself as a cultural Indian woman, but for me it was not working as I was not being myself, and people around me could tell. I found when I didn’t worry about to much of my Indian culture and customs, well of course I would have to on some level but not to let it take over you. I think us Indians living in Australia we have a lot of exceptions of Indian customs and restrictions and we are living too much like we are in India in Australia. That’s the beauty of Australia it so open and free and you don’t have all these expectations to live by. Everyone is fair.

The advice I can give to fellow Indian or other nationalities moving to Australia is, by all means keep your culture and customs but do not go to bed with it. Be open to new things. I found asking lots of questions people wold love to answer and give me lots of advice and cool tips about the Australian way of life. Ask questions and take advantage of the many career opportunities rather than just centrelink. Most of the newly immigrated families and individuals that come her, come here for a better chance at life in many aspects that would not have a chance at in India or other countries. Australia is a chance and opportunity, it is not just a treat it is a privilege. Get out try new things. Enjoy the beautiful clean beaches, the beautiful environment. Meet new people of different parts of the world living in Australia. The Indian community in Australia is quite large, and there are many Indian meet up groups, where you can meet fellow Indians living in Australia. I am living in Brisbane and for any Brisbane readers that have just moved here not just Indians all nationalities, if you reside in Brisbane, chances are you’re or you’ve been linked in with MDA (Multi-Cultural Association), if you aren’t or haven’t been with them then I highly recommend them. They are fantastic and helped me and my family so much. They can help with accommodation, connecting with centrelink, they run courses like hospitality, which I completed through them, they run many free course options, counselling and they just help with general newly immigrated or if you haven’t got your visa yet they can help. They have many resources and that help people that have just come to Australia.

Don’t take your life here in Australia for granted, be grateful you live in such a well-developed safe country. Make the most of it. Study, focus on your career let the advantages of the Australian education and work force to achieve your goals in your career and life.

I am forever grateful for my Dad’s choice to immigrate here. Australia has given me so much hope and amazing times and memories. Moving to a different country can be scary and unpredictable. I can say us an Indian to other Indians please let go any worries about culture or customs in living in Australia. First of all of you want to live in Australia with your set hold Indian customs by all means do that, the great thing about Australia it is a multi-cultural country so here are millions of other nationalities living and a crap load of Indians. Most people don’t judge here so don’t be afraid to keep your long held Indian culture in how you act in society. To be honest no one pays attention and the majority don’t care. If you want to come here and live a bit differently than you do in India and you feel more comfortable with the Australian culture then be free. Just be yourself, and don’t worry about what other people think. Make the most of Australia and appreciate its culture and customs and respect and appreciate it as a country.