Memoirs!!

A small conversation with one of my friends triggered the thought of typing this blog. The conversation took me to my school days. I could recall everything except for the dreaded subjects, books and teachers. I could recall the small little silly things that almost all of us must have experienced at least once in our lives. I wonder how time has changed. The experiences that we have lived through will never be lived again by any other generation. Anyway, even my father says the same thing to me. It is absolutely true that every generation gets its own flavour. Things that my father had experienced may never be experienced by me and similarly what I experienced in the past will never come back to the next generation.

I remember how eagerly I used to wait for the evenings to arrive so that I could go out and play. It was an undisturbed routine that was followed religiously. We had local cricket matches and the best part was the collection of match fee that varied from Rs. 5 to Rs. 8 per person. The funds collected were used to buy a new ball. The local score card to the post match discussions, everything is simply unforgettable.

Flying kites was another activity that kept my mind and soul engaged. Be it a breezy evening or a scorching afternoon, the efforts and enthusiasm always stayed high. My father, on the occasion of the Indian Independence Day, August 15, used to take me to old Delhi to buy the best kites and threads available in the city. The market used to be full of kite wholesalers and the crowd used to be big. To retrace my memories, I went to the same place last year. I had a good time there. Though I roamed around all alone, still there was a lot to recall and rejoice. I returned with a few big kites. J J

Another fond memory is of our most awaited visits to India gate and children’s park…. Oh yes…They are worth recalling. The conveyance used to be my father’s Scooter…”Bajaj Chetak”…Buland Bharat ki Buland tasveer…Humara Bajaj…. Four of us (Ma, Papa, My sister and I) used to occupy every centimetre of the scooter. Well, I was always made to stand between the handle and front seat  L L. Chasing the soap bubbles, and running after the big balloons were the most enjoyable activities to us. Sounds produced by striking of the bottle opener against glass bottles by the local cold drink vendors could be heard everywhere. The mango bar from Ice cream thela used to be a treat in the end. By the way, if you remember, the Ice cream thela used to be on a three wheeler with flashy blue n green tube lights on them J J

Rains during the afternoon were heartily welcomed with big smiles. However if it continued to rain during the evening then….. Sab bhagwaan ji ki galti hai… J J Paper boats and paper airplane used to be a crafted talent in every child. These used to be the Dreamliner cruise and the best airways for us.

Those were the days when power cuts were accompanied with games like hide n seek. Summer breaks used to be fun even if the temperature outside kept  soaring high. That was a time when a new pair of school uniform was a reason good enough to take us to the school. That was a time when there used to be just clothes and not “Ghar ke kapde” or “Party ke Kapde”. A time when “Pilot” and “Doctor” were the only answers that a person could hear to the frequently asked question “Beta, what do you want to become once u have grown up”. I don’t remember when I applied oil to my hair last time. But there was a time when my hair was drenched in oil…”Parachute Coconut Hair Oil”. Preparation for any festival used to begin ten days in advance. That was a time when studies and school were part of our life unlike now when our life has become part of the professional world. Tensions used to be in the form of exams and “Parent teacher Meetings” unlike today when our word is surrounded with tensions. The ring of a telephone used to start a competition among siblings to reach out for the instrument. A cricket bat for boys and a doll for girls used to be the best gifts on birthdays. And yes there were no return gifts J.

They say time flies and recalling all these good old memories makes this saying stronger. Yes, Time truly flies, but it leaves behind some memories which are difficult to forget. Moreover, when memories are so beautiful you have no reason to forget them. When I close my eyes and recall all those moments, a smile always appears on my face. It gives me a feeling that I have been part of a very simple yet very exciting childhood. Those were the days that will be never lived again….the days of Grace…

A Genuine Smile!!

My dwelling is around 15kms from my workplace. I prefer travelling in a tram to cover this distance. I remember the distance between my home (Mayur Vihar) and office (Gurgaon) in India was around 34 kms and I used to travel by office bus. The bus used to be warm and cosy in winter mornings but in summers it was hot and sweaty. But climatic conditions never prevented me from taking a good forty minutes nap in the bus. It was part of my routine to sleep in the bus every day.  After coming to Melbourne I found my habits changing. Ideally, they were bound to change. The total time to reach office came down to 40 minutes. Moreover, the bus was replaced by a tram. Apart from this, there was another thing that always made me stay awake. Obviously, it was the crowd entering the tram at each station….especially the female crowd. The beauty of females here lies in the fact that usually they don’t take a shower in the morning. Well that doesn’t mean they stink around. They generally wear make-up and perfume that will simply blow your mind. The presence of males usually goes unnoticed by me. By the way, why should I bother about males? The best part about Australians is that they believe in exchanging smiles at all times. Be it at the tram door, work area, office kitchen, restaurants, parks, roads etc. It feels good to start a day with beautiful smiles.

The exchange of smiles and glares continued for some time. It made me realize how happy and satisfied people here are.  With such feelings and thoughts I was travelling in the tram on a certain Friday. The trip kick started on a good note since I boarded the tram at the right time. I could find a lot of familiar faces in the tram. As usual I chose to sit on the second last seat since that is the place which helps me see maximum number of travelers in the tram. The music I was listening to was light and the weather was good. I was enjoying the trip until I saw a girl sitting and crying on the seat next to mine.  She was upset about something. I could not tdivert my attention from the girl; however I made sure that she did not notice me watching her continuously. The girl kept crying till I got down from the tram. No one, including the people who used to talk to her, in the jam packed tram was bothered. It felt like I was sitting amongst mannequins in a showroom. I could feel a sense of ignorance. The reason behind the girl’s tears is still a mystery to me. But I still wonder why was she crying in a place that I thought was full of smiles and happiness.

There was another incident that made me exert my grey cells. I was going back home from the city on a weekend when I saw a lady sitting & crying in a corner of a train. She was wearing a jacket with “MetLink” embroidered on it. I could make out that she was from the public transport department. She got down at a major station and entered a signal room situated on the same platform. It  was apparent that she was going to work in the evening shift. I could not understand why she was crying like a child and that too while going to work. I have only seen kids crying on their first day to school but adults crying on their way to office was a novelty to me.

Well, a couple of people crying do not necessarily portray the prosperity of a nation. But for a person like me, who had already concluded on the happiness of the people around, it was a bit difficult to swallow what I had seen. Different situations give different outlooks to an observation. The smiles, perfumes and make-up were no longer under my set of observations. I changed the way I used to observe things around me. I talked to many people. I started with the place I was staying. My landlady, about fifty years old, had been the occupant of the house that we stayed in for the past ten years. I asked her about her parents and family and how often she called them or met them. I asked her what she did the whole day and what her schedule was on weekends. Unfortunately, the answer to all my questions was not as expected by me. The fact that Australian culture is different from Indian was always known to me but it was then that I started realizing the extent of disparity. In fact Australian culture is totally opposite of Indian culture. To my surprise my landlady visited her parents only once in a year. That was enough for her to keep the strings of relationship alive between her and her family.  Her parents were divorced and she preferred visiting her mother. When in Melbourne she preferred staying at home most of the times.  She spent most of her time surfing the internet and alcohol was part of her routine diet. She was single and said that she did not find the right person to spend her life with. I found this somewhat correct. If you have not found the right person then probably it is not advisable to force yourself into getting married. This is quite in contrast to our country where a girl crossing the age of 25 becomes a reason for depression of her parents. However, her schedule sounded dull to me. Probably I would never follow such a schedule. But then her lifestyle could be attributed to her age.

Sometime later, a few people from my office and I decided to take a walk in a park outside our office. We were sitting on a bench and having a good time together when an old lady approached us and said “You people look so happy, are you all from India?” I was surprised. I didn’t have the answer to the first part of her question but I did have an answer to the second part of her question. “Of course, we all are from India” I said. She blessed us and we continued with our conversation. The lady must have been an octogenarian. Even though we continued talking, my mind was still fighting with the words the lady said. Was she not happy or is it that she rarely sees such a group chit chatting with each other.

Pets are a favourite with almost all the people in Australia. Actually, Australia is a pet friendly nation. You’ll find different breeds of dogs with different hair styles on the street. Just like individuals, the pets here are highly civilized. In the past seven months of my stay in Australia I have never seen a dog barking unnecessarily. They usually loiter around their masters in the most disciplined manner. Initially I thought that keeping pets at home was a general trend here. However, later I realized that the reason for keeping pets was different. Actually pets are the best replacement for humans here. This thought surprised me thoroughly. Nonetheless, it is true. Children mostly stay with their parents for a limited years. Once adults, they believe in settling down independently. Kids above 16 years of age work part time to earn money and fulfill their expenses. However, on getting a permanent opportunity they simply move to a new place away from their parents. Hence the scenario wherein children and their parents are staying in the same city but in different houses is very common. Ultimately, the parents who are left alone raise pets to make up for their loneliness. Similarly children, after settling in their career, if not staying with partners, raise pets to avoid loneliness. However both, children and their parents, fail to understand the fact that they can stay together and help each other. Pets are just like human beings when it comes to affection but they are also very different from humans in that they do not have demands and complaints in spite of their affection. They neither instruct you nor advise you with regard to anything. I learnt that probably the demands and complaints of human beings deter them from staying together.

 

Few days back I saw a happy looking couple eating their lunch in a restaurant and their own kid crying in a pram parked next to them. A similar scenario in India would have been dealt differently. The mother would have never eaten her food until the baby stopped crying. I agree that a little ignorance at times may lead to better upbringing of a child. However, if ignored completely, the same child starts becoming emotionally blank after some time. In Australia, the amount of care and love that a child receives is precise and calculated. The parents make sure that the child does not get over pampered. On the other hand, Australia is a country where even kids have been protected by law and order. Parents are not allowed to hit their children. This is actually good and worth appreciating. But then, unfortunately, the law does not restrict the child from speaking rubbish in front of his parents. Children here use statements like “Do whatever you want to, I don’t care” for their parents. At instances they even abuse their parents on their face. I feel that such kind of an environment takes away all the emotions from the parent child relationship. I discussed this scenario with one of my philosopher friends here in Melbourne. He associated this with the growth and development of the nation. As per his understanding, a strong emotional bond between two individuals can hamper the growth in their careers. For example a kid closer to his family may never go out and work in some other state even though he gets a better opportunity there. Hence for them it is very important not to get emotionally attached to anyone. The explanation of the philosopher always forced me to think and re think on his opinion. Is it actually necessary to bury emotions just for the sake of growth and prosperity? Are those people who are emotionally attached to their families incapable of prosperity or of staying independently when need be?  Mothers here are no different from the ones we have in our nation. They always want to raise their kids in the best possible manner. However, the only difference is that with the growing age of the child, the emotional bond between the mother and the child starts decreasing and I still cannot figure out the reason for this. It may be that the affection of parents stays the same for their kids but somehow they make themselves understand the fact that in return they cannot expect anything from their kids.

After capturing so many thoughts through different instances, my outlook totally changed towards the people here. I started believing that they are actually a bunch of objects who just know how to pretend happiness. Right from the beginning they are taught to be good and to fake smiles. In reality, they are simply blank from inside. I realized that having no bonds with family just drains the energy out of you. I realized that having no respect for relationships leads to lack of emotions in an individual. People here believe in staying with their partners just because of the fact that they don’t want to take responsibilities that a marriage may impose on them.

In my country children are raised with utmost love and affection. A child always remains the responsibility of his/ her mother till she departs from the world. Fathers are always the pillar of the family. I feel proud when I think about our culture. Each time I go back home, the love and affection I receive from my family is incomparable. Majority of people here do not know the real meaning of happiness. They are just artificially raised and nurtured. They can never understand the warmth of a mother’s hand when it passes through her child’s hair. They can never understand the importance of a hug that you receive from your father on meeting him after months. They can never understand the importance of a sister’s love when she keeps calling and bothering you with her stupid questions. Prosperity actually comprises of such values and affection. For them it is just growth and development. For them it is just about their own life. Rest is all immaterial. If I now look at any person in the tram, all I notice is a blank face with no expressions. The smiles I receive now show me the underlying emptiness in an individual. We are not pre-programmed devices. We are human beings who create their own set of rules on the sands of time.

It is now that I have realized that my nation has  this unique culture which nurtures in us a sense of emotional bonding and responsibility and this sets us apart from all other cultures. No matter what people from the outside world say, we inculcate the feeling of belonging amongst individuals. Yes we talk too much but then that is either to discuss sorrows or to spread joy. They may call us interfering but that interference is unconditional and purely for each other. We may not be developing at a fast rate but all I am sure about is that we are growing with the culture we have been born and raised in. No matter how high and how far we go in the future, a blend of modernity, respect and values will always stay embedded in us. I still take the same trams and walk on the same roads with a smile that is actually genuine because I was never taught to smile, I just inherited it from my culture.

Dancing Dollars!!!!

It’s been quite some time since I have landed in Melbourne. Things have been good and bad for me since the time I have been staying here. This city is full of colours and has a different outlook towards life. People work diligently on weekdays and enjoy their life n space on weekends. Australia is famous for mainly two things, beer and sports. In Australia, consumption of beer is more than that of water. Similarly the love for sports is more than that for studies. I doubt if Australia has given birth to any intellects. But yes, I have heard and seen innumerable sportsmen originating from the Aussie land. The city is very well organized and holds place for everyone be it Australians themselves or people of other nationalities. Yes, Australia is the home for numerous people of different nationalities. Some of them have now permanently settled while others are trying their best to get settled in Australia. When I say “trying their best” here, I simply refer to the efforts that are required to get a permanent residency in this country. The norms/criteria to get a PR are made more tough each year by the government of Australia. But then, this has not demotivated applicants from trying their luck. The department of immigration still receives thousands of application for Permanent residency every day.  I was surprised when I was informed by a clerk in the immigration department that the majority of people applying for permanent residency in Australia are from India. This ignited in me a curiosity to analyse the reason for such a trend. Going ahead, I will prefer addressing Indians willing to settle in Australia as Desi Aussies. I believe that the word ‘Indian’ suits well to people staying back home in India. And to the best of my opinion, I cannot compare the people back home with the ones I am going to discuss.

Indians living in Australia can be broadly classified into two categories.

1)      Those who came here to study and later settled here.

2)      Those who are here from Indian IT companies and trying hard to get a PR.

I would prefer discussing about both the categories one by one. Let me take up the first category of Desi Aussies. They are the ones who started migrating into Australia from mid 90’s. Mainly they landed here on study visa since that is the easiest way to step into this country. Under the Australian education system, the universities here offer a variety of courses. To be honest, most of them are similar to what Delhi University offers to its students. Well, the placements here are depressing for international students. Reason being, the companies coming for placements asks for a PR. Now considering the difference in currency, there is a hefty loan amount that has to be repaid by our Desi Aussies. In order to repay the hefty loans, they take up part time jobs and work day and night. Most of them work in retail stores or cleaning department of different organizations. At places which are posh and big, you’ll find them cleaning the toilets. I saw this scenario in a casino named “Crown”. Crown is one of the places I visited within a few days of my arrival in Melbourne. Those were the days when I used to feel happy to see Indians around. So before entering the mammoth casino I was expecting to see a lot of Indians working there as waiters, bar tenders etc. However, after entering the building, to my surprise, I did not find a single Indian on the floor. It was a bit surprising for me. I got the answer to my question later when I entered the washroom there. The cleaning staff of the largest casino in the southern hemisphere is comprised majorly of Indians. They looked at me and then turned their heads with a weird look on their face as if a ‘Harijan’ had entered into the kitchen of ‘Brahmins’.

The last line of the previous paragraph reminds me of a very peculiar quality of Desi Aussies and that is the ability to smartly ignore their fellow citizens. I don’t know about any other country, but in Australia, a stranger walking on the road will certainly acknowledge your presence with a smile. But our very own Desi Aussies believe in ignoring you no matter how hard you try to acknowledge their presence. I am still not clear what make them do this. Do they actually fear being recognized by a fellow Indian or else do they want to convey a message that please don’t look at me like this as I am not an Indian. Truly speaking, hats off to our Desi Aussies.

I made a short trip back home in February on the occasion of my sister’s wedding. I met a Desi Aussie from Punjab at the Tullamarine International Airport in Melbourne. With her behaviour I could make out that she was not used to Air travel. But then I wondered how she managed to reach Melbourne if she was not used to travelling by air. After chit chatting with her for some time I came to know that the last time she travelled by air was some five years ago which was from Delhi to Melbourne. This was her first trip back home after five years. She mentioned honestly that earlier she didn’t have money to go back home. Now that she has been earning for quite some time, she decided to visit her parents in India. I asked about her qualifications and nature of job. The answer was short and simple. She was a graduate in environmental science from some medium grade university in Melbourne and was a contract cleaner at the AFP (Australian Federal police). I liked the fact that she was bold enough to explain her profile. She told me that there are a lot of students who quote fake job profiles in front of their family members. I can understand how an Indian may feel explaining to his/her people who emphasize so much on obtaining white-collar jobs, that he/she has been cleaning toilets or wiping floors for all these years. Later, I realised that she sounded a bit hesitant in talking to the airhostess and flight stewards. This could have been due to lack of confidence. I wondered how she managed to live in a developed nation for all these years. Our conversation further revealed another quality of Desi Aussies. The girl told me that she has been staying together with her boyfriend, her sister and her sister’s husband. It took two minutes for me to understand the web of lie that may have spun around this reply. But then my senses provoked me to realize the fact that Desi Aussies are now ok with live in relationships. They do not feel hesitant in trying the “key features” of a foreign culture. Unfortunately they don’t believe in acquiring the other features of the same culture that can surely help them grow as a person. Later I asked her if she would prefer going back to India. The reply was instant and genuine and I need not type it here because I know the reader is smart enough to understand it.

One Friday, after playing cricket for a couple of hours I returned home late in the evening. To my surprise I saw an Indian sitting in the lawn gossiping with my landlady. I was quite curious to know who the gentleman was. My landlady introduced him to me. I made myself comfortable on a seat opposite to him. The conversation started. He asked me how comfortable I was in Melbourne. I replied back saying that it was just another city for me. He asked me about my job profile and my family. I asked him about his native place in India. He told me that he was from Kolkata and came to Melbourne four years back. I asked him if he was planning to settle in Melbourne. His reply was “Dude, I have a PR here”. This made me realize that the person sitting next to me is a Desi Aussie and not an Indian. I asked him about his job profile. Though he tried his best to portray his profile as the best in the country, I was smart enough to conclude that his job was to simply install software on the client’s computer. He then started blabbering about his cousins and relatives who were settled abroad in different parts of the globe. In between I learnt that his parents were staying all alone in Kolkata after their children decided to settle abroad.

Another interesting story goes along like this. A school friend of mine came to Australia a few years ago. He has been staying here since almost four years now. Some time back he visited his family in India and to my surprise was unable to adjust to the environment. That very environment in which he was born and brought up. This was the environment in which he had spent 24 years of his life. As far as I remember, he returned back to Australia quickly. I called him up some time back to know how he was doing. I thought of meeting him once after so many years. The phone conversation that we had that day changed my opinion of meeting him. In the whole conversation he was advising me to get settled in Australia permanently. He even advised me to get married to an Australian girl so that the process of acquiring Australian citizenship gets easier for me. I thanked him for all the concern and wished him luck. After a few days I saw his marriage photographs on FaceBook. The girl, as expected, was an Australian citizen and her father had a transport business. It was truly a healthy and wealthy family. To be honest, the weight of the girl must have been thrice that of my friend’s. It was clearly visible that this marriage had a purpose to serve. How it will continue is something even I cannot predict. However one thing I am clear about is that according to Australian law for marriages (specially in the case mentioned above), if an individual is found guilty of cheating another individual through means of marriage then the accused individual gets screwed for the rest of his/her life. I just pray that he stays loyal to his beloved wife throughout his life.

It seems I have discussed a lot about the first category of Desis staying here in Australia. This must have given a fair idea about the level of thinking of an individual settled here. Let me now switch over to the second category. People belonging to this category are closer to me and hence this gave me a better opportunity to explore the depth of their thoughts.

The IT industry has flourished a lot in the past few years in India. The credit mainly goes to all the organizations abroad that outsource most of their work to Indian IT companies. There are a few valid reasons for outsourcing. Firstly, the cost incurred on these companies from outsourcing is always less. Indians are flexible enough to work during the day and night. Lastly, though I am not 100% convinced with this point, India produces better software consultants than any other country. I guess India produces a higher number of software engineers than any other country. I am glad that this sector has provided employment to a lot many people in India. As per my personal observation, the USP of IT industry is the “Onsite’ opportunity that it gives to its employees. To make it more clear, Onsite is a term used to indicate workplace at the client/customer’s office. An onsite can be domestic (in case of domestic clients) i.e. within India and can be abroad (in case of international clients). As a matter of fact, my stay in Melbourne falls under an Onsite opportunity that was offered to me last year. Every individual working in this industry dreams about going abroad to earn big money in a short span of time. The length of duration at onsite is never fixed and varies with the requirement and offcourse with the mood of the client.

I have a team of around thirty five people from my company working here in the client’s office. By God’s grace, all of them except a couple are married and living a happy life. When I met my team for the first time, I had a different perspective towards each one of them. However, after spending few days together I realized that they are a completely different set of people. I have worked in different parts of India. I have been to Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Delhi (NCR) and Mumbai. I have always enjoyed my stay in each city. But in Melbourne I found things different. People were more concerned about the exchange rate of Australian dollar. In spite of staying in Australia for more than a year everyone had a desire to grab as much money as possible. However, to do so, they compromised on the basic needs and a few desires. They always tried to suppress their desires so as to save money. To some extent I agree with the approach they followed. After all, money is an essential requirement in life. However saving money by cutting down basic facilities always results in misery. I have seen people, especially the singles, hogging on bread and butter during lunch. I am sure they must be consuming the same in dinner as well. According to them food is not good here. The ones belonging to the fraternity of non bachelors  get their lunch packed by their dear wives. It is good to get food from home but occasionally when your wife fails to cook something in the morning, a person should be flexible enough to go out and eat. But unfortunately my fellow team mates believe in hogging over other people’s lunch boxes or else they believe is getting bread omelette from home as it takes less time to prepare. The best part of the story is that all of them go together to the office kitchen area for lunch. It is actually worth appreciating as this proves unity among desi Aussies. It is good to see all the chairs occupied by our very own Desi Aussies. The next best thing to view is the way they share their food. A few enthusiasts don’t hesitate in literally jumping over other people’s lunch box. The scene looks funny and embarrassing at the same moment.

I remember a small incident that happened in my office few days back. The Desi Aussies went to the kitchen area for lunch as usual. There was pin drop silence in the main work area since all the desis were busy in the kitchen area. Call it my rudeness or selfishness but I prefer eating my lunch alone or with a single person only. Most of the times I go down to a restaurant for lunch as the idea of surviving on bread and butter does not fascinate me much. After the grand lunch all the Desi Aussies came back to their seats. I could make out that one of them wore an expression of disgust on his face. I didn’t bother and kept myself focused on work. The next moment there was a loud noisy altercation between the person with the disgusted look and another Desi Aussie. My focus automatically shifted from my work to the quarrel between the two people. In a few minutes I realized that the guy with the disgusted look on his face was arguing with another guy for eating his one complete chapatti. The whole scene was a source of entertainment for the client who was giggling on this unethical behaviour of my colleagues. I tried to suppress the conversation but the two people were simply out of their senses. I simply preferred to walk out of that area. I wondered how could routine sharing of food turn into such a big heated argument. I thank God that the other guy did not go to the extent of offering the other person a slice of bread in replacement of his chapatti. That would have deteriorated the situation.

Parents are always happy when they see their children happy and satisfied. They do whatever they can to keep their children happy. I started believing in these lines more when I landed here and saw a few little things happening around. I noticed a general trend here which was that the Desi Aussies prefer to have their babies born here. The credit goes to the Australian government. According to the law in Australia, a baby born here can claim his/her citizenship when he/she turns 18. So a little bit of hard work overseas can award a kid with a citizenship of Australia. I guess it is much easier in US where a child born in any part of US is granted a US citizenship instantaneously. Anyway, for Desi Aussies, a wait for 18 years is not that much considering the benefits in later stages. Moreover, another important aspect of having a baby in Australia is that the government grants an aid of AUD 5000 to the baby’s parents. This money is granted if the parents are not earning well and in a country like Australia it is rarest or rare cases when a person doesn’t earn well. But our sweet Desi Indians prefer filing an application for this amount. For them anything in dollars is fine, be it one dollar or five thousand dollars. To make their case look more genuine, they maintain a very low account balance in their respective banks.

My colleague was blessed with a baby girl some time back. I felt happy for him and congratulated him for the big news. After a few days, I saw him showing a piece of paper to everyone on the floor. I got really curious to see the content of that paper. I though the guy got promoted or got a salary hike. To my surprise the sheet of paper was the birth certificate of his newly born baby. I thought he was so happy because after all it was the birth certificate of his first child. But then he himself told me the reason for his excitement. The reason was that he considered this as an achievement that his daughter was born here in Australia. Actually he was showing the watermark of Australian map on the birth certificate to the people around. He was happy that after turning 18, his daughter would become eligible to claim her Australian citizenship. There was another reality associated with this story. The same guy called his mother to Australia. The reason was obvious. His mother was called here to take care of his new born baby and his wife. So the sole purpose of calling his mother to Australia was to have a nurse who could take care of his wife n daughter. I just thought what difference has he maintained between his mother and a nurse. He did not take his mother to any place in and around Melbourne. He just took her to a couple of local places around. Most of them were free to access. Later I came to know that another colleague did the same thing i.e. called his mother when his wife was expecting and later sent her back home. These incidents made me realize that parental love is truly unconditional. They are always there whenever their children need them. Mothers, who have not travelled by air throughout their lives agrees to fly miles across the ocean to take care of her children. She knows the kind of difficulties that she may have to face, yet, the thought that her children needs her help gives her enough courage to take this challenge. On the other hand, children fail to understand the magnitude of help they receive from their parents. Fathers......They are never invited because according to their children they would be of no use. They’ll just add to the count of members and expense.

The craze of dollar has completely occupied the mind of Desi Aussies. They believe in pocketing each and every dollar coming their way. A good example lies in the fact that most of them have not visited their home in India since years. This is so because it takes a lot of money and time to go back and visit their parents. However, if the tickets are sponsored, time can be managed. People settled here consider India as a gutter. They think that we’ll never develop as a nation. They have innumerable reasons for not staying in India. However, each one of them believes in investing in India be it in property or in shares. Indian market has always fascinated them when it comes to investment. They still look out for the dollar exchange rate on internet. They still pray whole heartedly for a stronger dollar against the Indian Rupee.

What is it that has made them like this? Is it that they have over understood the importance of money or is it that they have over understood the importance of relationships? Why is it that only Indians were beaten up in Australia few years back? The population of Australia consist of people from different nationalities. Then why is it that only Indians were beaten up among all other students? There must have been an underlying truth beneath this which was apparently hidden from the rest of the world. When a person is given more freedom than he/she actually deserves then it either results in a remarkable utilization of that independence or else in a big disaster like the one I have stated above. I have been a citizen of India by birth and standing at any position I can blindly say that we are not like them. We are a group of happy and smiling faces who know how to respect others. We are a group of lively people who know the meaning of relationships. If my belief is true then I believe no one has the right to portray a false image of Indians abroad. It is alright that we do not have the cleanest of roads available. It is alright that we still have problems with basic facilities like power and water. It is alright that caste system still exists in our system. But these are our problems and I believe we are fighting well with it. The face of our nation is changing with every passing year. We have the best of resources and brains available and we’ll be there where others think we’ll never reach because we have not learnt to run away from our own problems. We have not learnt to go and hide on other people’s land when our own nation needs us.