My 25 years in Australia

Today, I will complete 25 years in Australia.

For movie buffs, if anyone remembers, Peter O'Toole’s (Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, 1962) line to Omar Sharif (Sherif Ali), “Nothing is written”; I believe completely the opposite. Everything is written, was written and will continue to be written. I was a late comer to this belief but my 25 years in Australia has lifted that belief to the next level.

In 1985, as a kid I remember following my elder brother to a neighbor's house at 4 am in the morning to watch men in coloured clothes play a game under floodlights. As names like Benson & Hedges World Championship, Kerry Packer and Nine (Channel 9) did the rounds I was mightily impressed by the game and the whole set up behind it. I discovered, the game was Cricket, and the host country was Australia and the city hosting it was Melbourne. Simultaneously at school, I came across that strange southern land which had flora and fauna like no other. Animals like Kangaroos, Koalas and Platypus; trees like eucalyptus intrigued me. Then again, in 1987, that strange southern land had a Davis Cup semi-final with India. India defeated Australia and that brought back memories of 1985 when India had won the Benson & Hedges World Cricket Championship. At that young age, I didn’t have the license to be dismissive or even forgetful as there was no sense of identity. Life was just something or at best cruising! Thus, then I had no idea that one day I will stumble upon Australia and that too Melbourne??.

And stumble upon I did, in 1999 at 9:30 PM on 14th of July to be precise. From that hour a journey began and along this journey I met people who led, inspired and influenced me.

Thanks to my friends, Rajiv Pandey ,Manish Raghuvanshi, Amitabh Chauhan and Rajat Babbar who allowed me into their home on that deep dark cold night of 14th July 1999.

Paul Smyth (In Remembrance), thanks for giving me an opportunity to work at Applied Solutions. I will always remember your kindness and generosity. That $2,500 scholarship and work visa (converting from a student visa) was a miracle for people like me in those days.

Akiva Quinn , Sanjiv Singh and J. Matthew Pryor (popularly JMP or Steve Jobs of Australia??), thanks for the on and off roles at Versata . Dallas Newton & David Smart , thanks for trusting me at Independent Systems Integrators Limited . It was a strange period of life: I went from Versata to ISI, then to Versata, and then back to ISI. It looks like, I was in demand.

Thanks, Jamie Duffield for offering me that short contract at Revolution IT in 2005. Indebted always to be one of the earliest employees of a great organization that you built.

Louise Pretty , thanks for hiring me at the old "original" Alinta and helping me gain a foothold in the Australian energy industry. What started at Alinta continues to this day and without your early guidance and support, this wouldn’t have been possible.

Ian Brooksbank , thanks for that interview in 2009 when you plucked me out of AGL’s retail business and within 20 minutes decided to offer me a role in Merchant Finance. You are amongst those few people who I will remember for their kindness and relaxed leadership style whilst empowering staff. Thanks to you Gary Gavin for sucking me into the world of wholesale energy risk management and guiding me through a great time of my career at AGL. Thanks to you Jason Clark and Michael Fahey for the times you led me on various projects and opportunities. While at AGL , I was lucky to observe and work with the doyens of the modern Australian Energy Industry: Brett Redman (my one up boss), Jeff Dimery , Anthony F. , Richard Wrightson and Damien Nicks . Even though my connection with senior executives was fleeting and transactional, in my own way I gained critical lessons from each one of these connections. The AGL experience to date has been the best and most rewarding time of my professional career.

Post my Red Energy/Snowy Hydro days (breeze of a time??), indebted to you James Dunstan for hiring me at SUPA: Smart Urban Properties Australia . Louisa Kinnear and Rebecca Tilbrook , it was great working with you at Jacana Energy . A short but powerful time of my career that I enjoyed so much. Great people and a great organization to work for!!

Finally, 2024, thanks to Sanjay Khushalani and David Hayes for giving me an opportunity to work at the Next Green Group . ?Sanjay: great to be part of your team as you teach me the “tricks of the trade in trading”.

While I worked through a “bread, jam and butter” career, I aspired to be a writer and ended up publishing 2 of my works. Thanks, Nidhi Dutt for covering my first book (The Migrant – A Biography-

on the Australian Network/ABC. Thank you, Mary-Jo O'Rourke AE for the wonderful editing of my second book, The Astrologer’s Curse

. Dmetri Kakmi, thanks for editing the City of Silk. Sadly, it is still unpublished, but probably destiny has saved the best for last??.

From 2015, I got a soul satisfying opportunity to work with various NFP by serving on their Boards and committees. Major ones include Interchange Western (ICW), Palliative Care Victoria (PCV), Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF) , Travellers Aid Australia (TAA) and Yarra Energy Foundation (YEF). Maria Govers , thank you for getting me on to the ICW Board. Michael Corry , Odette Waanders GAICD, MBA and Dr Barbara Hayes, thanks for giving me the opportunity to serve PCV. Sandy Bell & Peter Gluskie , thanks for recruiting me to TAA. David Anstee , Mel Cutler and Melinda Scaringi (hope I am not missing someone from the interview panel), will always be indebted to you for hiring me at YEF. Michael Green , thanks for introducing me to YEF.

Richard Elstone, MAICD and Gavin McDonald , thanks for helping me out at various times throughout my 25 years in Australia.? Both of you are a rare pedigree of recruiters who care about the candidate. More power to both of you!!

As I bask in the glory of the 25 years gone by, an incredible unplanned one that too; I look forward to meeting more people, working with more organizations and serving the Australian community. So, what next: Ha, ha…perhaps more of the same. Live, Live, Live and Repeat…

It's just the start of a new journey.

Remember, everything was chosen for you (and by you). You just have to accept it! Everything is written. Follow the script and the drama will unfold.