Turning 50 - Essay 1

Series of Essays - Narrated by Hemant Gokhale & Written by Binda Gokhale

Essay No 1.

2020 is turning out to be an extraordinary year – this is an understatement.  Whilst we reluctantly accept the annual cycle of fires and floods, a pandemic on such a global scale was not necessarily within out sights. Whether we should have seen it coming, did we take appropriate actions and will we learn and be a better society as a result are topics that will continue to be debated in the future… without consensus.  Our future generations however, I expect will judge us harshly.  We too, when we have the time to reflect may shake our heads in despair at the circumstances we find ourselves in.

2020 for me holds a particularly special place – it marks my 50th year in Australia.  A land which welcomed, challenged and one which has supported me in the wellbeing of my family.  To mark this occasion, I have been encouraged by the assistance of my daughter to document my experiences and reflections through a series of essays.  This is the first in the series. 

What I have presented is not intended to be an academic thesis of any sort.  It is personal.  It is based on my recollections and perceptions of the environment around me. Many of the opinion expressed will be reflective of Australian life as I have experienced it, within my knowledge base and in the context of my ambitions, expectations and aspirations for us as a family and as a collective society. It is personal.

I arrived in 1970, by myself with a suitcase and a letter inviting me for an interview. It was a difficult decision but one I took out of necessity.  I had left India previously in 1965 for Germany so the international experience was not new – however, unlikely Germany from which I had always intended to return to India, this was a more permanent move and my heart remains conflicted even to this date.

The dairy industry attracted me greatly and my letter of interview was with Murray Goulburn in a small town in regional Victoria called Rochester – main town population I recall around 2000…2001 when I arrived…soon to be around 2004 once my family arrived six months later.

As they say, things come in threes.  As I took off from the Bombay airport, there are three things I recall as front most in my mind.  The image of my mother standing on the doorsteps of our house, waving me goodbye.  Her words resonate even today ‘off you go, I may not get to see you again, but live a happy life’.  Our eyes met through both her tears and mine.  International travel was still so rare and Australia was such a new land, indeed I wondered if we would meet again.  

I though of my children.  My daughter, this would be the second time I was travelling abroad leaving her behind.  We had left her with my mother when we had travelled to Germany for what would end up being a period of two years.  I had missed a large part of her childhood – something she still reminds me of today. But the times were different and as I tell her now, I made the best decision I could with everything I knew at that time.  This time, however, I had promised that we would be apart only for a short period of time.  I was also leaving behind my newborn son, only 4mths old.  

And there was Anuradha (Shubhada), my wife, the constant in my life, who has always provided me the luxury of taking her support for granted.  Anuradha had travelled alone to join me in Germany a few years earlier.  At the age of 21, never having travelled outside Mumbai on her own, not speaking either English or German, she had travelled on a plane on her own to join me in Germany.  And now again, I watched her standing strong, two small children by her side, waving goodbye, waiting for me to settle enough in Australia to be able to afford 3 airfares.  I am indeed blessed.

Landing at Melbourne airport, I remember thinking how small it was, but there was not the time to look around at all as I was required to travel straight to my interview.  

Was I nervous?...Very.  I only had three pound equivalent in my pocket and the concept of Plan B did not exist in my mind.  

It was a tough beginning. The White Australia policy had not yet been definitively renounced so migrants of color were rare – particularly in regional Victoria which was predominantly based on farming and agriculture. I was not a business migrant, nor one on a study scholarship so job security was primary in my mind. Workplace norms were incredibly different and the support of industrial laws as they exist today had not yet formed. But get the job I did and embarked on the immediate task of saving enough so that my family could join me and together we could call Australia our home. 

Why do people migrate? How many do it out of the necessity of living vs wanting more.  What drive countries to seek migration?  What is the collective responsibility that both migrants and host nations have to ensure migration works?  How do we succeed as a multicultural society and retain our identity?  How do we reconcile with our indigenous cultures? What is our identity as a nation? 

These questions have always resonated strongly with me throughout my years in Australia. Our population has grown, our economic well being has flourished in relative terms and technology has allowed us to connect in ways never before imagined.  However, some things have not changed.

I felt a sense of isolation when I first arrived.  50 yrs on, COVID-19 has forced an environment of isolation for us all.  Reconciliation remains in the realms of the dreaming. Multiculturalism continues to be questioned.  The fight for equity and equality continues.  

We ponder about the ‘new normal’, about reimaging a brighter future where we care, share and connect with our environment.  We continue to aspire towards a better quality of life. 

However, I am mindful that we can either learn from history and drive change or we can let history repeat itself.  We have some way to go yet in this current pandemic – lots of time for thought and reflection.  

So for the time being, let me say, Stay at Home, Stay Safe, we are indeed All in this Together.