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What it's like being an Indian in Canada, working with immigrants to settle in

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Peeyush Agnihotri
Peeyush AgnihotriApr 28, 2017 | 15:14

What it's like being an Indian in Canada, working with immigrants to settle in

The only point of intersection between my previous job as a journalist in India and the present one in Canada as a facilitator helping immigrants settle is that in both cases the need of the community has driven the outcomes. Speaking lightly, I have literally been in the middle of something "new" every day — addressing the want of "new"comers in the present position and writing for a 'new'spaper in the previous one.

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On a more serious note though, what I like best about the present job is that after being guided, advised and mentored, "thank you" and gratitude, in unstructured accented English — that emanate from these fresh-off-the-plane — are palpably genuine. They come straight from the heart. No dismissive "appreciate it" from them.

Landing in a new country is like rebooting one's life. An immigrant doesn't quite know where to start. Witnessing newcomers trying to develop roots afresh is truly a life-changing experience. To be an immigrant in a country that is culturally, linguistically and geographically diverse, can be an unequal mix of awe, excitement and intimidation. Recreating and redefining can be quite a task. The whole thought process towards life, belief and value system undergoes a sea change.

Being raised as a "majority" in one's home country, an immigrant may become an inconsequential minority on foreign soil, thereby losing the sense of entitlement that he or she grew up with. This also makes immigrants connect closely with the injustices that minorities around the world face.

For example, those communal slurs that took place very recently on the Delhi Metro, where an elderly couple of a particular religion was asked to go to Pakistan. Try explaining this to immigrants who already face backlash in Western countries because of the colour of their skin and diverse looks.

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The Western world doesn't know the differences among religions, races and ethnicities around the world. For it, one is either a gora or an "alien". Yes, alien. That's the word that department of homeland securities uses for all non-Americans.

An eye-opener

Being an immigrant can be a humbling as well as a learning experience. Stepping on foreign soil can be an eye-opener and makes a person appreciative about dignity of labor. An immigrant also realises that no job is good or bad so long as it keeps the home and the hearth warm. The job search starts right from the day a person puts one's foot down on foreign soil. He or she then wades through a pile of recruitment notices only to be turned back because one doesn't have the all-so-important "western experience" and the much-sought after "soft skills".

The bills pile up, meanwhile. To address those, an immigrant takes up what is called "survival job" in local parlance, even as the search for a job that more matches his/her core and transferrable skills continues. To add to the woes, societal discrimination comes into play.

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How do you rationalise the assault on Nigerians and Kenyans in India labelling them 'drug dealers' with the single stroke of brush? Photo: Reuters

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One's thoughts then go back to how we treat domestic help in India and what social hierarchy we place them on. Also, reflective minds do stop, pause and think hard about Indian provinces like Maharashtra, where Bangladeshi and Nepalese job-seekers are beaten black and blue just because jobs are being snatched from the natives of the soil. Try justifying it in perspective.

The value of such jobs and the hypocrisy surrounding Indian food habits is visible in front of the odd burger chain during lunch hour, when the line-up of South Asians, irrespective of the caste they belong to, says it all. There is no need for me to elaborate on this. Just for the record, some farms in Canada specifically raise Indian Ongole and Zebu bulls for quality beef, of which some burgers are made.

But let's briefly reflect on the workers in the meat factories and fast food joints, who are from all cultures and faiths, including the ones to which cow vigilantes belong to. I have never heard an immigrant worker, on a survival job abroad, giving up his source of livelihood just because it doesn't gel with his/her religion. Definitely, food for thought for those back home.

On a neutral territory, immigrants soon realise that those whom they were groomed to hate could be their best buddies, for they may share same bonds, pangs, ties and emotions. Try talking to a Pakistani about Partition and they may have some poignant stories to narrate. This regimented hate in India is directed towards a person from some hostile nation or from a country where the colour of a fellow human is visibly darker.

How history is taught or who writes it can change the whole perception. How else can one rationalise the taking down of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi — the messiah of non-violence and Father of the Nation — from Ghana University campus, ostensibly because he was a "racist" in that country's eyes? 

Or for that matter, the assault on Nigerians and Kenyans in India labelling them "drug dealers" with the single stroke of brush.

Give me a break. Go on a dope quest in Canada and you'll realise which ethnicity rules the drug streets. Suffice is to say, the Indo-Punjabi mafia has given Mexican cartels a run for the dough.

Being an immigrant makes you introspect. Just the other day, I saw a fellow Indian clinging to his cellphone, listening to a desi FM channel (minus earplugs).

My thoughts immediately went to the days when migrant labourers from UP and Bihar, condescendingly called bhaiyaas in Punjab, were lampooned for lugging on to their "raidooa (radio)" while doing farm and other jobs.

On the foreign land, most of the immigrants now try to find solace in those FM frequencies. Of course, the shape of the "raidooa" has changed, yet the way it cuts down the daily drudgery and monotony remains the same. Social isolation can be a great leveller on a distant land.

Today, the whole globe seems to be riding a wave of nationalism. Nationalism is good, but those being discriminatory towards a diverse population need to step out of their microcosm. Also, hypocrisy needs to be shelved. How can one act in a certain way in India and in an entirely different way abroad?

Step into an immigrant's shoes. Or just travel and walk a few steps away from home. I bet it can make many a lot wiser, saner and empathetic.

Watch: Living with Africans, here's what I saw

Last updated: April 28, 2017 | 15:14
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