Ep 5 S2 Chinwag Tuesdays: Anish’s Journey from India to Australia as a Civil Engineer 🇮🇳🇦🇺

Welcome to chinwag Tuesdays your passport to a world of language and culture hi everyone welcome back to another episode of chinwag Tuesdays I'm Amanda and today's special guest is Anish a civil engineer from Chanda India where I'm living but he now lives in Adelaide so we've done a bit of a switch here yeah thanks for joining me today Anish thanks Amanda thanks a lot for having me and looking forward to such a Great session with you today y me too cool well how about uh we just get started with a bit of a self-introduction tell

us more about your journey from Chanda to Australia and what inspired you to pursue a career in civil engineering there it all started from getting into civil engineering and how I and why I got into it the first place is the thing which really inspired me is my dad because my dad has been civil engineer and had Served 35 years of his life in public service in the state of harana in India and seeing his passion towards what he has done and achieved in that time just got reflected in building our own house which was

which happened 20 years back and during building of our own house I used to accompany my mom and my dad and we used to water the walls we used to see whether the contractors have done a good job or not so I really like that supervision part of building a house I'm Like wow that's so good just checking everything is fine like being a police and that just started getting me getting thick of things but it was very initial like I probably was in sixth or seventh class seventh grade and it was too early to

even think about getting into any sort of particular field but after when I completed my class 10th then now living in India you must be aware how things work here so sometimes you don't have to had that idea what you will be Pursuing in your career or what you will be becoming so like others I I just happen to take what my brother did so my brother he's an he's my elder brother and I just used to follow his foot path of his footsteps and that was just because he did engineering so I'm like I

don't know what else to do so I'm like okay I'll just give it a shot and we'll see figure out it later and but at that time it was not being forced to me at all even if I would have taken you know Some other decision I would have gone into that but it's just I wasn't aware of any other option because that's the only thing I just saw I saw my dad I saw my brother my that's it and I like it that's it and yeah so from there I got into to my 11th

12th grade and then I got into engineering but the interesting between that was I took a ear gap which was not happening to every student and every person was not in a position to take That as well maybe it's due to financial reason or maybe it's just their own family circumstances but for me it was like I will see because while I Was preparing for my 12th grade I didn't score that well and that just made me thought that if I now so in that Gap year I happen to study for competitive exams to get

into some universities which are really prestigious universities like iits and all which are known for you know those engineerings so I happen to give their exams and discovered that I'm really pathetic in studying that sort of competitive exam it's not at all for love the honesty not at all I'm not anywhere near to that the way the things the ethic which needs to be there for to crack that exam and I was not even stressed about it at all the funny thing was that my exams were there and I was not stressed because I already

knew the result I'm like why to stress when I already know so what I did Is I started researching a bit about other universities which aligns with my thought process and and by you know Stroke of Luck I happen to apply to this beautiful University which is in South India uh the name is manipal University and it was also my brother's decision so I would definitely give him a lot of credit and obviously my family who supported me to send me 3,000 kilometers from my house when I was 18 years old and you can understand

living in India How hard it is for an Indian mother to send his own child just imagine and I was the smaller one which is always a Pampered one so yes I you know sure I just I think within two days we made this decision to move to South India and my father my father came with me because it was going out for the first time Amanda I'm not kidding I was having a level of that confidence that I didn't even know how to use a ATM card and when yeah imagine I it happened Because

why I am bringing this is because it also is connected to my confidence and how I have moved to that letter to where I am today and what happened is after three or four months when I was almost about to finish that semester my father gave me a call and he's like and because whenever I had to withdraw any amount from the ATM the notification will used to go to my dad's mobile and uh it was on his number so it's like uh he's like Anish I haven't Got any message from last three months how

is it possible that with that little money you have been able to survive what is being done are you what's happening like he was really curious and I'm like that the thing is I don't know how to use ATM and whenever I and once it's a true story when uh I was the first time after two months when I tried to get learn how to use ATM I was in a queue and I was seeing every person in front of me how they are using very Dedicatedly but I didn't had that sort of even confidence

that I should ask a person and he or she can help me no I was shy like anything and I'm like no I'll just see I I won't do past anything about them about the process and the moment my turn came I was started sweating I'm not kidding I started sweating and I just left because all the que was watching me and I became so stressed I'm like no pressure I'm going and they stand so close behind you They're like breathing down your NE waiting for everyone is seeing how much money is I'm like I

because Dad told me that you you never have to share your PIN so I'm like I need to make it secretive I need to manage my own stress I need to wipe out my sweat what should I do I'm like no this is not happening I'm leaving so this became the reason and then Dad is like whenever you will come back I'll let you know how to use everything or you can just ask your Friend I'm like no I'm too scared because everyone knows how to do this simple thing and it's just too stupid to

ask just I don't know at that time I didn't even think of that yeah and I'm like I don't know so that that level of confidence was there in manipal and it I progressed to that level that I started doing solo trips all across India by myself amazing without having any fear I traveled across Himalayas I started uh So now at that time I had chosen civil engineering and one guidance I think my brother gave in the start of engineering is that Anish never waste your time in between the semester which are semester holidays because

we used to get two months three months uh at that time I'm like I don't know what I should be doing because people in India used to love coding like anything they are learning language coding and I'm like coding is the last Thing they would even want to see get that by please and then I figured out there is a thing called internships and I'm like okay okay in this sort of thing you go there you meet you know you work with the real people where you will be working in future and you just happen

to have a chance just to see how the things works even if you don't get to do the real work by yourself you're at least getting that exposure getting that work ethic which You you need to have when you you know you you are expected to have some things when you're a civil engineer it's not like you just happen to see a civil drawing or construction drawing and you start uh taking pictures and you can share it on social media no so that's very sort of confidential thing so I learned I didn't learn any great

things or making houses or making anything I didn't learn anything about civil but I learned the most important thing which Is work ethic and thanks to my brother for giving me that wisdom at that time which I didn't know that okay it might turn out to be a really great asset for me so yeah it's just it happened from then at that time itself I saw the importance of LinkedIn so I started using LinkedIn back in 201 2012 in the you know last month of 2012 yes and I have never stopped since then I never

posted but I used to follow people I used to go Through profiles how people are refining their careers because some people were really expressive they used to write what things have been done so that aspect never made me to have stress when I was making my resume in my final semester because I already know how to make a resume what things I need to put what are the terminologies what how to represent it to the employer I never had any issues and people with me especially My peers used to struggle for Content putting out content

and I'm like man I have so much content I'm just not able to decide what should I put so it's just my struggles were completely different with my perod peers but I learned with from my peers as well so it's not like I was born with that no it's just I was curious and that Curiosity yeah took me places I I don't even imagine now if you remember there's a tunnel in Himachal Pradesh which Happens to be world's longest road tunnel a tunnel yes in rang P so oh the at tunnel yes so I happened

to it's a bit scary yeah I happen to uh did two months of internship in Adlon did you yes oh that's awesome yes that's a great tunnel and that was my self sourced first self- sourced internship nobody helped me only LinkedIn came to my resc and since then at that first time I contacted a chief Brigadier who is a part of Indian army But belongs to a organization named border road organization so I happened to just give him a call in the Delhi headquarters I just random no no plans nothing because it was just that

drive that I have to work there I have to be there as a civil engineer what's the point of doing this if I don't get to see the tunnel building and that mind mark my words that's not a conventional process the way they worked people the engineers themselves they themselves Used to say that this if this tunnel gets built that will be a miracle for India and it is for the people of you know Himel whom I had you know respect a lot because when I had backpack extensively in Himel and the people are really

fabulous over there the warmth they offer and the easiness which they have got by building up of this tunnel so it was just amazing and you know it just strengthened my belief to just keep on stick to what I'm doing I'm doing Good it doesn't matter where I'll end up but there was just this sort of confidence in me after this internship that I will do something I don't know what I do so yeah that was it so yeah so that was my incredible yeah so yeah and then I progressed through letter and then I

happened to work with federal government of India which was Ministry of Road Transport and highways that was a really good experience which also happened through networking yeah one of My father's contact knew someone and then I happened to be there at right place and right time so things just connected so I wouldn't say that all all the effort was done by my dad no it was just also my interest and the way I represented myself I conducted myself which you know yeah they absorbed me there and then uh yeah thanks to my interest and curiosity

that allowed me to attach to one place I love that job because you are in India You must be understanding if a person gets a government job then what would be the next step in his life yes nothing because that's the dream that's the dream for so many people isn't it like one of the differences with like let's say Australia as a country and and India with government jobs is that in India you have to sit government exams to get a government job exactly whereas in Australia no I I worked for government I worked for

an insur Government insurance company and I just got that from applying through seek exactly it's I mean I couldn't able to digest this fact when I come to Australia and I got to know this very fact which you just mentioned that yes it's not about your identity being attached to that job a lot of good people whom I have came in contact in adelade they also have told me about creating an alternative identity of yourself so that once if you happen to Lose your job then you are not just attached to that particular cooler thing

and that was just a beautiful thing and that's being even lived by all Australians in general I've seen yeah they don't in general stress about being at one place if they don't like it they don't have to do it that's it easy as done that's it exactly they look for a new job yeah yeah exactly and that's a process that's the beauty of Australia exactly and love it I just appreciate That aspect which is there it's just in the air when I tell this aspect to my friends back in India they cannot understand even if

I want to because they just have to experience this while they work in Australia by themselves it's a feeling it's a feeling yeah and for sure and just after this things started aligning for sure when Co hit nobody could do anything and it was just I was at my house doing absolutely nothing but that didn't stop me from Pursuing online courses so I'm like what can I learn at the moment I don't it's maybe it's nothing have to do with civil engineering I'll do completely different so yeah now the interesting bit starts I happen to

do a normal you know food course food courses learning about nutrition content in the food which we are eating and there was this beautiful course by Stanford University I happen to do that and before covid itself I had this plans Of pursuing Masters and Australia was never in my option New Zealand was my preference I I got I already had got an offer from New Zealand before covid and I was just you know um waiting for New Zealand to get open which I think they never opened till if it be up 2022 they were one

of the last countries weren't they they were really one of the last countries to open up exactly and I was just because they were not opening and I was thinking how pure that country would Have been by just saving themselves from the whole infection and how they are and how they are able to keep flowing their economies but yeah I mean we didn't had any choice so after this food course what I did is uh in 2015 back in manipal I happened to see a video because Himalayas have always been at my heart like I

cannot just stress enough saying to people how how much I'm in love with Himalayas and that's why my whole back backpacking has Been around Himalayas I happened to see a video which was about remote Himalayan Village in ladak which is a northernmost district and what I saw was in that video that the small children like in grade one two they had to travel they had to Trek 100 kilometers in fully slow seen this kind of video my emlaws love watching this kind of stuff exactly and fully snow covered peaks with having a fear of being

attacked by snow leopards They used to just travel that path for seven days and go to their school yeah yes and it's like really tiny roads too so there's a danger of mountain sorry there sorry Amanda I'll correct you there those are not roads those are just spots being ridden again and again by people that's it there are no no roads so yes okay Pathways let's call them Pathways exactly just a bush land I would say and I saw that you know they and when they reached to those Schools there were no teachers over there

because teachers who had to come from Mainland like from the plain areas they were so scared that they avoided going to school so students have reached to the school but they are no teachers and that just I couldn't able to understand why is it happening so my whole idea of telling this uh thing about video is this thing inspired me to have an idea that what if the students doesn't have to travel that Path what if the teacher then s go there so I happened to connect with one of the volunteer organizations over there who

just started a school in ladak yeah and it was just like right place and right time and the exact moment I would say I happen to give that lady a call I just got her number who was the principal of the school and I just saw uh like read it uh read about her and the school how she started everything on a Blog and that blog was so crisp yeah he mentioned Every detail in that and I got a number and I just called that hi uh I'm just I got your number from this so

and so this and then on that same call she happened to take my interview for a teaching position for mathematics and job the FI imagine imagine and I'm like is it serious because I have time I'm like I'm free like you know you can take me for five months 6 months any year I don't care because Nothing can be done at the moment and when you're doing volunteering it's for free so you don't have to spend anything and what else would be best thing to do at in during that time when everything was closed but

a good thing about Himalayas was you can roam around it was just there was lockdown but no lockdown for those people because you cannot technically you cannot not put a lock down in mountains people can travel there's no fear of any infection so it Is good and within one month Amanda I was there I was there in the Himalayas with my first love and just sipping the famous ladaki tea thinking about how it has happened like I was I wasn't able to believe myself and then it's just imagine Amanda I just told you in the

start how much I hate mathematics sorry if I haven't mentioned it I'll now mention it I am a civil engineer which Requires mathematics but I've hated mathematics like anything and the only subject I had a choice to teach there was mathematics and I'm like why like in such a beautiful place I have to teach maths imagine which I really don't I had a choice and I'm like okay let's you know go with that yeah I was was I happened to be there for almost 5 months four to 5 months there were times when there was

No food no Supply was there because that region even lies beyond the highest motorable road in the world which was kardum pass okay where usually you must have seen a lot of bikers go for a road trip so yeah that was the place and that this Village was even 100 kilm away so it was almost 300 km from the capital itself so that's just insane and I was right near to the border of Pakistan so it was I could even see the bunkers of Pakistan Army everyone was there yeah Wow I actually happened to go

in the like visit the not inside but saw the no man's land where not any sort of people are allowed to go and I was staying there I used to fill up my gas cylinder from there to cook and everything so it was like a Himalayan life and I just cannot you know you need to stop me because I will just go on talking about this thing on and on yeah it was really good I used my lockdown p period just in this way and brushed up My skills yeah uh to be to feel more

confident and in hindsight yeah I knew that in India volunteering is not being appreciated that much the way it will be appreciated in Australia or New Zealand or any other country because it's the way people start their employment or before employment you know they don't give exams they just happen to have practical experience using these things and in a way my preparation for Australia has Started since that time itself it was back in 2020 and 2021 and then in 2022 just after the wedding of my brother I decided to just take a bit one month

Gap and then just applied for July intake because at that time everything was opened in Adelaide no lockdowns were there so I'm like that would be a perfect time to go over there and yeah so that's how my journey happened from chandigar to ad my gosh and everything in between That's amazing yeah and I think it's so funny how you were saying that when you first moved to South you didn't even know how to use an ATM card because yeah I think one thing that you probably had an advantage of compared to say other Indian

students who do move directly from India to say Australia is that you had the experience of living away from home even though it was still in India South India is still deal with the language culture exactly yeah Whereas you know a lot of Indians will go straight from their family home to Australia and get to Australia not even know how to wash their own own clothes or cook their own food mostly boys absolutely I was even uh still whereas you had that kind of advantage of of doing those things already for yourself in South Amanda

I would say I had never washed my clothes I had never ironed my clothes I'd never made food for myself in even in manipal because our messes Were having food coats where we were catered with you know food as well so course considering the domestic side of things experiences when you got to absolutely I was the same like any other child it's just the the distance which I already had the idea you know how to live far away by myself that was the only Advantage I would say but yeah you're right it was still there

as an advantage yeah yeah yeah exactly wow so you've kind of yeah You' lived you grew Up well you lived in chandigar and then you moved to South and you experienced remote parts of India in the Himalayas what would you say were some challenges that you faced when you first moved to Australia both with studies and adjusting to life really good question it just takes me through my university life and if I still remember my day one so the aspect which I T to you about networking it has been I just live and breath networking

Because without it I have been no one to be honest what I did is I Network started doing networking even two months before I was there in Australia I great so through the agent which I used there were a lot of other students who applied through same agent so what I asked is uh do you have any other student in your mind who will be comfortable in sharing his number so that I can get in touch with him or her just to know about how things works and Just getting a reality check right uh here

itself and yeah she happened to share that number and he turns out to be from chandigar and he turns out to be imagine he turns out to be living in the same accommodation where I was and like no Imagine by just asking that simple question can you please share the details I already had established one contact which is already there and he was there the moment I reached there he was there with me the moment I even Brought some stuff for him which he really wanted for himself I brought with myself and his father dropped

some things at my house and I established a bit of connection there I know and when I I landed in Adela it was the coldest day recorded day in adelade it was 5° at that night and I don't know what Antarctic winds are and how they feel I just know that Indian Winters which are have which are forly there's no wind right you know now there's no wind yeah Like what is this the first thing even I on the apron airport apron itself the moment I stepped down from the lead I got aside and I'm

like I was finding my banie I cannot even work till the terminal building I need to have that so I just took that and that person whom I established contact he was there and the first thing I couldn't have even imagined is he took me to a food Street to a Indian restaurant the very first night just to Make me comfortable with everything and oh that's lovely yeah and that's a different thing that he took me to through hindley Street where everything was you know oh my goodness I couldn't imagine that much of Lights happening

back in my hometown it was so different straight away seeing it on your first night I was just overwhelmed yeah I had my binner and just went back and started getting a hold of things with since then yeah the Challenges the first challenge which came on was I would say with my University assignment which was I still remember I cried like newborn one and I there there was not any chance anyone could have just specified me at that time I was video calling me calling my brother and my uh sister-in-law and they were just telling

me whatever you know just write in the assignment it's not like an Indian exam it's it's a culture of you know assignments where you just Need to show your knowledge in your own words and the challenge is just not about expressing yourself the challenge was about about not having a single percent of plagiarism in that this is very new to me yeah plagiarism I didn't know what's plagarism is and nobody the culture of teaching in Australia and India the difference is like in India you are being uh taught each and every requirement of yes that

aspect or that subject in Australia there's not much Room for critical thinking no in Australia not happening not happening if you're not interested you can leave the class not happening the teacher won't even say a word they're like yeah that's fine in India if we have to go to toilet we need to take permission and I still remember nice I still remember the drill oh that stopped after you left Primary School in Australia in high school I mean yeah I still remember the drill I used to ask ma'am may I go to what may I

Go to the toilet and I still remember two of the teachers two of those cringy teachers who didn't even allow me to go to toilet and I'm like how should I say that I'm feeling really uncomfortable what are they expecting yeah and so this this aspect doesn't happen in Australia you are free true you just want to express whatever is happening in your mind you cannot just take those things you know doing overthinking again and again in your mind and just sleeping With that heavy load and I was doing it for for 2 months for

starting 2 months because it was difficult just to adapt immediately yeah and no one can do I mean if someone is able to do that good on them but as far as I know it's it's really tough and you I think are also a perfect example because now you are in India I would love to hear any example from you as well if you want to share any example just to relate with that do you have any sort of memories um well It's a bit different for me because I didn't study in India and I've

never actually had an Indian job I wasn't allowed to work for a number of years because of my visa restrictions and it wasn't until I got my oci my overseas citizens of India card which acts like a permanent residency essentially right that gave me my working rights um and then I started my business so I don't really have actually I don't have any experience when it comes to Indian Education or the Indian work kind of culture but it did honestly it probably took me 3 and a half four years to really feel settled here I've

been here over 5 and a half years so it's only been since I got my oci and I started working and I got financially independent something that was really really really hard for me right which you'll probably laugh because it's so normal here but in Australia you start you get your first Part-time job at 50 so I started earning my yeah I started earning my own money at 15 and I was financially independent from that day so as soon as my first job was working for my parents in their Cafe they had that for 12

years and they said to me you're working now so from now on anything you want you pay for yourself and that taught us independence wow whereas when I moved here with savings but then we got married we had household Stuff to buy Co happened my husband's business he had liquor stores which were not essential services so was shut down for like 3 months during pandemic so we used my savings wow I wasn't allowed to work so I ran out of money I ran out of savings we were like it was a really tough time for

us wow so when I ran out of my savings I had to ask my husband for money and I have never asked a man for money evere living in Australia the last man I asked for money was yes the Last time I asked a man for money was my father when I was 14 and I moved here at 29 wow so I despised it I hated it so much and my husband couldn't understand why it was such like it bothered me so much cuz it's like it's normal here like the wife asks the husband for

money I'm like I do not like it I do not like exactly exactly it's just so it wasn't until yeah it wasn't until I started earning my own money that I became financially Independent that I started to feel like okay I'm feeling comfortable here cuz it made me that uncomfortable because I was not used to it it was just oh exactly exactly and imagine the this is such a simple thing for us being in India we don't even care like where the money is coming from as long as it's it hasn't been stolen or something

like that it's fine it's just in the culture that's it exactly and when I came here it's just yeah doing parttime so Canda interesting Bit was when I was coming to adelade I started doing working with a lot of people already here I met one of the nicest person in my University itself who happened to did the same course as I did in which like three years back so he was already working in the industry itself so I already started having industry insights I was already started having the how to approach towards the university assignments

so I was started gaining that idea and during that last Two months I always had this uh idea in my mind to work part-time before I go to Australia yeah because that is the Australian culture you cannot even if you have money like ambanis or the most richest purses in the world you just yeah you won't be able to fulfill your mind and just sleep peacefully just by doing nothing it's not happens just it's not in the culture and it just not happens when you are just studying and doing nothing no it's in the culture

so What I did is I chose a place which can allow me to work parttime and I did it in Australian Style just by simply walking and just asking them and it happens to be in the decathlon store in chund deard so you must have seen Deaton yeah and that is yeah the one at z z yes exactly ah I actually live on the Zero side of chund oh nice so quite close to me yeah I live near there oh my God that's so close I'm say oh wow that's good very small world then that's

okay That's actually insane yeah and I just went there and just met the sports leader who was responsible for the Recruitment and what can be a better time uh when you are just there by yourself having your own resum me yeah this was a sports company so I thought there is no not any much time reading my traditional resume and going through all the aspects they don't have time they are just going on they are in sales job they just want to go quick by Within few Seconds or something so I what I did is

I made a presentation PP very basic PP explaining my whole experience and my whole passion towards Sports which was running so I was yeah quite much into running I did some marathons and and I was into swimming as well so I added a bits and pieces of that I was cycling in lockdown because that's the only thing I could have done once lockdown got opened and so I pasted all those things and created a sort of small portfolio and Took that and because interview happened just on that day itself and they are like okay this

guy will take your interview and we after that they'll let you know and I happen to show them that presentation in during that and they just loved it and they like for sure like you can just start next week I'm like I don't have time in 2 months I I'm might have my own plans so I just give them a sense of that bit of idea so I like I just want to start from tomorrow You know whenever it's it can do so I just happened day after I started there and I start imagine how

much I was earning there per hour because they offer an hourly salary in part time what is it like aund what is it like 100 rupees an hour tell my goodness it absolutely absolutely $2 yeah so there was $ you know what though I am so impressed Anish because not a lot of people would let their ego down enough to work a retail Job in India only and I only say that because in Australia it's very different people don't care whether you work as a waitress in a hotel or retail job but as you know

there's different I have to be careful with how I heard this there's just different parts of society based on those different roles exactly so chosen amazing Inc you have just explained it so nicely I can imagine what what you're trying to say and where is it coming From I would have chosen the same set of words thanks thanks for that and yes yeah yeah so you know what I am so impressed that you not only decided to do this to kind of have a part-time job before you go away and build up those skills but

also what did your parents say my parents that's obviously something that when I chose to go to L to teach my parents didn't had any idea they're like just be safe just come home whenever you finish your work they have Absolutely 101% supportive at every time whenever I have presented an idea that and that's not it when I have presented an idea I already I always used to do my background research when I told them I explained them this is the reason because just imagine ear my father was working in a public service and his

colleagues would be the ones who to whom I'll be selling and they already know my salary yes how embarrassing as a normal person in India would have be When the people whom you know or even your relatives can visit that store because it's open yeah exactly and I'm like exactly that's what I'm thinking yeah like there's absolutely no shame in it definitely no shame in it but it's just unfortunately the thinking of it's just the thinking of society here society's got a really long way to go before thinking changes and it's always about like lak

exactly what will people say people used to say it on our face Amanda I remember one of my teammate she was just displaying them the clothes and out of just I don't know how that Curiosity came to from to that customer she was beautiful lady but you know this question came out of like how much do you earn how much you will be earning 100 200 yeah she bluntly spoke that 100 200 10,000 a month what and the way you know how you know people say in India sometimes making the face and looking it very

Expressive that we are just trying to De in you yes andly you know the body language says it all this is a bit of sad reality of our culture as well not I'm not saying we don't have any good we have such an amazing culture in other aspect we have so many good things I love my own culture to be honest it's not to deman anyone at any stage it's just my personal experience which I experienc myself being a salesperson in India your firstand experiences being Being a salesperson in India is not easy and at

such a small level I was having that intention that I had to leave that also was one of the reason I was able to continue to do it for the long time at some stage I also used to have those tears why I'm doing it or why even I have chosen to do it I was questioning that next week itself I'm like it's not easy yeah it was kpi based yeah I was having kpis I had to do training that in two months I was I did one training of Showing so I was responsible for

the mountain tracking team so I was in the tracking part sure which I you know love as well and there was the good thing that you know I'm doing what I love but it's just when it comes to selling and showing customers it's just different you need to tell everything about a product you need to describe them and yeah that's just every aspect of that shamess I would say which helped me in settling down in ad I would say and that Was just beautiful yeah yeah yeah yeah good for you oh I'm so impressed that's

actually incredible well done thank you thank you so much so in terms of work culture so obviously we've talked a bit about the sales culture but if we just go back to let's say corporate culture which is what you experienced in India for some time how would you say the work culture in Australia differs to what you experienced in India sorry Australia Versus the thing is I would start with from my company itself where I'm currently working so I'm working in a civil construction firm who is responsible for building highways and doing bit of Highway

interchanges and Building Bridges whatever comes in front of the freeways and everything so we also happens to work on that and constructing wetlands and everything so that's the profile of my company yes and from the day one itself when I Started last year working here I experienced the actual Australian spirit so according to me and this has been starting I started visualizing and relating it from day one in Australia austral itself until today Australian Spirit lies in asking questions if you are not able to ask questions then the other person would never be able to

even predict or guess where are you standing yeah where do you Come from yeah and there's no shame in asking questions either there's no wrong questions absolutely and this is the difference now coming from Indian culture Indian work setting I was working I mean when I was working in the government I was working with India's finest Minds I would say I was working with that person yeah who toed that exam which I Was preparing for and I haven't even scored anyia so I was fortunate that he became my boss but the Culture which is absolutely

you know gives you that starking difference if my boss in India used to explain something about give a brief discussion about something and if I chose to remain silent just by you know and if I'm just being silent he's telling me and I'm not able to understand so I'm choosing it by an Indian culture I'm just choosing it to remain silent because if I say anything then I either I have to say about what he has been explaining but I'm not able to get it so I just remain I used to remain silent so that

silence yeah represents that silence is being perceived by my boss as that he hasn't understood I maybe need to explain in some other way or maybe give a bit more practical idea about it unlike in Australia if you do this you choose to remain silent he has explained for 15 minutes 20 minutes or maybe five minutes if you don't say a word it's being already taken perceived by the by the Speaker that you have understood it absolutely well and no one can explain you better because now you know how to do the job imagine yeah

I was scared to be honest Mar sorry about my words I was really scared how to again ask that question and again and again last week you know I tried to break that you know uh shyness of asking again same questions again and again I asked same question five times a man five times and even that my my manager was I can see The body language he was getting he was like what sort of civil engineer you are if you don't know this stuff and in my mind I was thinking if I didn't ask it

today then I won't be able to sleep so it's just today by Do or Die it's like a cricket match where you had just taken the pledge you will just win or lose that's it exactly and that just you know and it's better to ask the questions instead of just assuming and then doing the wrong thing and then it it lead to Something worse absolutely it's very simple to be honest Amanda coming from India the way you just said it's very hard it's very hard to ask five times same question again and again and there

will be definitely what made motivated me to ask it again again is I said to myself Anish there would be I think a lot of Indian people or maybe a lot of people from other nationalities who would have been facing the same thing and if I will be able to break this Whole shyness today then at least I will be the one who can share this thing that there is no harm and just asking it no one will do anything to you you won't lose your job I used to think during probation that no I

cannot make any mistake it's just the moment I make mistake they will just lay me off that's it that's how it works that's was you know going in my mind I was living on the edge when I was in probation it's just yeah it was too Stressful for me I was giving so much pressure on my mind pressure per you know performance fear just fear of the place from where I come from what others would say what look Kang that's the famous the famous is no Kang I don't know it is I have never and

it's like in every language too I've heard there's something similar in Punjabi I I forget the verb though but basically it's the same thing right log something logia something because I don't know the verb In Punjabi it's basically the same yeah exactly I mean everyone has that slang in each language so yes absolutely I mean yeah I supposed we say it in English what will people say what will they think yeah and and that's so I'm just thinking how would an Australian would you know uh think about it what would people say does Australian usually

tend to think about it sometimes but they don't think little things are so trivial as working a Retail job for example it's more so if it's something really extreme that they think oh my God and it's not what people would think it's more about what will your family say what would your family think they make it very personal but it's not they don't think about randoms yeah yeah yeah so and that's what I think matter whereas here there's more pressure with society's your image in society and how people will perceived not just you but your

family exact as Well that's why I was curious about what your family had thought about you working because no doubt they probably had relatives and work colleagues and the outer Community being like oh look at your son working at to Cath sort of thing yeah and I was honestly I don't know like my Mom and Dad if I give them a clear explanation and express my thoughts they are pretty much happy with that they are not because theys and it comes from them itself because they have They they left their homes both of them because

we belong to a place called yamuna naga in harana they born and brought up born and Bre from that place itself and they chose to leave that place and come to Pula which was near to chandigar and which was solely because of education that we will get good schooling and chandigar is another adate to be honest the same Vibe which I get yeah exactly yes you do know that there is a history there right do you know About this history being you probably would being a civil engineer okay well let me explain it the architect

of Chanda what's his name Leia Leia yeah the French architect yes yeah yes you're a French architect so he designed chandigar based off the blueprint of ad absolutely absolutely I absolutely remember because similarities I'm really glad that you've noticed that the town planning is the grid planning which we uh which is architectural term is grid So that's the same grid are there in Adelaide and the grids have been more elongated with roundabouts in chandigar so that's the bit of used designs which you just mentioned so yeah absolutely I just yeah sometimes feel fortunate I'm like

wow even I landed it a place which you know a bit similar to India and reminds you of home a little bit yeah it's like whenever I visit back it's just like you know adelade without rules I would say Chy yeah I mean not that straight yeah Chard is having its own set of rules well yeah it depends where you go obviously when you get into chandigar itself the traffic police are a little stricter and the roads are stricter but you can really notice I don't know if you puncha is a bit different but you

can tell when you enter PIN my town I would say it I know each and every bit by just back of my mind I know where are the speed cameras and in which Surprisingly they can put in new cars which doesn't look like a normal one so I'm like I'm very comfortable in qua the moment I enter But when I'm in chard I had to be cautious yes my husband's the same yeah CU so his parents actually from hamacho so he's mom is from Manali and dad is from utraan Nal area yeah so left her

marchall they got married they came to chenda they're actually in their Village is in a punch COA right so that their Village is that side um so that's Where my husband was born and so he's been around this area like it wouldn't surprise me if somewhere along the line you've crossed path yeah definitely even at to cathon definitely oh wow I happened to stay in Manali for three months so that's lovely place oh love yeah it's so yeah he's always he's been around this area his whole life I've been living in this same area too

since my like the whole time I've been here so I'm really Comfortable around this whole area nice yeah definitely yes nice you're so close W well last question before we finish up yes I know yep yes so what I would love to know and I think this is something that people watching if they are planning to move to Australia or they might already be on their way to Australia looking back what are some things that you wish you knew before moving to Australia that could have made your transition smoother So cool I would say and

this is very common and until last week and today today is one of the special day for me and it happens to be Australia day as well and it's like I have found my belongingness in idate and why I I'm trying to bring this so important why I'm trying to bring this particular trait is that once you move to a new country then you will be Experiencing new things from different cultures and especially places like especially in Australia you will find so many cultures which you know are have been residing for so long even if

they have become Australian citizens they still carry that culture from their original country which is very important I would say Amanda which is very important for every person who is trying to move from India consider it like your own original Identity don't try to be someone else in pursuit of becoming an Australian because honestly you will never become an Australian Australian is not there is we shouldn't be confusing our pursuit of becoming adapting to a new culture with becoming an Australian citizen these are completely two different aspects when you come to a new country you

are seeing their culture you're trying to adapt you're trying to indulge yourself so Quickly that you sometimes you're not realizing that you happen to say yes to those things which are not part of your culture and you sometimes end up repenting on doing those things that oh why should I have done that I shouldn't have done that but because you add to that just to satisfy yourself you say that to yourself but this is important why because I'm in Australia have to adapt to it no you don't have to to be honest you don't have

to you don't Have to become a non-vegetarian if you are a pure vegetarian back in India there are stores there are all the stuff which is available here I have seen I have experienced myself I did myself to myself that I became nonvegetarian for a bit of time thinking of it saves time and cooking and everything no it's just it was in my head so I just urge to every person because it's so tough when you lose your roots and then again to find those roots That's a very tedious process please don't do that I've

struggled like day in and out I had fights with Within Myself I started thinking myself that am I having two personalities am I having three personalities one which would be in a network working event where I had to be very deed up and look like and act like an Australian then in University I had to be student and just carry that whole sort of Australian aspect or Australian Curiousness and the way of the Australian Spirit the way of asking questions I have that much that burden in myself and then when I was out doing social

activities I just had to involve myself in the activities which other Australians are doing no you don't have to do any of these things if you are not comfortable with that not even once true it doesn't have to do anything but at the same time yes you are in new culture you are in new environment you sometimes Have to try out new things myself I call myself I myself call myself for experienced gatherer and I'm why I say this is I have and I always try to add new experiences to my life doesn't matter if

the person belongs to which nationality I just if I like that personality I will try my give my 100% to just keep that person as my friend I would say with this networking aspect Which in in the later aspect I'll be just highlight a bit of importance about networking this networking has made me allowed me to meet one of my you know best mates and I would say my Australian mother here he is she like when I met her she has given me a Warth like you know mother away from me I've found her just

through NW workking and I have to yeah say to some of those things which I didn't used to do back in my own country I had to explore I just have to she Never forced for me to do anything it's just I yeah allowed myself just to ask why is she doing what is she doing that's it if you are very uncomfortable just tell them that this would be having alcohol is just against my ideologies so sorry I won't be having that but at the same time I would love to have lemon lime bits which

is Australian national drink so yeah definitely and which is the drink I always sometimes love to have during networking events so that I Always remain maintain that level of curiousness even after two three drinks so yeah and just have what you are what you like because people in Australia Australia citizens and who have been living here they never judges you what type of drink you are holding so there is no such shame that you have to hold a wine or red wine if you are living in adelade even if you haven't tried red wine it's

absolutely fine it's not in your taste and one of some of the great PhD professors from our uni happened to explain to me once that Anish you know what it makes me a bit of give me a bit of laugh sometimes it's that in some of the research it's not I haven't seen myself it's just coming straight he said and I quote that some some toxins which some what do you say some nutritional aspects those musle those things which lets wine easily digest in your body is not are not available in some of the Asian

Countries some of the Asian people that's also one of the reason that they don't enjoy wine and it takes a lot of time for them to even to adjust to the taste so there is no discomfort in saying that it doesn't suit me it won't take your pride of just be yourself be as you as possible that's it that's it yeah yes that's very a very good point actually very good points and I think what's really important to note as well I was actually doing a bit of research About this kind of question on reddit

reddit but I wanted to know what people on Reddit had thought and I just searched about how immigrants can integrate into a Australian culture and the most common thing that people said like this was ask an Australian threat or something was that understand English enough to have a conversation but one thing that I I noticed a lot that I really agree with and I think it's great is that the great thing about Australia Is that in the Australian values there is the freedom of religion freedom of choice freedom of no religion however what people said

was that don't push your beliefs onto other people so if you are a vegetarian yes or and you don't eat non veg you don't go to networking events and start telling everyone to stop eating meat for example or if you are of a certain religion you don't push your religious beliefs onto others because the the value the joy of Australia is that you have the freedom of choice to choose to have to follow religion or no religion so I think that's something that's really important to keep in mind is that you can have the choice

to eat what you want to follow whatever religion you want to do all those things to drink alcohol to not drink alcohol as long as you don't push your own beliefs onto other people correct and I think that's something that that actually came up quite a lot In that thread and I think that's really something to keep in mind and I'm really glad that you brought this up that you don't have to do those things if they make you uncomfortable but if you want to try great try them out make a decision for yourself whether

it's something you do or don't want to do but you don't have to push your beliefs onto other people because that's where people get offended correct and just it leads you to that endless cycle where you just Tend to make it a habit and unconsciously these are those habits which are coming into your lifestyle being unconscious because it's you have made it as you have included them in your lifestyle and you will tend to do wherever you go and you will carry that in your personality so just and I would say that the moment you

will try to maintain your culture your beliefs as intact as possible during the whole university tenure the more clearer you Will be in answering the question which is the first interview question in all interviews tell me about yourself because that question is giving you an opportunity to actually tell who you are and comparison when we come to the comparison when Australia and India I have given interviews in both countries now and I can exactly I'm in a state to tell that in India nobody is giving highlighting any importance to what you have done apart from

the job Which you are will be going to do no no one will be going to give that much of importance to even your personality none very less they the time is coming that they are highlighting these things in some of the companies but till the time when I was used to be there no one was giving importance but once you step down to Australia it's just you and you can add whenever the moment you are you understand this term you and you just Take it in your personality and it's all your personality which that

will take you to places here if you can ask right questions let see yeah for sure yeah look this is something I kind of struggled with in reverse because as India is a very culturally rich country and um it was a bit of a balancing act for me coming here learning how to adapt to a culturally rich country while not forgetting about who I am as a person Correct correct also the fact that my husband is Hindu and I'm Christian so we have that kind of differences area to navigate the difference in religion correct correct

yeah but the the thing that I'm really lucky with is that my husband and his family are completely open to understanding and learning about my religion and my holidays and my festivals as an example last year Christmas I was in Australia my husband and his family celebrated Christmas and I wasn't even here just because they know that's my holiday and I celebrate it my husband set up the Christmas tree decorated the house he invited his family for dinner cooked them dinner they wished me Merry Christmas so I did something similar with dwali yeah wow yeah

I was in Australia for dwali I went to a dwali event at Brisbane City um oh nice that was put on by the council I wore an Indian suit into Brisbane City caught the bus everything wow so I think it's really beautiful that we can we respect each other enough to do those things my parents wish my in-laws Happy Diwali when they know festivals are on and stuff like that so for me coming here I had to find ways of embracing the local culture while not forgetting my cultural identity even though people think Australia has

no culture but exactly and so I I really appreciate what you were Saying about doing it in Australia and I think one thing that I can sort of stress being an Australian is that what you said is completely correct again that you don't have to force yourself to do things that make you uncomfortable but if people can see that you're having a go that's a really common phrase in Australia just having a go trying trying new things and not again not forcing your beliefs on other people but you are Trying your best to integrate in

other ways that's all people really care about they just want to see you integrated that's it and honestly when you said a great point that a lot of people have said me and whenever there's a sometimes discussion about Australia people say that there is no culture and have always disagreed with that fact because I have been reading about Australia I happened to read a book about Australia which was l a lucky country by Donald horn which Just okay tells about the Australian spirit and how lucky Australia in as a country has been having whole minds

and yeah so many resources gold you name a sort of metal or a rear Earth medal which is not in a periodic table just bring a periodic table and you can Mark those Elements which are not in Australia probably every element you can find in Australia it's that having that much of luck in its own land and it's the land which Australia prays about it And why they respect about their and so people have the question when they are coming from airport it mentions in the Declaration that you need to declare if you have been

to a national park where you have carried your shoes and carried that amount of soil in your shoe and so because I want cross contamination cross contamination so in this way they are showing respect for their land and we need to understand when a person when a country is showing respect to their land And you are as a guest trying to visit their land as an Indian person I would say because I know about Indian culture we always have respected whenever we visit tour a guest house or a relative house we do the way they

do yeah so I'm just trying to say that whenever you come across such things don't try to defame Australian culture just by saying that if there will be some things which you won't understand straight away and when you don't understand some things Don't label it as right or wrong just label don't label it exactly anything just take it yeah take it just understand that it's something that you might not understand but it's just that's it you just have to learn to understand it it's the same here for me like I definitely have come across things

that I don't really understand I will say though in the beginning I did sort of have that stuck in Australian mindset where I would be like well in Australia it's better you know in Australia we are humans we will do that I had to separate that yeah but I knew that I would not be able to fully commit myself to my new life in this new country if I was holding on to these comparisons so you have to learn how to let go of the comparisons and appreciate the beauty of the place that you're in

absolutely amazing wonderful Point thanks Amanda for bringing that it's just letting that thing go not holding Where you come from not just holding your beliefs so strongly that they just tries to stop you from entering into a new world entering into a new foreign conditions Amanda through this when I was in uni the first part-time job it was so hard and this will be very beneficial for any upcoming students as well it was 3 months 3 months had gone and it was month of September and I came in July and I had done my assignments

and we get a bit of mid semester break Right so 10 days off and I got so much time by myself because now no assignment was there nothing was there I just don't know what to do what should I do with my time I was suddenly I became empty and I'm like are you serious how and I was feeling there's no friend nothing I just made one or two sort of acquaintances from the uni which were Indians and have sharing that same sort of language and aspect which we understand and yeah I just called her

and I just asked her That I'm just I'm I don't know uh I don't have a job and she was also not having a job that's why I called her because she was in the same situation as me and I'm like well what should I do I was still I can remember that face of myself clueless completely clueless in a State of Shock being drag it's like you have taken newborns from a nest of a Mad pie it just felt like that and you're like yeah what's happening where am I and I was just asking

her that are you Feeling the same and she's like I don't want to say this say yes at this moment but I cannot even stop myself so yes I'm feeling the same and that having another person in the same boat in the middle of ocean will at least calm you down a bit so finding your tribe is absolutely one of the most important thing as you during your initial time as international student and what how this thing can be and it's it doesn't sometimes if a Person doesn't want to make new friends immediately how this

thing can be avoided is get yourself a volunteering or whatever it is get involve yourself as soon as you come to this place because that will fill your time you just need to avoid these negative thoughts in your mind which are making you going insane yeah I was like I cannot sit inside I had to go out I started doing hiking or whatever came to my mind and whatever I'm comfortable With I'll just go there and I happened to started doing a bit of networking with my own housemates where I was staying in the accommodation

yeah and that person was working in National wine Center and uh so National wine Center was completely new thing for me I need to serve drinks so coming from Deaton I had already touched the Bist I have already lost my pride of coming from that Indian religion with Indian Country like the continent and I was thinking That I can I won't be doing these sort of jobs I shouldn't be doing this and that no I'm like how just tell me what to do how to do and I luckily I got a job through his reference

and when I started my first day was serving drinks in a Greek Wedding and if you are oh God yes no I haven't been to a Greek Wedding but I'm Italian so Italian weddings are just as wild yes thank you now if are there if any punjabis would be hearing this then they think that the Capacity which they the way which they drink in their own weddings is the maximum I'm like you are completely wrong you don't you haven't even saw haven't seen your pain drink yet exactly I'm like that was just that was my

first shift so yes and I'm like what and the whole atmosphere was so fastpaced you just you're pouring drinks you're just taking them and then what if someone ask about what drink is that what wine is that what type of wine what which Location is from that I'm like are you serious you want me to remember the location I'm like I couldn't able to speak for the first time and one of the part like the another teammate who was there he saw the way I was getting completely blank he came to me and he explained

which region is it's from and everything and then the only thing I happen to say to that customer is this is my first shift sorry for the convenience that's and I left well look Honestly that okay the thing that's the thing that's funny about that is that I've worked in customer service I mean I still technically am in a customer service role but customer service is my thing yeah and whenever I would train people or on my first day of any job whether it was when I was doing Hospitality work call centers I would always

tell someone if it was my first day or if I was in training there's no shame in admitting that it's your first Day absolutely the fact that you've said that I think that's really great a lot of people get a bit scared to say that but there's absolutely no shame in admitting that you don't know the answer which again is a cultural difference because Indians don't like admitting when they answer to something they will lie and tell you what they think you want to hear absolutely or they will ignore you exactly and they will ignore

you like They have never even met you it's just like yes or no exactly it's just not and it's worse on the phone they will just hang up on you exactly and now that's what I call being root it's not in Indian culture it's not what is being taught to in Us in in schools no Even in our schools they have the teachers have been saying have you understood have you understood have you understood and we are like no because Others are not saying why should I say the feeling of being the first one has

kept India always back in so many aspects I'm sorry to say that but yes this is one of the qual tra that yeah absolutely that trait which has been developed just by seeing others in the room you can be different you are different that kind of the group Collective yeah it's fine sometimes you don't feel comfortable itself but just even if sometimes I've seen people not Coming out with their beautiful ideas which they must be having just by the fear of being the first one yeah why yeah for sure I was the I was also

easier as you go along I was also one of them so I'm not crazing myself so yeah so it just took it was a journey it took me a lot of time where I'm now today at least I can say that yes I am not scared today at least so yeah yeah all right well we'll finish up here Anish how can people contact you if they want to get In touch I know that you're very active on LinkedIn since 2012 so is that the best way absolutely just LinkedIn just message me whatever it is and

I'll get back to you so yeah just little yeah great wonderful I'll put the details in the episode description anyway so you can I mean I can just get that off your LinkedIn so yes all good well thank you so much for today's conversation and for joining me um today it's been so great to chat and to hear your perspectives Which are opposite to mine and knowing that we're practically neighbors exactly yeah I didn't know that but yeah it's good to words I just say Chanda very generally which I think you do as well but

it's just easier to say Chanda general just to give that reference also safety also safety yes yes I agree I agree but it's a bit safer in puncha so yeah you guys can think of you know for sure yes all right well thank you again for The amazing conversation thank you so much for having me and uh just giving this beautiful opportunity to share my story and I just loved the points which you have mentioned and please feel free to reach out not just me on LinkedIn to everyone whom you feel can help you in

any way and Linkedin is one of the biggest Advantage this world is having now so just use it yeah true thank you for sure great tips thanks [Music]