Migration to Australia- (Part 1) - When the going gets tough only the tough gets going !

Disclaimer: This blog post is not a guide for migration or an advertisement. This is purely based on our experiences and my understanding, written by me.
Thanks to few friends and family who inspired us to do this. Everyone has been a great source of inspiration, guidance and information for the past 1 year guiding us through each and every process. 

You can read our other parts of migration experiences here.

Precap: We both did Bachelors of Engg @ India, met at a conference. We fell in love, landed in Singapore,  did masters at NTU, got married, moved to 3 different houses, and here we are with the Australia Permanent Residence in hand - all ready for the next big step.

Why Migrate:

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A) From India:

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We are born and bred Indians. We love India and India is our first home. Having said that, coming to practical reasons, it’s not just money or career or the standard of living, it’s a loss of faith. Of course Arvind and I have had an awesome childhood in India. But to me have that childhood, my parents were in constant fear protecting me 24/7. They never did allow me alone to a shop nearby. I have traveled very few times in a local bus/train and have experienced many atrocities those few times. I was never allowed a night out/ sleep over with friends, nor a movie at theater with friends, unless it is a huge group, where the whole group is known to my parents individually or the whole group is guarded by one of the parent. I am sure many of the girl children would have experienced the same.

Now this is not just pampering, but it was all about protecting. And these days no matter how many good things are spotted, the bad things get worse.

Indian Passport- Awful for Travel:

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      Again, we love India and our roots are tied to India. Having said that again, Over this 4-5 years of travelling, the only few good things holding an Indian Passport is just collecting colorful visas and for people visiting Bhutan/ Nepal it’s a visa free entry. An Indian Passport needs a visa to enter almost all the countries in the world except for 50 countries roughly. With all the nationalities just swooping inside, we have to encounter the suspicious looks, showing our return flight tickets and our funds (??!!). It’s indeed an embarrassment. So I made a point that day. My kid should never ever suffer this.

PS:  My experience is not for everyone.  Though I try to see goodness in everything, this was way out of my acceptance.

(B) From Singapore:

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Singapore has given us numerous things. If it isn't Sg money, we could not have afforded staying at a beach front villa or visiting exotic countries or luxurious exclusive branded products or diamond jewelries. But among all these luxuries, relaxed lifestyle is not one of them.

We are done being ‘Foreign Talents’ for 5 years now. It’s high time we settle down, buy house, car, have kids. To do all this is Sg, it takes a minimum of 8-10 years from now, just for this. Forget the education system, the national service, the cost of living, ‘the tiny island- not so much to do’, and the work-life balance.  At the end of the day, life is nothing but a fast race here.

PS: I am sure all the foreign talents and the newly granted PR’s would agree.

Migration- Solution?

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      With all this being said, things aren't going to be rosy, out anywhere in the world. But giving it a try with hope isn't the worse thing.

Why Australia?

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      Every time I get back to India, my first few minutes have been great. The hugs at airport, the smile at faces, sure feels at home. But enough reasons mentioned for why we do not want to continue our lives there.

      First being comparatively easy and safe, affordable luxurious life style, high standards of living, relaxed and calm lifestyle (it’s kinda black mark when a person stays at office after office hours). This is just awesome for me because of my workaholic husband. Besides India is just hours away. It takes 10-12 hours from Chennai to Coimbatore in trains and almost the same time from Australia to India in Flights. Truly it’s no big deal.

It’s very obvious that we ourselves have to do laundry, clean toilet, mow the lawn, cook every day, drive my car and cannot even think of having maid, helpers, drivers, cleaners like an upper middle class family in India could afford. But this is far better than corruption and rapes.

And people who whine about the racist problems, “Stop complaining that the rose bush is full of thorns, be happy the thorn bush has roses”. The cast creed discrimination in India is no better than the racism in Australia.

The Steps, Processing time and all other details followed in Part 2.