Photo Credit - Jorge Vasconez
July 10, 2020
Reflections of the past
'Immigrant'. Feels repulsive but that's how millions of mortals like me who settled down in countries other than their homeland have been identified.
I used to be called a 'Newcomer' about 5 years ago when I moved to Canada as a resident. Now, I'm just like anyone else. Part of a diverse community that insinuates civility but has its secrets.
Like many others, I landed in Toronto in search of better professional opportunities. But even before my journey began, I knew it was always going to be an uphill battle to survive and settle in a new country.
Every single assumption about the expected was thrown out of the window the minute I set foot off the YYZ Terminal.
The way I approached a job search wasn't the same, Banking and investing fundamentals had to be reconsidered, Driving had to be amended and got a LOT more boring, heck even crossing streets got way too organized.
Took me a month and a half of running around and figuring things out before I finally landed my first gig. The money wasn't there but I was happy to have found a job within my discipline rather than an odd 'survival' job. Hard skills were never the issue but the soft skills took time especially local references or figures of speech would most certainly befuddle me - but it wasn't even the language since English is taught starting Kindergarten in the majority of provinces in India.
5 years and 5 companies later, I still feel there's more to be accomplished and explore.
Investing 5 years in a new country changes you in many ways. When I go back to India, people who have known me intimately are aghast at how I have changed. They remind me of the old 'me', a version of myself which I'm starting to forget. Humans have a high tolerance to changing environments and are built to adapt, that's what I did. Adapting to the rules, rituals, processes, even the cold Canadian winters are now part of my lifestyle. Even after all this, there is still a feeling of not belonging to this new land. The one that I now call home.