Y.M.Ragothaman

Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
Exchange to the University of Queensland, Australia

Australia – a land filled with promises, sunshine and smiles. These are the thoughts that flash when someone mentions the country to me. Back in India quite a few Bollywood (the Indian movie industry) pictures had come up with the Australian backdrop. Hence, one can expect the excitement I had when I landed in Brisbane.

The space I felt here overwhelmed me. The spectacular view of Brisbane River is still one of my favourites. First time experience of getting into a bus and pressing the “STOP” button, the laughs of Kookaburra from the nearby bush are still fresh in my mind. I had initially a little bit of problem with the accent of Australian English, but as time went by I realized I had acquired the same accent! It took quite some time for me to learn the word “Mate” with the Australian accent though.

At the University of Queensland and Australia, I realised that I have entered a big family where people from different countries are living together. The politeness and the positive attitude in life, which can be seen in people working around me, made me feel comfortable. Brisbane is one city that I feel like home since it has the same type of climate of the cities in India where I have spent my life (Chennai for its summer and Delhi for its winter). So it was easy for me adjusting here.

One of my colleagues is a member of the sailing club and it was he who introduced me to sailing. Since then I have been to sailing quite a few times, Bribie Island, Lake Cootharabha near Noosa and to North Stradbroke Island. These trips are quite memorable ones. Australia can get as modern as it can be and at the same time it can be wild as no other place. I mistook a 9 feet long python for a log and was about to step on to it when I was on the way to the supermarket.

It was after a long time, about 3 months, that I first saw the kangaroos and the koalas at the Lone Pine Sanctuary. A cockatoo was able to repeat “Hello” and “Bye Bye” to people visiting it. Unfortunately I couldn’t meet Steve Irwin at the Australia Zoo since he is quite famous in India and especially my mother is a great fan of him. But I had a great time looking at those huge crocodiles.

I didn’t miss Indian food here since there are quite a population of Indians here and hence there are almost 6 grocery stores that provide Indian items. But that didn’t restrict me to taste Thai and Mexican food. Multiculturalism is what I liked about Australia. India and Australia have many common points like Multiculturalism, Secularist State and Tolerance to other religions so and so forth.

There are many things that could be said about Australia and there would be many pages to fill especially Brisbane, since being multicultural and cosmopolitan in nature the city is as down to earth as it could be. Friends were the best things to happen to me during my visit. We had good time together and these friendships have turned into lifetime relationships. Whenever I look back at my photo album I have no regrets at all about Australia. Asso. Prof. Bostjan Kobe and Dr. Paul Young at the University of Queensland were very helpful to me by guiding me at every point of time and I really appreciate their hospitality. Also I would like to thank Asso. Prof. Ross Barnard for his timely and kind advice.

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