Entering in a New World

Entering in a New World

“Nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.” Mahatma Gandhi

One afternoon in 2005, my parents gave me the news that we were moving to Canada to live there for the rest of our lives. The thought of moving made me very happy to experience the unknown for me, but at the same time, I felt very sad to leave my home country. I realized that I really had no idea what to expect, as I had never been in this kind of situation. As a 9 year old child, I did not even realize that my whole lifestyle would have to change, as well as the ideas of adapting to a new environment, meeting new people, and making new friends. The main reason I was very happy was that I wanted to create a new identity of who I was. For instance, I did not like going to school in India because I was often picked on for being a lighter skin colour for an Indian in comparison to those in my class.I had a vague feeling of not belonging there, even if I was Indian myself. In addition, even though I was aware that I would not be physically seeing my grandparents, aunts, cousins, and close family friends, the idea of moving to a new place made me feel very comfortable.Until I waved goodbye to all of my relatives and family friends, I did not realize that I would soon be very far away from my home land. It was this home land that first taught me my culture, my traditions, my beliefs, and my values.

After two days of a long journey, and with the headaches of jet lag, we finally set arrive in Ottawa, Canada. The moment I left the airport after arriving, the first thing that came to my mind was how this city was very quiet, neat, and very well developed. I liked how diversity was present everywhere that I traveled within the city. However, for a few days, I had a hard time adapting to a new culture and lifestyle which was very different for me. For instance, people were referred to by Mr. and Mrs., or by last names, whereas in India, it is proper etiquette to refer to elders as “aunty” or “uncle”. To me, it felt like I was being born a second time, yet this time in Canada.Following this rebirth, it felt like I was taking baby steps again to adapt to a whole new world.

    In the same manner like Ashima in The Namesake, I also had some very emotional situations where I dearly missed being with my close relatives. Being in a new city with my family meant that for once, we, my parents and younger brother, were alone in our physical presences. There were even days when I had to hear about the death of people that I knew during talks on the phone. However, even though I was speaking to my relatives back home, I still wrote letters to my grandparents explaining how different Canada was in comparison to India. I mentioned the differences in things such as the education system, the health care system, the transportation system, and many other things. These letters that I had written share the memories of my baby steps to starting a new life in a new home: Canada.