Masihivandana.com

On April 10th, I completed 10 years in Canada. This may be another reason why I feel really excited and energised at this time of the year. Time has flown, my sons were four and a year old when I landed in Canada in 1997.
I came to Toronto first followed by my wife and the boys a month and half later. The day I landed five other planes had landed in Toronto as well. All of them were carrying immigrants, so it was a long long line at immigration that evening. I think I landed at 9:00 PM and was only able to get out at 1:00 AM! Shellar was patiently waiting for me with another friend of his. The delay was further compounded by the fact that I became the designated translator for several of the immigrants who did not understand or speak good english. I stepped in to help and the immigration officer remarked that they couldn’t pay me because I wasn’t a legal immigrant until he stamped my papers.

It was cold that April just like it is this year (the weather report is calling for snow this weekend …Yikes!!) and I remember the blast of cold air that hit my face as I stepped outside the airport doors. I was happy and excited. The Naths - welcomed me into their home, they did not really know me, all I had to my credit was that I was married to their cousin. The bonus was that Shellar & Arnie loved music and that was the common ingredient and probably the glue that bound us together. Shellar gave up his room for me and Arnie loaned me a jacket and I stole some of his clothes as well (he still reminds me to return them but …) The initial days were mixed with excitement and wonder and the gravity of the change hadn’t hit me yet. That first weekend the Naths were invited to attend an engagement, and I tagged along. The engagement was in a small church which eventually became my church. It was also at this engagement that I met Mrs Shah, who later became one of my big supporters and a source of encouragement.

During the weekend I accompanied the Naths to their house in Stratford, a small town a hour and half hour away from Toronto. The drive on the highway was really nice, when you got out of the city you saw the rolling fields and the farmhouses and then in Stratford I saw these quaint houses - it was the picture I had in mind of how Canada was. Toronto was very different, particularly because in Toronto we were living in the heart of downtown and all you saw were highrise buildings . I loved Stratford and then later when my wife and boys came to Canada they too came to Stratford first, my wife and I still have this connection with Stratford, it reminds us of those early days.

The weekend came to an end and the week that followed was filled with visiting government offices and applying for my SIN etc. etc. Then I hit the pavement with my resume, since we were living right on Yonge Street I went up and down in all the shops and offices dropping off my resume. Sangeeta and the boys were due to arrive in Canada on May 24th, so I had a month and a half to get a job. Before I left India my wife and I had decided that if I did not find some work in the first three months we would return to India, however, my heart was sold within the first week and I did not want to return, so there was an urgency to finding some work ….. �