Jayant Bapat

Story

Having lost my parents to Tuberculosis at a very young age of five, I was a self made man. I completed a Masters degree in Organic Chemistry in India and was working as a Research Chemist in a pharmaceutical firm. My ardent desire was to complete a doctorate overseas. I therefore applied for doctoral scholarships everywhere and was lucky enough to get one from Monash University in Melbourne. I had been married only for a year and my wife was pregnant with our first child. She was however very brave and allowed me to come to Australia on my own. I arrived in Australia in June 1965.

The only airline that came to Australia from Mumbai at that time was Alitalia . It was my first plane journey and I was very nervous. The Western food was totally tasteless to my Indian palate and I could not eat it at all. When I asked for water, they brought me a sealed can of water. I did not drink it at all. I was worried that if I did not finish it, I would be told off by the steward. My Indian accent was also a major problem. The planes at that time came only to Perth. One then had to get the local flight to Sydney and then another one to Melbourne. Thank God an Indian student at Monash came to collect me at the airport. I had never seen so many white faces and was petrified.

One year after I arrived, I had collected enough money from my meagre scholarship and got my wife here with our 9 month old first daughter. Unbeknownst to us, our daughter suffered from a serious lung condition and our first year was very very hard. We had no car, stayed in a rented house and had to make do on my scholarship and the part time work my wife did.

It took my wife a long time to adjust to a foreign land away from her mother and sisters. She would often cry. Going back to visit was out of question; we had no money. After finishing my doctorate, I got a teaching job straightaway and we were happy. My other two daughters were born here. We were most impressed by the friendly nature of Australians and decided to stay on. My daughters married white Australians and on the whole, in spite some very testing times, we have done wonderfully well.

We made many friends; Australians, English, Americans and the like. My academic job allowed us to travel to England and USA and widen our horizons. Although I retired some 12 years ago, I am still actively involved in research. I also take great pleasure out of voluntary work and consider myself an Australian. My current research also allows me to keep in touch with India and that makes me most happy. I have been able to build a bridge between my country of birth and my new motherland. My wife retired as a librarian and still does some casual work at the age of 71. She is also the mother figure to many new migrant women from India. Last year we celebrated our 70th birthdays together in the company of friends from all parts of the world. Isn’t Australia a wonderful melting pot of cultures!

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