Saroja Srinivasan

Story

My husband and 2 year old daughter, who was born in Liverpool, UK arrived from the UK . We had lived in Liverpool UK for 5 years and decided to migrate to Australia. I had completed my Clinical Psychology training in Liverpool and was offered a position in the WA Department of Corrective Services at Perth which made our decision easier. Even as a teenager in India I had been fascinated by Australia and it was a wish come true.

We travelled to India for four weeks on our journey to Perth to visit family on both sides. It was a big move and I remember my 87 year old grandfather telling me he could visit us now as ‘Australia was much warmer than the UK’!

We arrived on 13 February 1972 in Perth , during their hottest 2 weeks of the year! It had snowed in Liverpool in January when we left and India in the north was quite cool and suddenly to be plunged into 100* F heat was stifling even for us who were born in the tropics! Unfortunately our telegram to my boss in the Department had not been received – with no-one to meet the midnight arrival at the airport we made our way to the George Hotel on George Street, thankfully the name I remembered. Within days we found a flat to rent and made ourselves comfortable. The best experience was collecting our shipment from UK including our car which was awaiting us in the docks and clearing it within 2 hours!! Yes the population of WA was as they advertised 1 million squaremiles and 1 million people”! So it was a quite a change coming from UK and India. The work was very interesting for me – I was one of three Clinical Psychologists in the Department and it took me to places like Albany, Pardelup open prison and Fremantle. Unfortunately my husband being a professional engineer was unable to find suitable employment. Perth was not a very industrialised city.

Within 5 months we had to reluctantly move East as he was offered a teaching position with TAFE NSW. However we settled into Sydney and bought a nice home in Kogarah Bay in December 1972 in which we still live!! Our son was born in 1974 and we now have our daughter and her family living in Carrs Park, close to Kogarah bay with her two children and our son in Oxford with his wife and their first child on the way. I have been blessed with a succesful professional life having completed my PhD at Sydney Uni, been an academic at Sydney Uni and Uni of Wollongong, been a Memebr of the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal and held senior positions in hospitals. Our best years we have given to Australia and have been happy living here. We have travelled a lot all over the world and come back to say Sydney is home now as much as India will always be.

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