Why I came to Canada | #Immigration battle

First ten days I felt every day I wanted to go back. I had completely given up.

I had no.

In fact, my son and I we used to cry, hold each other and cry every day morning and evening. And when I remember we used to watch this movie Gulmal in the morning and Jab We Met in the evening. So we used to— we had bought these 2 CDs and we used to watch these 2 movies, you know, so to keep us happy. Thank you for tuning into my channel. Today I have with me Rita Roy Messi. She was the ex-regional manager of Anandabaja Pratika ABP, and she really she's in Canada for the past four years now.

Four years.

Say hi to the audience. Hello.

Yeah.

So today's discussion is going to be. Very exclusive. People have been asking me over years and over years, how did I come to Canada? So today I thought, you know, might as well. Rita wanted to ask me question me because she's a very good journalist. She she's an extremely good person. Big question. So I thought, you know, maybe she can ask me and I can answer instead. And you guys can please. Ask me anything you want in the comment section, and of course subscribe to my channel because you will learn a lot more about Canada if you subscribe to my channel. I'm coming up with more videos like this.

Okay, so I want to first correct you that I was in the marketing department. Okay, not in journalism. So I think you came here quite some time back, like it's been how long now?

It was— I came here in 2009, so it's been 15 years now.

Okay.

So at that time there wasn't really too many people coming here in Canada. So what made you come here?

Very good question, because I remember I never chose Canada. I was wanting to get out of India because of the political scenario, and I wanted a better quality of life. Basically, India, there's a good standard of living. We have good standard of living. We have maids and cooks and and drivers, but there is no quality of life because I was running to office and I was coming up to bring up my child, and my son was very small. So it was becoming very hectic for me. That was the time I decided I wanted to move out of India, give him a better career, a better education. And that is how I selected— and I did not select Canada actually. So there was a small— this is very small, uh, uh, interesting story. There was a small ad in the newspaper with a box office number. So I wrote in that ad, and they said, if you want to immigrate to Canada, write in this box office. So what I did was, I took my son's exercise book and just one plain paper, on one plain exercise book paper, I wrote it in pen, in hand. Why I wanted to come to Canada, and I posted to the post office post box number. I didn't even know where it was going, and I still don't remember what I wrote. Maybe I wrote something from my heart, but believe it or not, I forgot about it. After three months, this huge package immigration package came to me asking me to apply.

So that was really gutsy of you because there's so many scamsters around who put these, and yet you. Applied for it.

Yes, and when I first went to WWICS, through which I came, there were a 2— one table, 2 chair office. That's it. In a sort of like one small office building, one corner of the office. There was just one person. I remember his name was Shantanu. He was just there representing WWICS, and he was— I was on the opposite. There was no other person. It was just a one-person office. And through him I applied, and that's how— like, I have written about this extensively in one of my blogs. You can check out my blogs. It's called Words Rape Me at Night, so I'll give the link below. And I've written my experience extensively in that, but you can read that up, you know, how I applied to come to Canada and the procedure, how— what intense procedure it was. At that time, we didn't have internet. We didn't have. I didn't have any any way to find out about Canada except see a few photographs, maybe.

So here I'd like to ask you, like what made you choose Canada? Say not Australia or some other place.

Because Australia, it was totally through hearsay. Because I didn't have any way of researching, doing any particular research the way people are doing now. So I just it was a hearsay that Australia is not a very Immigrant-friendly country. So I decided not to go to Australia. And as I said, I already Canada sent me that welcome package, that huge package. So my decision was already made. Like they made my decision. I didn't have to really decide because when I when I wrote that letter, I wasn't very serious about going. I was just I just wrote a letter to see how things would turn out.

Exactly.

It was a handwritten letter. It wasn't even I wasn't even very serious. But then when they send me the entire immigration forms and how to apply and the entire package, you know, welcome package, that was the time that got me going. I found this country to be very welcoming, very, you know, like I call this my adopted motherland. So I found that that welcoming thing, it just welcomed me and I came here. That was the thing.

So like, was it difficult the entire process?

Because I'm sure it was something. Coming from India, getting out of India, Was a terribly difficult process because at that time we didn't have internet. I didn't even have my ration card, leave alone my passport. I didn't even have a ration card to apply for a passport. So I had to apply for a ration card first. For that, I had to go to an MLA's house early in the morning to catch him, catch hold of him, so that he can give me a letter saying that this person, Kaberi Chatterjee, lives in this particular location address he has to write down to me otherwise I will not get a ration card if I don't get a ration card I will not be able to apply for a passport for myself and my son okay my husband already had a passport so that was the procedure I started remember started like from not from zero but from minus twenty somewhere and then when the passport the passport at those times used to come take six months to arrive so that passport when it came finally I forgot what the and then the forms became like obsolete when I was finally got time Down to writing down the forms. And I went to Delhi. I went to Delhi all the way. Went to Delhi to Canadian High Commission and stood in the line from early morning. I stood in the line and reached the window. I gave up, gave my application, finally filling it up. They said that the forms have become like obsolete, you have to download new forms.

Okay.

That was the time I said I'm giving up. So it took me almost 5 years to just do the application, and then it took 10 years, 9 years for the application to go through. Oh my God! Because so were you following it up?

No.

Yeah, I was following it up, but then situation was very volatile.

Which year?

This was in 2000. I applied in 2000, 2000, year 2000. So 2001 actually the application 2000 year 2000. The application.

Wait a minute.

2004, the application went through. Year 2000, I started the process. And then 2004, my application was finally filed. But there was a huge lag due to the 2001 9/11 attack, which is why my applications couldn't, you know, like in line. It was lagging. So which which which is why it took. 5 years. In 2009 March, I got my medical. And in between, there was constant changes. Like the person who was taking care of my application in WWICS, she kept calling me and saying that you have to learn French now. So I went to a French class and I was doing a French course for 2 months. And then she said, no, no, you don't have to learn French anymore.

So is this person from WWICS?

Yeah, she's from WWICS. So things The rules and regulations were changing constantly. People— there was not so much smoothness, you know, about coming to Canada. And it was not this Express Entry. These things were not there. So it was just skilled laborers, and there were certain other ways of coming. There were other kind of regulatory rules. So whatever it is, it took 5 years. For them to process my application.

Okay.

So in March 2009, when I got my medical, I said, "Okay." So you had kind of given up.

I'd given up.

Yeah. Whenever people to ask me, I used to say, "Please ask that once a year." If I'm going to Canada, please ask me only once a year. Kind of. So I had completely given up. I had no hopes of giving up of coming to Canada. So when I finally came. I was, I was still not believing in the— even in the airport when I landed with my landing papers in my hand. And, um, I saw the, uh, the person at the counter and I thought, okay, he's going to look at my landing papers and he's going to say, uh, sorry, these are wrong papers, you have to go back, take the next plane back. So I was calculating how much money I have in my account which I can buy a plane ticket back because I came on a one-way ticket.

Yeah.

And no, the person saw my papers. He stamped and he said, "Welcome to Canada." So I just want to salute that person who welcomed me to Canada.

Canada. Actually, can we? I just can't believe it. And I really don't know whether I've come the right direction. This is the house. This is the place which looks beautiful, but I don't know whether it's going to treat me beautifully.

I'm so glad you had a very memorable experience, you know, the whole process. But once you reached here, what did you find?

Once I reached here, okay, that is another story. Once I reached here, like, I was so happy to get onto the plane. I remember I just fell asleep in the plane. And I came alone with my son initially, then my husband joined me later. So when, uh, when I came here, uh, I remember first 2 months I was— we were just, uh, trying to— I was— I got him admitted into the school and then just generally getting the grocery and getting the furniture. You know, I bought a lot of furniture from Kijiji.

Mm-hmm.

Um, so, uh, I bought a laptop first. First thing I did was I walked into Walmart and I bought a laptop because I didn't Have a laptop. We never had laptops in these those days, so it was a big you know thing to have a laptop. So I got a laptop and we shared my amia and my son, my husband. We shared one laptop and okay. So there was that those days. So we had this laptop plugged into one one table and whenever somebody got in and they would log in and they would check their account. So from that laptop, I I found out through my neighbors that you can. or get furniture from Kijiji. And I picked up furniture from the streets. People, you know, if they don't use furniture in Canada, they dump it on the streets. So I picked up some of the tables and chairs from the street. Okay, so dining table and chair and that settee, in fact, I picked it up from the roadside. So then I got a couple of furniture from Kijiji. I got bought my bed online from again Kijiji. I found a store, so they delivered the mattress. It was just a mattress. The first mattress was actually an air bed. Anish and I, my son and I went to Walmart and we bought an air bed, blew it up, and we couldn't even sleep on it. It was wobbling like this. So it was very funny. So throw it away. And that actually that was there for a long time. We didn't have that culture to throw away things as yet. We didn't develop that culture. So we kept it in the balcony for some time, and then we bought a mattress. So we slept on the mattress, me and my son. We slept on the mattress for 2 months. Then my husband came in and we bought another mattress for my son. And chairs and stools.

How about the winter here?

In the first winter, it was very difficult because we didn't have any car at that time. So first winter we had to travel through in a bus. So there are— luckily the place I'm in has a very good public transportation.

Well connected.

Very well connected. So place I walked in, I am staying in the same house though I bought houses elsewhere. I bought my own house, but I haven't moved in there. I've stayed in the same place for over 15 years now. So that's because this place is so well connected. And there's bus just across the street. And I remember we used to like bundle up and then walk out in the street. And then, you know, we knew the timing, bus timing. I remember I fell down very badly once trying to catch a bus. My son fell down twice. That's a common occurrence. Yeah, in winter, because of the black ice. We were not used to the black ice. So my son fell down twice on the same spot. And he hurt his arm very badly. And that, I must tell you, is a very interesting realization I had. So he hurt his arm, his arm was very swollen up. So I went to the— we went to the— I took a taxi, I think. Yeah, I called a taxi and we went to the nearest hospital. And then he was— his arm was— the X-ray was done, several tests were done. We were Moved from one department to the other, and then the doctor gave him— said, no, nothing has happened, there's nothing broken, so you can just take him and put some of this ointment on him. And they gave the ointment, everything. And then I was just waiting for the bill, and I did not get any bill. Because I just, I felt so empty. I didn't have to pay anything. I just walked out.

That's a nice emptiness.

Nice emptiness. And that kind of realization was so Refreshing for us coming from India. I didn't have to pay anything, so I walked and I felt guilty. You know, I said, "Why haven't I paid anything?" Very exciting thing. After coming here, this excitement of being here, you know, like the lot of things which I saw over here, which kind of doused the struggle that I had to go through. The struggle was yes, you're coming to a different country. You have to struggle. You have to. Learn so many different things. It's like walking on your head, almost walking on your hands.

And especially those days, I think it was even more difficult.

Even more difficult because we didn't have any Indian grocery stores. Now we have it at every corner. We didn't know what food to eat. And I remember we— I was eating eggs. Me and my son were eating egg curry every day. So somehow I used to make an egg curry with some paste which was Totally unfamiliar kind of a paste, cooking paste I got from the from Walmart, and it smelled. That's I still remember the smell of that egg curry. It was very strange. One one simple, and in the morning we'd have egg curry and rice. In the evening we would have chicken nuggets curry and rice. That was it. That was our food. Then I had my neighbor who I must mention Tara Shankuda and Lipa. They were my neighbors downstairs, they, they were like Bengali. So they kind of took me to the Indian market, Bengali market, fish market. And then we realized that, okay, we can have so much food, you know, like our kind of food. And then, uh, we bought utensils and lots of things we bought over here. And, um, okay.

What about the job front?

Yes, the job front is very interesting. Now, I was in media. But over here, there is when I came here to apply for media, there was no no media anyway.

Okay.

So media wasn't very active in Canada because there is no news. So Canada is a peaceful country. There's no news. So what happened was that I started applying for odd jobs, any kind of odd jobs. So I started working in one subway, one another neighbor upstairs. She was working at Subway, so she said, you know, you can join me.

Join.

So she took me and both of us started working in Subway. It was just down the street over here, about 3 blocks down, 3 red lights. So we used to walk down to the Subway and I used to work there, but it was a standing job and I didn't like— I was a chief sub-editor in my department in Hindustan Times, and I'm just asking myself, what am I doing here? I'm mopping the floor.

So didn't you feel that it was a mistake? Didn't you think?

I didn't think it was a mistake. I was just thinking that—

Coming here.

I was just thinking, where is the kind of job I'm gonna do? Where is the job? How do I find the job? I was getting so tired of this. So I was mopping the floor and I was serving customers and it was— I was in the— I was very hungry in those days, you know. I used to be very hungry. So whenever I used to see those meats, meat section, the meats are all spread out, I would feel very hungry. But they would give us food. But you know, if you're first immigrant, in the first few days you would feel very, um, you would feel very lost. That's the thing, that's the word. And very, um, needy. That's, that's the thing, you know, you start feeling.

So needy for what?

Like needy for attention, for affection? for people, for your own people, connection basically, because I'm not being able to connect with anybody. So it's totally a lost thing for me.

Environment.

Environment. And like, people are, people are friendly, but they're just friendly. They're not my friends. They cannot be anything more than that. Anything more than that. So that was it. And then Ronnie came. I got another job in Costco. And Ronnie came. So I was supposed to join Costco, and meanwhile Ronnie came in. And Ronnie also applied for a job in Toronto, and he took a taxi to Toronto. That time we didn't even have Uber or Lyft, so he took a taxi to Toronto and he came back in the same taxi. And the job, it was not even a job, it was a security guard's job. You know, Ronnie was the manager, sales area manager of ABP at that time, and he came here. It was a security guard's job, and they were asking him to deposit $200 to get— give him that job. So that was a scam. So he got into a lot of scams like this also initially. And then he got into Costco, and he worked there for 2 months. Now, I went to Costco. I was supposed to get the job, so I went to Costco, and I told Maria, my— who was— who was hiring me. She was very nice. Maria was very nice.

person.

So I said, Maria, she— he's a better salesman than I am, so he'll take the job. I won't. Then Ronnie took the job. That time I started relaxing. I said, I have done the entire process of immigration. I am not— I'm going to relax for a few days.

Yeah.

And then I applied for, uh, to, uh, study. I decided I had to study to get into this.

I needed to know what I wanted to do.

So I wanted to study. So I, so I did, uh, I studied and I studied for a year. Uh, so, but then I got, I didn't, I got only part-time jobs after that. So thankfully the studying period I got OSAP grant and loan. So that was very, um, you know, needed in the family.

So how long was this?

This was about 10 months.

10 months.

And what did you— we— I started— what degree was this? Yeah, CCE, uh, Early Childcare Assistantship or something like that. I forgot that, uh, I still have the degree. I did well actually in class. I came first in class and, um, it was a degree. But then I did, uh, a couple of jobs, uh, child, um, like related, related, uh, nursery cool jobs, but I didn't like it. So then I wanted to— by the time I was already settled, I wanted to get back to my own industry. And I got a call from one of the persons who was launching a magazine. First job was with a newspaper called Midweek. So there I joined in as the editor, and then I worked there for 6 months. Then there was another job with Can India News. So you started working?

Like, when did you first get your proper job?

How long was it from the beginning?

That was almost 2, 2 and a half years.

Okay.

That's because I was studying. One year, almost one year I was studying, and 2 months I like, I took off. I said I'm not doing anything. I was just at home. So then, uh, by that time Ronnie was, uh, had my husband, he had got a couple of good offers and he's already building up his good career profile over here. So it was, uh, it was okay. Not— I wouldn't say we were like, uh, good. We were just barely managing from paycheck to paycheck. And we had bought a car, but that car was— sorry, uh, like it was like swallowing petrol and gas. So it was not a good purchase, but we had that car for 2 years. I started working for a government for the Indian government for, uh, in 2011. In 2011 itself, I think I joined a newspaper over here, worked there for a year. Then I joined another newspaper. Uh, meanwhile, I started launching my own— I started launching my own publishing house because I was realizing this country is good for entrepreneurs. You know, like if you're an entrepreneur, I wanted to also be my own boss by that time. So then I was again working. I was working and managing my own publishing house simultaneously at one stage, and then was working as the managing editor of another newspaper which was working from home, so I could manage both together. And then that was in 2014. 2014 From 2016, I completely gave up my jobs and I started working on another business, like 2-3 businesses almost. I started working on my own. And the best thing about Canada is that I came here and I published my first book, like second book.

So I—

that was the biggest achievement I felt I had. But why? You had already published one.

I published one.

Why did you feel Yeah, because Neil Must Die, my book, which is over here. So Neil Must Die was something from the very core of my heart, and I wanted a good publisher, but India, I was not getting that opportunity. So here I came here and immediately got the opportunity. There were multiple publishing houses, and they got it published in USA, and that was a huge kind of, you know, Philip, very good excitement that I got my novel published finally. So I remember my friend, Tikhli, her name is, her good name is Toni Chauvi. She edited this book free of cost to me. She, when she read the book, she said, why isn't this book in the market? You made me cry, girl. That's what she said. Oh my God. Said, I'm going to edit it free of cost. And she edited this book free of cost, and then the book got published. And then I started feeling, okay, now I'm an author, yeah, and a journalist. So I started feeling that identity established. Yes, so you can get back that.

For me, it took about 4 or 5 years after coming to Canada.

First 2 years, you want to go back. It's so hard. Over here, people are not.

So what do you recommend to the newcomers who are coming, who are struggling? What would you recommend?

I would recommend those who are struggling over here. You will make it. You will make it. Just stick to your point and think about what you want to do. This country gives that opportunity to every person. What you want to be, you know. Your core wish is fulfilled in this country. You should not get into a wrong profession. Like I was in the— I could have got into a call center, banks. I had enough qualifications, I could join. My husband is working in the bank. He kept telling me, apply for the bank, you'll get it, you are so good at talking. I said, no, that's not my forte. I would rather step back and think about what I want and be be happy, where I'm going to be happy, you know. So it takes some time, definitely, and that is the time— it's a very challenging time. You have to really manage your course and you have to really hold on to your horses, whatever the way you say. And then you should concentrate about on what you want to do, like what makes you wake up in the morning, every morning, you know. Is it something That needs to wake you up. And right, I always think, and this country actually gives you the opportunity. There is no, no pockets like you have to do this or you have to do that. There's nothing here. It is very fluid. That is what I feel I should be telling the country. That was really wonderful, and I'm sure it must have encouraged so many of the newcomers who are coming here. I hope so. So I hope so, guys. And yeah, you can ask me any questions if you want. And then if there are too many questions, we'll take on to another, you know, video. We can have another Tetate sometimes later because people will have a lot of questions and they will want answers. So let me know if you have any more questions. I'll try to cover as much as possible. And yeah, see you So subscribe to my channel and click on this video or this video to get more of Canada as much as you want, because you have the opportunity to do some research before coming to Canada.

I didn't, I didn't have any opportunity, but I'm here and we're doing, doing pretty well. Thank you for watching. Thank you for tuning in.

Bye-bye.

Have a good day.