A million lights from the ground winked at me when the flight was preparing to land in Melbourne. Welcome to your new home, they all seemed to say to me. I was a bundle of nerves when we touched ground, but at the same time, I couldn't wait to get started.
I wasn't sold on the idea to migrate when it first came up. My partner was lying across from me in bed one night, and suddenly he asked, "If I go abroad, will you come with me?" I didn't have to think for long, for I knew the answer right away, "YES!!" Then the reality set in. We were just dating; although we had been together for almost 10 years at that point, there had been no plans to make anything official. The only response from my partner about commitment had been a fleeting "lets see when the time comes" every time I asked. Did that mean I had to get married to him, I wondered sleepless that night.
A few months and a very simple marriage ceremony later, on one lonely night, I was leaving my home country with my partner. His mum came to the airport, and at that moment I realized I was going to be starting a whole new episode of my life. There were no one from my family present to send us off, they didn't know that I was leaving. I left behind a lot of people who loved me that day. In my opinion, it was okay to leave them because I was going to start a brand new episode in my life. Brand new episodes deserved starting fresh, I reasoned.
The new life has been exciting. My partner is great, and I am happy with him. Mum-in-law visited us a couple of times and things have been going great. But it hasn't been this good every day. We have had our differences and we have had our disagreements. My very naive idea of the two of us against the world did shatter to pieces. I saw my friends and family choose other people over me, and that did hurt. The stress and depression was unbearable at times, my partner was depressed, his mum wasn't approving of me and I was not having luck at my profession. It made me miserable, teary and very sad. Help wasn't very accessible, but I wanted to be better. I needed to be happy again. As a result, Nethra's Vicinity was born, and it saved me.
And the rest is history.
I wasn't sold on the idea to migrate when it first came up. My partner was lying across from me in bed one night, and suddenly he asked, "If I go abroad, will you come with me?" I didn't have to think for long, for I knew the answer right away, "YES!!" Then the reality set in. We were just dating; although we had been together for almost 10 years at that point, there had been no plans to make anything official. The only response from my partner about commitment had been a fleeting "lets see when the time comes" every time I asked. Did that mean I had to get married to him, I wondered sleepless that night.
A few months and a very simple marriage ceremony later, on one lonely night, I was leaving my home country with my partner. His mum came to the airport, and at that moment I realized I was going to be starting a whole new episode of my life. There were no one from my family present to send us off, they didn't know that I was leaving. I left behind a lot of people who loved me that day. In my opinion, it was okay to leave them because I was going to start a brand new episode in my life. Brand new episodes deserved starting fresh, I reasoned.
The new life has been exciting. My partner is great, and I am happy with him. Mum-in-law visited us a couple of times and things have been going great. But it hasn't been this good every day. We have had our differences and we have had our disagreements. My very naive idea of the two of us against the world did shatter to pieces. I saw my friends and family choose other people over me, and that did hurt. The stress and depression was unbearable at times, my partner was depressed, his mum wasn't approving of me and I was not having luck at my profession. It made me miserable, teary and very sad. Help wasn't very accessible, but I wanted to be better. I needed to be happy again. As a result, Nethra's Vicinity was born, and it saved me.
And the rest is history.
