Not like in Dickens

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/magazine/6947910.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Birmingham confounded Vish's expectationsClean streets, 4x4s and high-rise buildings form the first impressions of an Indian IT consultant who comes to the UK. It's not like in Dickens, he tells his brother in e-mails charting his progress in making a new life with his family.

Vish Madughiri, 43, moved to the UK from Bangalore in 2003. He arrived with his son Akshay in Birmingham, where his wife Leela had settled some months earlier.

A series of e-mails to his brother over a number of years reveals how getting a job was not as easy as he thought, and he feels the pull of his homeland as it undergoes an economic boom.

12 APRIL 2003

Dear Kumar, How are you? It has been only a few days since we have arrived from Bangalore and already, the hustle and bustle, the noises, the mad rush; they all seem so distant and faint. Akshay and I landed mid-morning at Birmingham International Airport and Leela was waiting for us. It was great to be reunited after so many months of sort of being a single dad. There aren't many of us in India and Akshay and I have been the odd ones out in the family for long enough, thank you!

In my mind I thought it would be all green and spruce but some bits look almost like America In the car on the way back to our new flat I kept thinking to myself, "Things are so quiet around here". I'm telling you it was strange driving through streets where everything is so clean and well-ordered.

So far I love being over here. Remember when we were kids and I'd come back from school, turn on the World Service whilst you were with your friends playing cricket? I used to love listening to the news and plays and imagining what the studios were like over in London. Well, it's not exactly how I imagined it would be. In my mind I thought it would be all green and spruce but some bits look almost like America, so modern with high rise buildings. And, it's much wealthier than I'd expected: the roads are full of such expensive cars - these huge 4x4s are all around. It's really not like the cities in the Dickens adaptations I listened to.

At the moment though I still feel like a tourist. Leela's arranged a huge list of sights for Ashkay and me to see from the Isle of Wight to Scotland. Wherever we are I try to drink everything in. Also, after having lived apart from Leela for months, it feels good to be together again as a family.

10 SEPTEMBER 2003

Dear Kumar, How are you? At the moment I am sitting in my makeshift study in our new home in Solihull. Although it's not as big as our home in Bangalore, it's in a quiet cul-de-sac with a garden and each morning I get to take Akshay to school, so things are looking good. Well, almost.

It's been over five months since I arrived in the UK and the initial excitement of being here has worn off.

Today hasn't been a great day. I've spent ages trying to find the best place to help me find a job. When I first arrived I followed the same plan I would have done back in Bangalore. I went to find a headhunter. Unfortunately, I had no idea where the headhunters for the computer industry were, especially in a place as quiet as Solihull.

Anyway, after weeks of trawling around various job centres, I eventually found out that they aren't where I should be looking for an executive job. Sometimes it's so frustrating: if you come here on your own, no-one tells you anything! It's like you're just expected to know where to turn.

So, at last, I got a meeting in town today with a job agency. I was so excited beforehand but in the meeting they were really pessimistic about my chances of getting a job as good as I had back home. They said: "Well it's great that you have 15 years experience but they aren't in the UK so we don't think we'll be able to help you."

I know that you think I'm a real risk-taker. That you thought it was unusual if not foolhardy for me to support Leela coming over to work in Britain without me. And that I virtually burnt my boats with my old job when I came over here. So I suppose you won't be surprised to find out that I'm now wondering whether I've made the right decision to move.

But that's the challenge, isn't it? To be able to establish yourself in a new country. It takes real grit and determination. You just can't give up.

Leela's job is going so well and Akshay loves his new school so I feel that I'm the one who's got to work extra hard to find a job and settle here. It's a lot of responsibility and I don't want to be the one to let the family down. After all, we've worked so hard to get here in the first place.

Although some days I long to come back to Bangalore, I'm not ready yet.

4 JUNE 2004

Dear Kumar, Thanks for the pictures of your new baby Anant. He looks just like his mum. He has the same nose. You're new home is also very impressive. People here would be quite jealous of all the space you have. It costs so much to get anywhere of a decent size in the UK.

Anyway, just as things are moving on for you, so they are for me. It's about six o'clock in the evening here and I've just come back from my new job. Yes, I've finally found something in my line of expertise. I'm working for an IT company just on the outskirts of Birmingham and although the work itself is easy, just liaising with new clients, getting used to the way things are done here is a bit tiring.

At last I feel truly connected, as if I'm beginning to get a feel for the issues that are shaping the local community It was a real godsend to get the job. But, you know me; I've never been one for hanging around and waiting for the next opportunity to present itself. I was getting really frustrated at how long it was taking for me to make contacts over here. I suppose I'd underestimated how good the contacts were that I'd left behind.

Anyway, to get myself up and running in the business world in Birmingham I've joined the Chambers of Commerce. It is right in the centre of town by the train station. The top man at the chamber is a called Jerry Blackett. He's a really energetic guy and can be very funny. More importantly, I'm very grateful to him because on the basis of just one meeting he invited me to help with them with their policy.

I think he really understood me, got where I was coming from. Anyway, at the moment, I'm working on policies to increase diversity in to the business community. At last I feel truly connected, as if I'm beginning to get a feel for the issues that are shaping the local community.

5 FEBRUARY 2006

Dear Kumar, Hi there, how are you? I'm good. It's a quiet Saturday morning in the house today. Akshay is playing in the next room and I've just had a chance sit and read the business magazines.

I think this is my most relaxing time of the week. I get to read the papers whilst Leela prepares Saturday breakfast. We're having chapattis this morning.

I love to find out what is happening around the world, all of the new developments, especially those in India. In fact, I laughed out loud when I read about India's performance at the world economic forum in Davos. My paper had a whole article with pictures of the posters India plastered all over Davos with the words, "India: the world's fastest growing free-market democracy" on them. I loved it.

The boom in India tempted Vish homeIt won't surprise you to know that I've been closely monitoring India's amazing economic growth ever since I left Bangalore. I'm not a paranoid person but it's almost as if India was waiting for me to leave her shores to begin this period of super-charged growth!

I don't want to blow my own trumpet but I think I've been doing my small part to drive her growth over here in the UK. About a month ago I started a great new job at Birmingham University School of Computer Science. The team of researchers in our centre are developing new approaches to business.

In simple terms we see how nature deals with certain types of problems, and then try to apply its answers to the business world. Its early days but when I stroll through our centre and show people the work the team are doing, I feel proud. For example, some of our researchers are trying to find out what designs appeal to people all over the world.

Plus, seeing them push their ideas and knowledge to the limit is really humbling. Well, you'd know all about that in your line of work as an engineer. Anyway, my role is to promote their inventions to companies all over the world from Brasilia to Bangalore.

I really feel like I'm plugged into the forces driving the economy. I may be thousands of miles from India but I'm playing my part in her growth, don't you worry.

It doesn't leave me much time for the family though, which Leela might have something to say about as we've had a new addition of late. Our baby Aditi: a beautiful girl to accompany our boy Akshay. I'm a dad again and it feels great. In fact, I can hear her now, I think she's crying, so I'd better go.

1 MARCH 2007

Dear Kumar, I am writing to you from home, and change seems to be in the air. Our son Akshay is moving on up in the school system. Yesterday was his last day at junior school: they had a mini disco which he assures me was a lot of fun. But this coming September he'll be going to the local private school. He did really well passing the exam to get in and he's excited about moving to 'big school'.

Recently, we also celebrated our daughter Aditi's first birthday. Aditi as you know was born in Britain. Almost as if by magic, she has suddenly perked up and become very active post her first birthday.

After being in the UK for over four years I suppose it's not surprising that our roots are getting a bit firmer here. I'm not the only one either. When I was talking to Akshay the other day he didn't sound very keen about moving back. It's difficult to make him see the big picture, that the future of the world lies in the East. He's still young and his friends are over here. When we were in Bangalore he changed schools so many times that living in Solihull has been the longest period he's spent in one class.

As a family we're also enjoying the local area. Leela and I love going to this smart downtown shopping centre called the Mailbox. There's this canal side restaurant which does a great chicken Biriyani.

But personally, I'd like to go back to India in a few years time. There is a buzz in the air and I'd like to be part of it and make my contribution to the spectacular economic growth story that is happening right now.

It's funny, in my head I really believe that geography is now history, that I could realistically move my job to any country but, as my time in Britain has shown me, it's often harder than you think to settle in and that the only person who can help you to do this is yourself. But until then I'm looking forward to doing my bit over here in Britain.

<hr>Letters Home is a five-part series on Radio 4 that ended at 0930 BST on Thursday 16 August. Hear the latest episode at Radio 4's <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml">Listen again</a> page.