Migrants tell of being ‘uprooted, replanted’ in NZ
When Shubha Narayan waited to catch her first flight to move to her adopted country, she felt like a ‘‘colourful little sparrow’’ amid the Kiwis at the Air New Zealand boarding gate.
She has vivid memories of her green, yellow and red skirt and blouse contrasting with the grey and black outfits worn by the blonde travellers returning home around her. The Montessori school teacher is sharing her experience of moving from India to Aotearoa 23 years ago in a grassroots film project designed to take Kiwis into the homes of immigrants.
Immigrant Journeys, launching this week, is an idea that came out of a conversation Lady Khadija Trustees Hafsa Ahmed and husband Razi Syed had with friends following the Christchurch terrorist attack on two mosques on March 15, 2019.
‘‘People don’t know what kind of lives we have inside our houses,’’ Ahmed said. ‘‘We felt that a lot of the immigrant stories are often the negative stories.’’
The ‘‘slow-cooking’’ project involved a small crew spending about seven hours filming each participant, usually on a weekend, after gaining funding from the Ministry for Ethnic Communities and the Rata Foundation. A lot of generosity made the project possible, Ahmed said, including from videographer John Sellwood, photographer Janneth Gill, and Ahmed and Syed’s two children, Zahra, 8, and Hussain, 10. Her children were a ‘‘big part of what we do’’ and were a driving force behind their efforts to make society more cohesive, Ahmed said.
The 24 video stories, available on the Immigrant Journeys website, were a ‘‘gift’’ to the community, with plans to have them exhibited in public in future.
One participant described immigration as ‘‘uprooting yourself from one place and planting yourself in another’’.
Narayan spoke of offering diversity ‘‘of people from different lands’’ but, in the end, there is ‘‘commonness in each one of us’’.
‘‘No matter where you come from, no matter what you look like, the fundamental needs of all human beings are the same.
‘‘The need for food, water, shelter, love, spirituality, connection. These needs are always the same.’’
As a Montessori teacher of 36 years, she believes it is important to pass on to her students the values of kindness, and respect for one another, oneself, and for the environment.
She and her family came to Aotearoa with two suitcases, a job, and
some advice from her mother and grandmother that has sat with her ever since.
‘‘Whatever life throws at you, you need to face it there.’’
Leaving their motherlands, immigrants often had no idea what they were coming into, she said. ‘‘We did not have the luxury of saying if it doesn’t work out here we’re going to go back.’’
She has fond memories of warm, sunny days as a child growing up in India – swimming, fishing, and playing with extended family.
‘‘When I was a young girl, life in India was quite simple.’’
In New Zealand, Kiwis also had the benefit of a connection with the outdoors.
‘‘I think New Zealand is a slice of paradise.’’
Her advice to anyone immigrating to New Zealand was: ‘‘Come with an openness of mind.’’