Name:	Anand and Adrita
	Nationality:	Indian
	Profession:	Anand - Librarian Adrita - Writer
	Migrated to NZ:	2003

Anand, his wife Adrita, and their eight-year-old son Ayash, have lived in Wellington together since 2003.

Anand recalls his first impressions of Wellington in 2001 when he arrived here to begin studies for a Masters degree at Victoria University.

A friend picked him up at Wellington airport and drove him to her home in Karori.

“The first things that struck me were that the air was so clean, the sky was so blue, and there was so much greenery around.

“It made me feel rejuvenated. That drive to Karori was one of the most wonderful trips I ever made.

“It is a pleasure to live in a city where there are not too many high rise buildings, where you see that children have enough places to play. The city is neat and clean and tidy. These are things that make you feel good.”

Family Reunion

While Anand studied, he applied for permanent residency, which was readily granted. He also secured a job as Knowledge Adviser at the New Zealand Treasury. It is a job he enjoys.

“It is such a supportive atmosphere, it is a joy to work there,” he says.

Meanwhile, Adrita remained in Calcutta where she was a university lecturer in English literature, with Ayash. The family was reunited in Wellington after 18 months, when Ayash was almost five years old.

On arrival, Adrita was struck by the goodness of people – what she calls “the innate generosity” of New Zealanders. It is something she still marvels at.

She remembers when Ayash’s sunhat blew into the middle of a busy road one day. A bus driver stopped so she could retrieve it as a line of cars banked up behind the bus. When she had collected the hat, the vehicles drove on. All the drivers, one by one, waved and smiled.

“I was totally amazed,” Adrita says. “That happened three years ago and it remains with me today. It made me feel accepted here… that I was welcome.”

Relaxed Way of Life

In Wellington, the family pleasure in many of the small but profound differences: being able to drink water from the tap, smooth roads, quick service at the shops, buses that come on time, government agencies that treat you as a customer.

They also take pleasure in the lack of crowds, and the relaxed way of life.

“People laugh out loud in the street,” Adrita says. “There is a zest and joy.”

The couple live in a two-bedroom flat, and send Ayash to an inner city school where he is happy, and has many friends.

“It’s very multi-cultural, and very tolerant. Many of the people we have met through the school show a real interest in those of us who come from other places.”

A Busy Lifestyle

Every weekend, they visit the Wellington Public Library – “it’s incredible, an amazing resource.” They regularly visit the Botanic Garden and Te Papa, and enjoy walks around Evans Bay, which is close to their home. They use the trains for out of town excursions to Kapiti or the Hutt Valley.

In 2004, Adrita was accepted into the prestigious creative writing programme at Victoria University, and graduated with distinction. She is currently revising the novel she wrote that year, and has begun another.

Meanwhile, she is pleased to have left behind academia, and to embrace New Zealand’s more flexible way of living. She works part time in an administrative role, gives the occasional guest lecture, works as a translator/editor for an Indian publisher, and writes as a freelance journalist for publications in New Zealand and India.

Anand works full-time, and studies part-time in order to finish his Masters degree in Library and Information Studies.

It’s a busy life but a good one – and the future feels bright.