Struggles of Immigrants in Canada

It started in November 2016. I was driving on NH1 from Shimla to Delhi with my wife and our son. As we were nearing Delhi, we started coughing, almost in unison. The shining sun dulled and the colour of sky turned from blue to grey. Smoggy darkness engulfed everything around us and it seemed we were entering a dark tunnel where suspended air pollutants were fighting to rise above in the atmosphere but there was a ceiling which was stopping them. Driving midst other vehicles which were hissing past us, we knew we were entering Delhi’s winter smog. This smog is an annual occurrence before the onset of winters. And along with it comes breathlessness, bronchitis, lung diseases, asthma attacks and some other horrible diseases which occur due to the constant breathing-in of pollutants. Almost everyone that I know of gives up his outdoor activities like running. People joke that this is the only city where if you exercise, during this smoggy period, your chances of dying early are high as compared to people who don’t exercise.

With watery eyes, E’s coughing became a constant wheezing which lasted for nearly 5 days. It was tough for a kid to survive in this air where dangerous particles remain above and beyond permissible limits. So, we decided to explore living in some other place. Our options included moving to another country as well.

Niagara Falls — Epitome of Canadian vastness.

After 10 months, we landed in Canada. It was like fulfilling the Punjabi dream where every youngster fancies to live and work abroad in general and iCanada in particular. And thousands from Punjab fulfill their dream annually and I cheekily tell people that now I am one of those.

For my few initial days, handful things about Canada stood out — vastness, emptiness and quietness.

I have grown up in India which is a colourful chaos created by more than a billion people. Crowded bus stops and railway stations, bustling street markets and malls swarming with people added spice to the first 37 years of my life. After landing from a colourful canvas and populated country like India, where average population density is 380 persons per kilometer, I found Canada empty and quiet. I landed in it’s most populated province but here also the average population density is of 14 persons for every kilometer. Initially, this vastness and emptiness was strange as I missed the sensory experiences of having people around me. Soon, this silence started growing on me. I started looking forward to going on long runs on quiet mornings and often take long walks on empty pavements and on trails laden with nothing but greenery. I often find these serene sojourns therapeutic.

Vehicles ply on roads all day and the only noise you hear is that of rolling tires driving fast on roads. This roadway noise is the chief source of noise pollution in North America. But horns are seldom used. There were days spent on road where I did not hear any single horn. In India, I am one of those drivers who need horn as much as I need brakes, accelerator, and gears. But since the time I started driving in Canada, I haven’t blown a horn. Not even once. It is considered bad manners and if someone blows than people look at them with glaring eyes asking ‘what’s wrong?’

And it’s not only roads that are quiet or should I say awfully quiet. You go to food courts, there’s no noise of cutlery clanking on plates. Bus stops and train stops are engulfed with an eerie silence. At most of the places, there are no people. And if there are people, they are involved in their own self. There’s no chattering to listen to.

But coming to a new country is like a larvae getting out of its cocoon and seeing a new world in front of itself. I have been to many countries but this is the first time I am trying to live in another country and no amount of training can prepare you for that. You are going to get surprises from various walks of life. And here I am documenting them. Some were beautiful, some made me look mildly foolish and some were dazzling. And all of them helped me learn something more about this land of snow, lakes and maple leaves.