Name
Vrushali Junnarkar
City
Singapore
Country
Singapore
Interests
Occupation
Joined TOI Contributor
Biography
I am an Indian living currently living in Singapore.I have previously lived in the United Kingdom for 14 years. I am a registered dentist in India and the UK. I am a curious observer of the lives of Indians outside India. Especially of the day to day seemingly mundane lives of ordinary people living in alien surroundings.The trials, tribulations and triumphs of ordinary Indians living outside their home country fascinates me.It is this I love writing about in a lighter vein.
Topics
Women Oriented issues
social
Moral
health
cultural
Articles posted By Vrushali Junnarkar (TOI Contributor)
International Women's day focuses on lives of women around the world and as an Indian woman who migrated to the UK, I reflect on how life changes for women like me.
On moving abroad, most of us Indians need Indian food to really feel at home. We need our 'atta' [whole-wheat flour], daals [lentils], Indian vegetables, masalas and Indian snacks to really settle down into daily living, comfortably.
I sit in my apartment in Singapore, reflecting back on the last few weeks. It is hard to write in spite of the deafening stony silence.
The stunning waterfront of Singapore's Esplanade area with a backdrop of brightly lit, tall buildings of the financial district and the imposing structure of Marina Bay Sands -the last thing one expects in this setting is an Indian cultural experience.
Every major city in this world has a little replica of India within its expansive greatness. Just like every metropolis has an obligatory "Chinatown", it also boasts of a "mini India".
To my naïve self at the time, my definition of an Indian was based on appearance alone.
One would suppose that moving from India to the United Kingdom would be a smooth, bumps-free flight to a cushy life.
Hundreds of us Indians emigrate every year: for higher education, lucrative jobs, better lifestyle and to join our spouses abroad.
Essentially, we human beings are physiologically 'warm-blooded', which means our bodies have the ability to adjust our body thermostat mechanism to external changes of temperature.
When uncles, aunts, cousins from the US visited us in India, they brought us American goodies. For months, we would fantasize about what we would get from our American relatives.
But there is one kind of NRI in Singapore for whom this will probably remain a dream - An NRI who does not fit into the stereotype of the Indian who has come to foreign shores and made it big; someone who defies our perception of what a typical NRI in Singapore is.
A recent relocation from London to Singapore compels me to constantly compare, to marvel at all the differences, the disparity, the glaring dissimilarity between worlds that are poles apart, not just literally.
It was like a breath of fresh air when Narendra Modi spoke about ‘Safai’ (cleanliness) in his first speech in Varanasi, after his party’s win in the general election.
The word 'allergy' for a lot of Indians is something we associate with a skin rash, runny nose or watering eyes.
ll of us who have lived in India are all too familiar with the inconvenience of finding a toilet.
