Page 16 - Seniors Today December 2020

celebrity, sports star or industrialist. Even in Nisha Khot – 9 years in UK, 10 years in
the western countries, everyone is not any of
these, but they have a more disciplined and
comfortable life.
Anita Navlurkar – 31 years in the US
We came at a time when there wasn’t so
much opportunity in India. My first job in
1988 got me Rs 1500. Nowhere enough to be
financially independent. It was very different
to break through in those times without the
right connections. Dealing with corruption
was another factor. It was much easier and
faster to reach financial freedom and ease and
comfort in the US.
Trade-off was being an immigrant and
not having family and friends you grew up
with around you. These days opportunities
are available in India as well. So, I think
the decision is not that easy. But I guess
competition and lack of infrastructure like
electricity, water, are still a problem. My
much younger colleagues from work are
still wanting to settle here and willing to go
through the uncertainty of waiting for 10-15
years to get a green card.
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Australia
As a doctor, my options in India were limited
– stay in a government hospital job where you
are not paid well & can be transferred to any
part of the state at any time or set up a private
practice where you are at the beck & call of
patients 24/7 and have to deal with unethical
practices like giving colleagues a percentage
of your fee for each patient they refer to you.
Both options were not ones that I liked. So,
we decided to try another country. For Amit,
it was also to do with the fact that he wanted
to do haematology & research, both of which
were very limited in India.
In the UK & in Australia, we have the choice
of having a private practice if we want to.
Neither of us have this. Working for the
government pays well (not as much as private
practice but still, well enough that we can