Speaker 1 0:00

This season I am deciding to turn up the fun factor a little bit. So I'm going to start with some fun questions, okay, oh wow, I wasn't prepared for that.

Speaker 4 0:08

Oh, this is a tough one.

Speaker 3 0:09

Okay, I'm not ready for that, but let's do it.

Speaker 1 0:12

Teach us something in your native language.

Speaker 3 0:16

It means thank you.

Speaker 5 0:19

It means everything. How are you? What's up? Vamos por unas cervezas, let's go for some beers, everything.

Speaker 6 0:24

How are you? What's up Dobar din Fikr na kar shukr kar. Vamos por unas cervezas. Let's go for some beers.

Speaker 1 0:29

I'm not going to try to say that, I'll completely butcher it.

Speaker 4 0:32

In the past I was so embarrassed I was like why are you speaking to me in Hindi? Why are you speaking to me in English? What's going on here? But now, as I get older, I'm realizing what the heck was I thinking?

Speaker 7 0:47

When students and international talents come over here, they come with a lot of hope, a lot of aspirations that you know. Canada is the dream and I'm going to come over here. I'm going to settle quickly, I'm going to have a good education, good job in the fastest possible time. But guess what? That?

Speaker 6 1:03

rarely happens. I thought we would get an ecosystem that is more welcoming for international students and immigrants, but I have found that is not the case. Everything is harder for international students.

Speaker 7 1:14

First there is a survival mode, right, then there is an acclimatization mode, and then there is probably an adjustment and a growth mode.

Speaker 6 1:23

I need to learn a new language, I need to study again. I need to take care of my family. I need to do all of these things.

Speaker 1 1:29

I'm still, you know, trying to get a grip on the accent. There's still so much work that I've got to do to justify my place here, so I'm not Canadian enough that concern of being othered is very real for immigrants.

Speaker 3 1:40

Almost one year and a half and two years to find jobs similar to what I used to have, Either with their education, with the experience that I have international experience already and Canadian experience.

Speaker 7 1:55

International talent are the most adaptable, they are the most courageous and they're the most resilient talent out there, the actual system is not aligned to welcome people.

Speaker 6 2:04

It's quite the opposite.

Speaker 8 2:05

To benefit from people who are coming from across the world, bringing their skills and experience and all that, but to somehow just not consider those elements in your policies, both at the country level, at the company level, at all levels, is just not okay. I think past a point.

Speaker 4 2:25

I'm happy to take in all the information, I'm happy to listen and give me the advice, give me the resources, give me whatever I need, but at the end of the day I have to deal with the consequences of those actions that I make.

Speaker 1 2:35

God will never put you in places where he knows that you won't be able to handle this.

Speaker 5 2:43

I'll go out for an interview, for example, and then they'll say oh, your English is really. You know how come you speak really good English. I'm surprised that people still say that.

Speaker 3 2:50

Sometimes I felt that it's kind of, maybe weakness, maybe that's something that prevented me to get a good job, when they saw my accent.

Speaker 2 2:59

If I speak in Spanish. I was vibrant, I was curious, I was happy. But the moment I switched to English, my whole personality changed completely.

Speaker 1 3:06

I was like gray I was not sure it started seeping into the way that I conducted myself with people around me.

Speaker 5 3:14

It was almost like trying to become perfect at pronouncing certain words that we were taught to pronounce differently. We need to wear that as a crown. We need to wear our accent like this is who we are.

Speaker 6 3:29

Your accent is yours. It tells a story. It's something you bring with you, something you grew up with.

Speaker 1 3:33

The best way to live life is to just be authentic. People like us who do have an accent not only Indians, I'm talking about anybody who comes with an accent to a foreign land. This space is for them. There's one quick segment I have added in this season. It's called know your host, where I let my guests ask me any question they might have. I love this part.

Speaker 3 3:52

No tough questions, please let me put on my podcast mask.

Speaker 7 3:56

Let's do this, okay, so it was your experience, in kind of like, when you first came here that that might take another episode.

Speaker 1 4:03

My second question would be oh, there's another one, I thought there's only one. I would say that Universe took me, or chose me, as an agent to have these conversations and put the stories out. The conversation that we are having today is sort of like a reminder for us as well that how far we have come as an immigrant community.

Speaker 6 4:28

From the bottom of my heart, guresh, I thank you for inviting me and giving me this opportunity, just to share myself.

Speaker 5 4:36

I talked about certain parts of my life and the journey that I never talked to anybody before, so I don't know. There was something you know about it that made me talk about it and again think about it.

Speaker 2 4:50

I have never shared so many different things. I talk with you. I felt therapeutic in a way.

Speaker 4 4:55

There's been a different spin to it, which has been really cool.

Speaker 1 4:57

The podcast has totally over-delivered it's quite a holistic experience and provide a safe space in which I might have actually overshared.

Speaker 5 5:05

You bring out the best in people.