Into the Great Wide Ocean

It is a cold, windy day in September; the wind joyfully plays with the women's saris and causes the thin fabric of kurta pyjamas to flap around shivering male legs. We are all watching the spectacle from the pier: two men in snow-white kurtas are making their way into the ice-cold ocean water, carefully balancing a beautifully decorated clay idol of Lord Ganesh over their heads. When they are barely able to keep their heads above the water, they submerge the idol. There is applause, pictures are taken, but most of all relief is in the air as we can all go back inside now. Spring may be on its way but, on this cold Saturday afternoon, it still seems far away. When I make my way back into the community center of Seaford, a distant suburb about an hour by train from the CBD, I notice that the place is already packed with Maharashtrians. Waiting in line for the traditional sweets that are being handed out, I chat a bit with Rajesh, one of my regular informants. Although he came to Australia as an overseas student, once arrived he has discovered that he could have already applied for PR back home (‘offshore’), as he already met the necessary requirements with the right skills and required number of years of work experience.