Gangs of the Kindergartens

I was debriefed about my son's first parent-teacher tête-à-tête, at the dinner table. Our son started kindergarten this year, and my partner and I have decided to take turns attending these sessions. Last week's session was our first.

Among the feedback and pointers, was information on our sons social standing in his class. The teacher mentioned that was our son was friends with a couple of kids in his class and that the three amigos hung around together. We knew about this kindergarten friendship and always thought it a good thing that our son has adapted well into school life this quickly.

However, the school had a different view. The teacher revealed that the classes would be reshuffled in the second year, and the kids would be given an opportunity to make new friends.

The next day, as I dropped my son to school, I talked about it with another parent. I dropped the subject into our daily banter about Australian politics and the weather. "So what did you think about the parent teacher meeting." "Good," he said, "but she did talk about the gang of three." He was also given the confidential information regarding the reshuffle. He was also told how in the second year, new alliances will be forged, diplomatically, through new class groupings.

Since school prepares one for life, I wondered if familiarity and cliques were a bad thing in adult life. Even as adults we seek comfort in familiarity. To most, going into a room to meet and greet strangers, is slightly less daunting than scuba diving with sharks. However, in adulthood social life comes with lot more emotions.

For my son, the transition from childcare to school was quick and easy. He no longer talks about the friends he had last year when he was at childcare. Perhaps it was just as easy for the next years, as threads within his social fabric are still to strengthen.

Until then we hope that the social engineering within the educational sector has progressed, and it is easier today to churn out well balanced individuals than when it was a few years back, when gangs ruled the kindergartens.

Is the curry really at Cherrybrook

Just as Leichhardt is called Sydney's most Italian surburb, Cherrybrook is also known by its new moniker, Currybrook. There are no prominent Indian eateries there, but the spicy nickname came into flavour as an urban legend developed that a lot of Indians live there.



Cherrybrook, lies at Sydney's north west corridoor. It is approximately 21 kilometers from the central business district. But let's look at the facts. Is the median number of Indians living in Cherrybrook far greater than Sydney's average? 



Based on 2006 Australian Census, here are the percentages of Indians across some prominent Sydney suburbs. Blacktown: 3.6%
Cherrybrook: 3.2%
Castle Hill: 1.8%
North Parramatta: 2.7%
Parramatta: 14.1%



The curry capital of Sydney is not Cherrybrook. That distinction goes to the home of Wigram Street, a road lined with Indian eateries and grocery shops. That distinction goes to Parramatta.

Indian Migration: the more, the merrier?

Sydney Diwali gatherings over the years featured an eclectic group of Indians with different socio/religious backgrounds. In the Indian metropolis, the festival often transcends religious, class and caste divides and is often celebrated in an integrated fashion.

As the number of Indians here increases, one would expect that this festival along with others will find its way into the Australian festival calendar. But with the increase in Indian migrant numbers, there also arises the Indian need to create different social clusters. The once integrated Indian community is now splintering into multiple socio/economic groups, each individually tethered together on caste, language and religious similarities.

In India, an increase in population in cities like Mumbai have driven both revival of Indian socio/religious classes and at times also has fueled religious fundamentalism. While in other nations, the Indian diaspora have integrated themselves and created new practices that take subtle nuances from the Indian multi-cultural society.

We have good examples in Fiji and Trinid. Fiji Indians have little notion of their particular regional origins in India. They have developed their own vencular that is a combination of Indian and Fiji dialects.

The Australian Indian migration is relatively new. The new wave of Indian diaspora here is still a couple of decades young. Whilst we succumb to the need to revive our heritage and protect our cultural identity, in this new land of opportunities lets also look at ways to integrate and reinvent ourselves. Our next generation will face far more challenges in forging their own identities - to give them a head start lets give them the valuable lesson of multiculturalism.

As Diwali approaches, I personally like the idea of meeting new Indians and savouring the celebration from a different cultural perspective. But that's just me.