I was siX YeaRs oLD when i arrived in Australia. it was the 26 January 1970; Australia Day.. Back then, i did not consider the profound impact my parents decision would have on their own lives and mine.
In the build up to leaving india, i seem to remember my mother saying that we had to do well at school if we were to be allowed into australia. i diligently followed her request, ranking first in my class. i wasn’t going to be the reason for our family not getting immigration status.
in india, English was our ‘first’ language. in fact it was the only language I knew. Upon arriving in Australia, i was sent to primary school. We learnt the vowels in the alphabet, which we repeated regularly. We sang the popular rhyme, ‘Row, row, row your Boat’ in rounds. And every Monday morning at school assembly, as the Australian flag was hoisted, we sang the national anthem, ‘God save the Queen’. It never occurred to me that this was now my national anthem and Queen Elizabeth was now ‘my queen’. i sang loudly. i didn’t know any better. i just wanted to be accepted – and this now meant being Australian.
Through these three performances i was quickly recognizing my ‘difference’. In the act of speaking English my pronunciation and accent highlighted these differences. As a new migrant, my difference was a real fear.
A.E.I.O.U. is a video work, which revisits this place of language and pronunciation, my personal ‘shibboleth’ and highlights my insecurity and A.E.I.O.U. vulnerability about national identity and belonging.
