Luxembourg allows me to be who I am

[0:01:01 - 0:02:55] SEGMENT 1: "Reliving Origins" | Born in an "unknown village" in India (Venkateswarapuram), now living in Luxembourg, he has the impression that he had 3 lives. First life, from childhood until getting his first job. He considers this one of the most important phases of his life. A farmer's son, he has good memories of his childhood but nowadays he realizes that he had some financial difficulties.

[0:02:58 - 0:04:50] Story: "Education & Religion" | His family was one of the last Muslim families in the village, even though they were not orthodox. He studied in Catholic school for 15 years and most of his classmates were Hindu. Since then there has been a mixture of cultures and languages. He points out that he felt pressure to be the best because of his background.

[0:05:06 - 0:08:01] Story: "Flying Roof" | His father had to go to work in Saudi Arabia for a while and he recalls the difficulties of his mother, an uneducated woman, raising his children. He had to write letters to his father, dictated by his mother, often containing personal and difficult information for a child who could hardly write. He recalls, laughing, a cyclone that tore the roof off the hut where they lived and the family had to go to his "mother's brother's" house, but they were not always welcome there.

[0:08:05 - 0:12:35] SEGMENT 2: "The Best Student in the State" | He graduated from school with good grades and had to work until his parents decided that he should continue studying. Then he went to make the polytechnic school in the area of electro-electronic engineering. During the three years of the polytechnic school he recalls that he didn't want to have a social life, only thought about being the best student, and worked in the field during the weekends. At that time it was the farthest he had ever been from home, 30 km. He got the highest grade in the whole state (Tamil Nadu) in the area of electro-electronic engineering.

[0:12:39 - 0:15:46] Story: "Fellowship of the Muslim Community" | He decided to continue his studies in engineering and computer science because he knew that those who followed this career could get good salaries. He attended the same school as the honorary consul in Luxembourg. At the beginning he found it difficult to integrate into the student community because most of the students were very rich, they came from different realities than his who was the first in the family to graduate from high school. He points out that it was thanks to a teacher and a Muslim who saw his picture in the newspaper that he was able to enter this school and reinforces that he believes in a very strong fellowship of the Muslim community.

[0:15:51 - 0:18:49] Story: "The Beginning of a New Life" | He got a job as a software engineer at an American computer company that's hiring many Indians. He feels that this was the beginning of a new period in his life. In the beginning, the integration was also difficult, but he had not considered the difficulties since this was a huge opportunity, he just accepted the position. The job was far from home and his co-workers spoke another language (Hindi), which he learned after a while. He explains what the job was like and that because he was one of the best he was invited to go to the UK.

[0:18:59 - 0:19:56] Story: "Free To Be Who He Truly Is" | He loved being in the UK and that was the start of his life number 2. There he could be free and make his own choices and also comments that he loved the fact that the place was clean. He was promoted 3 times in 6 years.

Recorded by Anita Lucchesi with Akbar Basha. Date of recording: 04th June 2016 Place of recording: Centre de Documentation sur les Migrations Humaines, Gare-Usine, Dudelange, Luxembourg.