Rog Chhabra arrived in Australia as Anuraj Chhabra. He was an international student. He went through all the difficulties; any Indian normally faces in his or her first few months. And then Anuraj realised that he needs to integrate into the society to be a part of it. To start with, he changed his name. He says, “When I was applying for jobs, I realised that it was difficult for Australians to pronounce my name. And it made things difficult. So I changed it to Rog.”
And this was just a step to be a part of Australian society, as Rog puts it. He says, “I want to feel accepted and invited.”
Rog Chhabra is nominated for India Australian Business Community Awards 2017 for his work in the society. He works for a federally funded project. This project is to train young school kids for a better career path. And he is actively participating in multicultural activities through AFL. And Rog has a dream. He says, “I want to make Indian community aware about first people of Australia.”
It was not an easy journey for Rog Chhabra as he recalls, “No journey is easy especially if you move to a different country. You have to start from the scratch. But I always tried to understand this country’s cultural. And the society reciprocated by accepting me.”
Rog says that every new migrant should be aware of his surroundings to assimilate better. He says, “My message to every migrant is that understand the culture through living it. It will make the journey easier. Don’t forget your culture, your values but respect Aussie culture and it will embrace you with open arms.”
