Is there racism in Australia? I would say yes and no. Because our experience during our five-year stay there has been a mix of both,though I have to say that the good far outweighed the bad, says ace photographer Shantanu Sheorey,who stayed in Melbourne for five years with wife and former Bollywood actor Kimmy Katkar,and their son who was under treatment there,before the family returned to settle in Pune. Decrying the attacks on Indian students,Sheorey says he too had been at the receiving end Down Under on a few occasions. My worst experience was at Melbourne airport. I was flying to India. I was putting my wallet and coat on the tray as per the rules at the security check,when one of the officials there asked me to hand over my watch. I did so and when I turned back after the check to ask for the watch,he gave me a blank look and said. What watch? I was appalled. It was a very expensive one and had vanished, recounts Sheorey,who decided to create a big ruckus. They refused to call the airport manager. So I summoned the Victoria police,a racist force actually. I could make that out as they discussed me on their walkie-talkies. The flight was about to take off but I said I wouldnt budge till they called the duty manager. Finally,the manager came. When he saw that I was a first class passenger,he took down my address in India and said he will get back to me in 48 hours,which he did. It seemed the CCTV footage showed the man handing over the watch to a woman passenger by mistake. They offered to reimburse the cost. In between all this,the High Commissioner to Australia whom I knew and my (Australian) partners lawyers too got involved and took my side. So there was a fair bit of pressure on them and finally they paid up. But their attitude rankled me, says the photographer. On another occasion,the couple had finalised a seafront apartment on phone that was cancelled when they arrived to meet the owner. It was obvious that he changed his mind on realising we were Indians, shrugs Sheorey. While Kimmy feels the racist attitude she had experienced was quite subtle,like people expressing surprise at my fluent English,Shantanu says the attacks have less to do with racism than the breaking down of the family structure in Australia. Divorce is common. Single mothers abound and many kids have no values,no attachments and tend to grow up as angry individuals who give vent to their frustrations in the form of such crimes. Indians end up being soft targets, he says,but quickly adds that his Australian partners remain some of the most wonderful human beings he has ever met. Ditto for the doctors and the medical attention they received for their son. It was far better than we would have got in India,both in terms of treatment and sensitivity. So I would be the last person to tar the country with the same brush. The fact that Australians seem embarrassed about it is a good sign, he says.
