3 Review(s)

My Land My People is an entertaining autobiography which tells the experiences of an Indian student who comes to Australia in 1973 on a prestigious scholarship to complete his doctorate. His comparisons with life in India and Australia of the 1970’s makes interesting reading as he is surprised and delighted with the freedom of life in his new surroundings. He tells his assimilation in a thoughtful and perceptive manner. After recounting life in Australia through his eyes, he turns to tracing the ancestral aspects of his family from one generation to another. He relates this part of the autobiography by the use of stories from the 15th and 16th century as told by the bainadu, the village storyteller, set in an historical context. These colourful excerpts add considerably to the enjoyment of this intriguing work which is one of the first to be written by an Australian Indian migrant. Launched in Canberra in 1998, with a foreword from the Chief Minister, Australian Capital Territory, it will do much to inspire newcomers, particularly students, and migrants, to appreciate the Australian way of life and add to the Australian multicultural literature. It captures the ancient Indian way of life, some of which is disappearing even in India.