Home at last!

If you have read my previous posts, then you may have come to understand that I am originally from India. I had moved to South Africa for work-related reasons, with a work visa sponsored by my then-employer in India. I was to work for a South African client. While this was the official reason for my emigration, the truth was that I had no intention of returning to India for reasons that were close to my chest - reasons that were vaguely covered in previous posts. The vagueness is indeed intentional. I was fully aware that emigrating to another country on a work visa was a temporary affair and that there would be a very good chance that I would have to return to India at some point in the future. But I decided that would be a battle for later and that I would take it as it comes.

So back in May 2018, when the Airbus A380 that I was on was preparing to land at Johannesburg's O.R. Tambo International Airport, I peered out of my window to look at the landscape below. I had landed at other countries before like the UAE, the USA, the UK and other parts of Europe. But this was the first time I was landing in Africa. It was a strange new land for me and with my intention to not look back at my past anymore, I truly wondered what was in store for me. Almost naturally and without even putting an effort into thought, I uttered the following words to myself: "So this is my new home, huh?"

Note: The image above is literally from that moment in the airplane.

Fast forward to the end of 2021 and I had met the love of my life! I had been through enough bad relationships and turmoil over the years both in and out of South Africa to know for certainty that this was the real deal. So committing to her came with absolute ease. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, my work visa was to expire soon and since when it rains it pours, my then employer did not renew my visa owing to the fact that the client no longer needed my position. Reorganization in large corporations is a relatively common thing after all.

So I had a choice:

1. Pack my bags and return to India with the fleeting hope that my relationship would survive long distance.

2. Or take the gamble of a lifetime by resigning my job, applying for a spouse visa, staying in South Africa, and taking things as they come.

Since I had already landed in the country with the intention of leaving my past behind me, and because I had come too far in my personal journey, the choice was quite clear!

After my resignation, my life changed for the better in almost every way except financially. The peace, serenity and love that I experienced from committing to my now fiancée was priceless! This was the very thing I had been pursuing for so long! But, since my new visa was still in the process of approval, I could not legally work. So I had no choice but to wait it out and I didn't work. We had applied for the visa in April 2022 and I was told that I would only have to wait for three months or so. I figured we could live quite comfortably on my savings until then. Little did I know what fate had in store for me!

Thanks to the infamous Covid lockdown, an incredibly large number of visa applications were placed on hold. Coupled with corruption and incompetence, there soon was a massive backlog of visa applications for the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to go though. The wait that was supposed to be a mere three months turned into one that spanned over a year. During that time, I had run through most of my savings on living expenses alone. Around October 2023, with the help of a lawyer and a court order, we pressed the DHA for a result. To our utter dismay, our application was rejected quite callously in what was a clear sign of spitefulness from the DHA. There was a growing sentiment of xenophobia in the country at the time, so this wasn't entirely surprising.

We then re-applied for the visa via an appeal in November 2023, and we waited again. By then, I was completely broke. This was when the worst time of my life began. I was completely dependent on my fiancée. I don't care what the so-called post-modernist woke "children" have to say about this, but a man is meant to be the provider of the family. So being broke and dependent on someone else is a horrible experience! All in all, I endured this for two years. During that time, I had multiple nervous breakdowns over my helplessness. There were times when I had to consider alternate means of income that only the truly desperate would consider. I even had to resort to asking for money when the ordeal became almost unbearable.

During that trying period - which was no doubt the worst I had experienced in my life so far -  there were many times where I considered abandoning my pursuit of a life in South Africa and returning to India to start over. After all, I had already done the whole starting over schtick twice - once in the USA and now in South Africa. How hard can it be to do it a third time and that too in my own home country, right? But no. Every time doubt crept into my mind, I reminded myself of what I had said to myself on that airplane. I reminded myself that I had committed to making this place my new home one way or another. I reminded myself of the amazing warm love and peace that I receive from my wonderful fiancée. I reminded myself of her young son who desperately needed a father figure after his own inept and drunk father had effectively abandoned him. I reminded myself of how I too had desperately needed a father figure when my own father had died when I was 12 - the same age my fiancée's son was when I met her.

I stayed put. I hunkered down. I endured the storm that I was in. I acknowledged the road-less-travelled that I was on. I accepted that I was where I was as a direct result of my own choices.

I needed to see this battle through, come hell or high water!

Then in January 2024, nearly two years since we started our wait for my visa, something amazing happened! Through a very dear friend's reference, a company offered me work for "alternative payment". But it would be far less than I'm worth. I had no choice at the time and since any form of income is better than no income, I went for it. I took the risk of possible legal pushback, seeing as my family was suffering needlessly as a direct result of the government's ineptitude (something I learned later that I could sue them for, but that's for another time entirely). At the end of the day, if the law isn't working in your favour, you as the head of the family will do whatever is necessary for the well-being of the family. Period!

Anyway, back to the job - little did I know that the sheer work experience would be a massive boon in its own right! I got the rare chance to do something that most system administrators like myself only dream of - to build a professional datacenter from scratch! Sure, there were other individuals involved with the physical installation and licensing of all the hardware and software necessary for the datacenter. But I was the one who chose the design and presented it to the company's board and sold it to them! Then in less than two months from the day the company purchased the solution, I brought the datacenter into live production! Our hardware procurement partner pointed out that it was a record as most of their clients' implementations usually take three to four months to go live from the day of purchase! So thanks to this off-the-books job, my work experience did not take a blow while I was waiting for my visa. On the contrary, it was empowered far more than before! In addition to my now well-tested technical skills, I found that I developed a flair for sales as well! If I may so myself, I did a pretty good job presenting my solution to the board of directors and winning them over!

While my finances were still in deep water, my new family was at least no longer drowning. We knew this was a blessing from above and we were very thankful for it, and as they say, your blessings come with gratitude. So what happened next came as no surprise - but as the reward we absolutely deserved! In October 2024, my new visa finally arrived! Understandably, my fiancée and I were very emotional when the much needed good news finally landed. We took our time to absorb the reality that we had been through over the last two years; how we had grown as individuals to be more tolerant and patient, how we grew together and closer as a family, how we WON our fight against all odds! We were eternally grateful!

Just a few days after I received my visa, I signed an official and agreeable contract with my employer seeing as I had proven my worth. Our family's financial ordeal was finally over and we could finally move ahead with our lives! Just a couple of nights ago, when I was going to bed, I remembered that moment on the airplane again from back in 2018, and in much a similar fashion to the words I had said back then, I uttered the words: "Home at last!"

I slept like a baby!

Note: This image was taken atop Table Mountain on my trip to Cape Town in 2019. I just thought that it embodied the moment that I had recently rather well.

Thank you very much for reading my post, and have a blessed day!