Never would, the late Khushwant Singh, editor of the erstwhile Illustrated Weekly of India, have ever imagined that the standing of Indians in the UK, change so dramatically within a few decades, when he penned the Headline, “Indians & Dogs not allowed”, in November 1976, publishing photos of signboards displayed thus outside UK pubs. I was an impressionable young man at that time, who was perplexed when I read this article and vowed that I would never ever set foot in the UK, but I was to changed my mind…due to circumstances prevailing in Goa as time went by.
Today Indians and Goans, for that matter, (whatever passports they may hold) have occupied many a top position in most of the UK’s hallowed institutions, including the Mother of all Parliaments, notably among them Rishi Sunak (the first Indian origin UK PM)
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In 1992, when I was running my father’s business of photography which I later diversified into videography, I realised that the communal forces in Goa were slowly eroding the Goan culture and coupled with the lack of opportunities for true Goans, would not be a good place for my future generations. And so I decided to throw my hat over the fence, and opted for a Portuguese passport. I waited until my children were old enough before embarking on a journey into the unknown-The United Kingdom in 2000. When I entered the UK, I encountered mixed reactions mostly hostile from the local English populace but positive from most UK employers whose businesses needed hard working individuals, but one thing I could not fault was their selection process for jobs and their culture of fair play. We Goans were fortunate enough to have had a legal route to this country.
I remember a friend once saying “Octavio, aim for the highest but be prepared for the lowest.” and so I began my working life undertaking jobs which were not in my chosen field of photography or videography. Though getting a non-skilled/semi-skilled job was easy enough, progression was not that easy as I had to try to overcome the culture of “Qualities outrank Qualifications” (Qualities being white in my opinion) but things were changing and Goans and Indians were making massive strides due to their hard work ethics and slowly and surely progressing in their careers.
After a life changing incident in which the London Ambulance service and the NHS (National Health Service, UK) saved me from the jaws of death, I bounced back to health and decided to give something back to the community that I live and work in.
I trained to be a volunteer police officer and also trained as a medical photographer at the same time. Though I had migrated at a not-so-young age, I worked very hard and climbed the ladder of progression much quicker than many of my peers and am proud to say that today I am a senior manager in the UK health system, contradicting the wild allegations of our ex CM Raoji Rane, that Goans are mostly toilet cleaners in the UK. Now I train young aspiring medical photographers and guide and mentor my team of screeners and graders (medical photographers & reinopathy assesors) beside others in my team.
We Goans/Indians in the UK and elsewhere, have it within ourselves to work hard and progress in our careers as I have found out that in the UK, merit and hard work pay, unlike for people in India/Goa where one has to pay to get a job, pay to get progression and pay for everything in between. Let us, as Goans prove the likes of our ‘toilet minister Raoji Rane’ wrong.
