Global Connections in Action: A Cultural Encounter With Mrs. Kshatriya

This week, our Year 9 Global Connections class had the special opportunity to hear from guest speaker, Mrs Kshatriya, who generously shared her personal story of migration from India to Australia. Her visit added a meaningful real-world perspective to our current unit, “Our Region Through Film and Food”, where students explore the ways culture is expressed, preserved, and transformed across borders.

Mrs Kshatriya spoke about the motivations behind her family’s move to Australia nearly two decades ago, the challenges of settling in a new country, and the joy of seeing Indian festivals, foods, music, and Bollywood cinema becoming increasingly visible and celebrated in Australia’s multicultural landscape. Students were particularly engaged by her reflections on how identity is shaped by place, and how cultural practices adapt while staying rooted in tradition.

Throughout the term, students have been critically examining representations of Indian culture through Bollywood film, global food trends, and migration narratives. They’ve compared portrayals in Western media and studied how geography and globalisation influence cultural exchange. Mrs Kshatriya’s lived experience helped deepen students’ understanding of key ideas like diaspora, cultural retention, and identity formation in a globalised world.

We extend our sincere thanks to Mrs Kshatriya for offering her time, warmth, and insight. Her story powerfully illustrated the human side of the concepts we are studying, and students left the lesson with a renewed appreciation for the rich contributions migrant communities make to Australian life.

A student reflection follows: