Toongabbie woman’s memoir details move from suburban Sydney to Indian city of Chennai

WHEN  Toongabbie author Anne Benjamin was in her mid-30s she left her “predictable” life in suburban Sydney to live and work in one of the ­poorest parts of India.

Anne Benjamin from Toongabbie has launched her memoir Saffron and Silk about her experiences living in India. Photo: Peter Kelly

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Just one week before ­flying out to start her new life she married her Indian-born husband in Castle Hill — the first time he had set foot in Australia.

“We met neither in ­Australia nor in India but in Canada,” she said.

“We were attending an education conference where we met. We both went back to our home countries but decided to keep in touch and it went from there.”

Her three-and-a-half years living in the south Indian city of Chennai form the basis of her memoir Saffron and Silk, An Australian in India. She shares her struggles and frustrations as a ­“foreign wife” and her ­insights into the macro challenges of poverty.

The book was unveiled in Blacktown on September 16 by former NSW premier Bob Carr, who is known to Benjamin and her husband, Susai, a Blacktown councillor.

Benjamin said living in India after spending her whole life in the comfort of suburban Sydney had its challenges.

“Water supply was a big issue in Chennai,” she said.

Anne Benjamin said living in India after spending her whole life in the comfrot of suburban Sydney had its challenges.

“It was only supplied to the house by the council for one hour … so we had to make sure we stored it up.

“To get flour we had to buy the wheat and take the wheat up to the corner to be ground then take it home.”

Benjamin and her husband worked in villages, helping to educate young women and men, in the mid-1980s. She said while much has changed in India since then, attitudes towards women had largely remained the same.

“The real issue is how poor women miss out on education,’’ she said.

She said she hoped her stories would interest people and give them insight into life in India from an Australian’s perspective.

“I thought the stories of someone who has experienced both worlds would be worth sharing,” she said.

Saffron and Silk, An Australian in India can be purchased from anne-benjamin-blog.com