Why This Couple Moved From India To Saint John And Started A Family
A year ago, Dahlia and Som Das gave birth to their beautiful son Prayas, and they can’t think of a better city than Saint John to raise their young family. For Dahlia, who has now lived there twice in the past dozen years, it’s the diversity and feeling of community that makes her love Saint John.
“I like that it’s a little piece of the world, in terms of the diversity it has – people from so many different cultural-ethnic backgrounds,” said Dahlia.
“I like the sense of community here. People are looking out for each other, they are there for each other, and we can sense that all the time wherever we go.”
Living in a tight community really helped the Das family last year when Prayas was born. With the world still fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, there was no way for the family to visit from India. Dahlia and Som relied heavily on her Saint John friends for help with the new baby.
“When he was born, we had no family around, he was born right in the middle of Covid. For several months none of our family members from both sides had even seen him. So our friends here stepped in as our family by choice,” said Dahlia.
“I think we survived the first year because of them.”
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Dahlia first fell in love with Saint John in 2009 when she arrived from India to do her MBA at UNBSJ. It was her first time living on her own, and she feels the campus community, and the city, helped her blossom as an individual.
“The UNB community was what I had for an extended family. That’s where I started to feel more comfortable. And I did ask a lot of questions along the way. The faculty at UNB Saint John made it really easy for me,” recalls Dahlia.
“I got more involved in the community and started to realize how beautiful this place is; it’s right by a river and it has natural beauty and a warmth that I felt from people around me.”
Dahlia moved back to India in 2011 and married Som a year later. Then, in 2013, she got a job offer with JDI back in Saint John. Despite just getting married, her family encouraged her to take the job offer.
“This is not common in our culture, but my family gave me a lot of encouragement and said, ‘you’ve got this job, you should go back.’”
Dahlia still works with JDI as a project manager in the company’s information and technology department. She is also a part-time instructor at UNBSJ.
Som arrived in Saint John himself in 2016. He too now works with JDI as a senior project manager in information and technology. Even though he was a new arrival, he already knew much of the city because of his wife’s passion.
“He knew where the City Market was, he knew how close it was to the bank and the post office; he knew about the buses. He knew about all of this before he came here,” says Dahlia.
“Even before I came to Saint John, I knew this place through her,” adds Som. “It wasn’t absolutely new to me because I was well-informed about it.”
Much like his wife Dahlia, Som is enamoured with the friendliness of the city and its rich cultural diversity.
“Number one: I love the people. They are very warm and welcoming and at times when we were in a lot of need, there were friends who came and helped us,” he said.
“And the diversity we have here is amazing.”
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Despite being incredibly busy with their personal lives, community involvement is very important for the couple. Over the years Dahlia and Som have volunteered their time for multicultural events and non-profit organizations.
Som is the president and co-founder of the Indo-Canadian Society of Saint John. He is also the Director of the Asian Heritage Society of New Brunswick’s Saint John chapter.
“For most people who come from a foreign country, the primary need is that you’ll want a home away from home,” says Som about his passion for volunteering in Saint John.
“That gives me a lot of fulfillment,” adds Dahlia. “Being able to give back to the community that embraced me so warmly when I was new here.”
This story was sponsored by the City of Saint John.
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