Westerners refuse to learn to properly pronounce Sikh Indian names, that's how a proper Sikh lady like myself got saddled with the nickname Aggie, even though my full name is Agochar Chatwal-Vincent. My first name means "Unfathomable" in the Hindi language. Big name for such a small lady, eh? I'm five-foot-five, with light bronze skin, long black hair and light brown eyes. I was born in the City of Nashik, India, and raised in the City of Toronto, Ontario. I moved to Ottawa because I won a partial scholarship at Carleton University. That's how I ended up in the town that fun forgot. Welcome to my life.
As has often been said, fate does work in mysterious ways. I wasn't in love with the City of Ottawa when I first got there, that's for damn sure. When I left the City of Toronto to study in the City of Ottawa in August 2003, I was eighteen years old, just a young woman with a dream. In September 2003, I began my criminal justice studies at Carleton University. At first, I was quite intimidated since I didn't know anyone in the City of Ottawa. I just knew I wanted to get out of Toronto and explore someplace new.
My parents, Gagandeep and Mariam Chatwal have lived in the City of Toronto for decades, having moved there from the Republic of India since they were young. I was born a year before they left India. My brothers Kumar and Kaur were born and raised in the City of Toronto. I am the eldest ( and only ) daughter of the family, and the first offspring of my parents, I guess that's why I am so headstrong. I am bossy and I am used to getting my way. Don't mess with me or you will regret it.
Indian families tend to pressure their sons and daughters to study medicine or engineering, so I was kind of an odd duck among the Indian students at Carleton University because I wanted to become a lawyer. I met a tall, handsome young guy named Amrinder James Singh, A.J. to his friends, while at Carleton University and we began dating. Amrinder was born in the City of London, Ontario, to an Indian immigrant father and a white Canadian mother. I found this mix intriguing since Indian guys are loathe to date/marry interracially. Amrinder was so handsome, and I considered myself lucky to have him.
Amrinder James Singh and I had a whirlwind romance, and I slowly but surely fell in love with the charismatic stud who, to me, seemed to embody the best of both worlds. Amrinder was a rebel, like me. The handsome brown stud from London was studying architecture instead of engineering or medicine like the majority of other Indian students on the Carleton University. When I met Amrinder's parents, Kuldeep Singh and Jennifer Morrissey-Singh, I found them a charming, if somewhat odd couple. A tall, blonde-haired and blue-eyed Caucasian woman married to a short, round Indian man. Wow. Oh, well. They produced my handsome boyfriend Amrinder, and I couldn't thank the fates enough for that.
When December 2003 came, I introduced my parents to Amrinder, the young man I couldn't shut up about. They liked him immensely. You see, my parents were thrilled to see me with a guy who was at least half Indian. There was a big ruckus in our family when my elder brother Kumar brought home Janice Johnson, the Jamaican gal he met at Humber College in Toronto. I met Janice and she's very nice, but my parents were adamantly against her and Kumar dating. That's why Kumar moved in with Janice, and our parents turned their backs on him.
Folks, if you didn't know, I guess I've got to enlighten you. There is a big bias against all things black in the Indian subculture. This racism is nothing new in Indian society. Hell, even today, in modern India, most "regular" Indians look down on the dark-skinned people of the Tamil Nadu region of India. Personally, I blame the British influence for this mess. They treated the dark-skinned Indians poorly and "elevated" the lighter-skinned ones, thus creating lasting enmity between the two groups.
For my brother Kumar, a proper young Indian-Canadian gentleman, to date a black woman from the Caribbean was a big deal for my parents. They'd rather turn their backs on Kumar instead of accepting the fact that he'd fallen in love with a smart, lovely young woman from the island of Jamaica. I've met Janice's parents, Roy and Adele Johnson, and they're really nice people. Janice's father is a police officer in Mississauga, and his wife Adele is an auditor with the Canada Revenue Agency. They live in a nice townhouse in Mississauga and own three cars. Hell, the Johnson family is doing better than our family, but you couldn't tell that to my racist parents.