{"id":52152,"date":"2025-09-30T06:12:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T06:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/52152\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T06:12:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T06:12:10","slug":"as-i-was-turning-back-to-my-friend-i-was-punched-in-the-head-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/52152\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018As I was turning back to my friend I was punched in the head\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gaurav Garg (41) says there can be some confusion back in his native India<\/a> about if Ireland is an independent country or not. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy geography is strong but if you talk to people from India most of the people would still not know that [the UK<\/a> and Ireland] are separate countries,\u201d Garg says.<\/p>\n

However, he believes that Indian people\u2019s knowledge about Ireland has improved since he first moved here from New Delhi in 2019, as Ireland has become a more popular destination for Indian students looking to study abroad. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK and US have become very strict in terms of letting more students in. Though the students still can go, it\u2019s very difficult for them to find a job after. I think after 2021, 2022, a lot of Indian students decided to study in Ireland as it\u2019s cheap and universities have started going and actively recruiting from India.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moving to Dublin was not part of Garg\u2019s plan. He had been working for Google for some time in India and wanted to take on a new role in the company. However, he couldn\u2019t find a role in India that was right for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents have always wanted me to go abroad to study and all because my sister is a doctor and she settled in the US. But I thought that I would want to stay in India always.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then applied to jobs in English-speaking countries \u2013 he applied for different positions in the US, Ireland, the UK and Singapore. \u201cThe best role and the best opportunity I could get was in Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Coming to Ireland I didn\u2019t notice a class divide at first\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Though he and his family had been on holiday to Britain before before, they had never been to Ireland. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe never went to Ireland because the visa has always been difficult. As it\u2019s not in the Schengen area, that visa doesn\u2019t work. At that time the UK visa also did not work in Ireland. That\u2019s why I think a lot of people don\u2019t have Ireland on their bucket list as they can\u2019t travel there unless they specifically apply for an Irish visa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GauravGaurav Garg moved from New Delhi to Ireland in 2019. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw <\/p>\n

For his first two years in Ireland he worked as an account executive for Google<\/a> in their sales department. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was very good at my job in India but here I did not like my role so much. I felt a little disconnected from what I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He started applying for other jobs and interviewed for different companies but wasn\u2019t able to land a new role. <\/p>\n

\u201cI felt very trapped in my job at Google but I thought, Let\u2019s try something of my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

He decided to set up an online marketplace for people to buy electric bicycles as he had noticed that a lot of people in Dublin had e-bikes. <\/p>\n

\u201cI found a developer on Freelancer and asked him to build my website, I didn\u2019t have a clue about website creation. We formed this brand called LetsCycle.ie<\/a> and we were profitable within the first six months of starting our business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ninety-nine per cent of the people I\u2019ve met and interacted with everywhere in Ireland are really nice<\/p>\n

Today the company sells vehicles in 15 different European countries and has a number of different websites in different languages. <\/p>\n

Since then Garg has set up a digital marketing agency and last year he started a consulting business that advises UK and Irish businesses on implementing AI solutions. <\/p>\n

While he has had much success as an entrepreneur in Ireland, he has faced racism here. In 2020 he was the victim of an assault. He and a friend were sitting outside a pub in D\u00fan Laoghaire celebrating the fact that Garg had just passed his driving test. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt that time I used to smoke and I [went up to a group of people standing nearby] and I was like, can you give me a lighter? And then he said, \u2018Do you want a fight?\u2019 I didn\u2019t know from where but as I was turning back to where my friend was sitting I was punched in the head. I had three fractures in my feet and one fracture in my cheekbone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has been left with long-term damage from this attack. \u201cIf I open my mouth the lower jaw will be a little left from the upper jaw.\u201d <\/p>\n

However, he doesn\u2019t believe that racism is specific to Ireland: \u201cRacism is a global problem. Even in India if a north Indian will go to south India they will have similar kind of problems. I didn\u2019t think racism is such a big thing until I had an injury which took one, two years to completely heal.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0From Delhi to Dublin: \u2018I ended up making really good friends, they are my safety net\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Even after the attack he never regretted his decision to move to Ireland. \u201cI do not think that I made the wrong decision, I thought that it was just unfortunate that this happened. After all if I look at my life right now it\u2019s much better and business is thankfully doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the support of some women who witnessed the attack, Garg filed a report with the garda\u00ed. \u201cThe guards actually assisted a lot. They were able to find the right person pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

His attacker was later convicted and received a three-year sentence. <\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, you\u2019re listening to a lot of racist things happening against Indians. I think it has been happening for a really long time. It\u2019s just that everything is being reported. So we think that it\u2019s too much. Ninety-nine per cent of the people I\u2019ve met and interacted with everywhere in Ireland are really nice. Like I go to this gym, everybody\u2019s so warm and nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Racism fuelled by rumour: \u2018When he was attacked and looked for help, he was further attacked\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Garg has recently applied for his Irish citizenship and hopes to be made a citizen at a ceremony in December. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say that Irish weather is bad. I love Irish weather. I was telling my parents that it was raining today. I\u2019m like, this is the kind of weather we used to love and miss all the time in Delhi.\u201d<\/p>\n

We would like to hear from people who have moved to Ireland. To get involved, email newtotheparish@irishtimes.com<\/a> or tweet @newtotheparish<\/a><\/p>\n