Nomad finds a home

Accustomed to wandering, Kaushik Sridhar has now found a home in Docklands.

Well, at least for the next few years.

Prone to moving around, Kaushik says he has lived all around the world and moved to Melbourne from Sydney three years ago.

He and his wife of two years settled in Docklands last year.

“I’m starting to fall in love with the area slowly but surely, whereas she was infatuated right from the word go,” Kaushik explained.

At 32-years-old, Kaushik’s nomadic lifestyle began very early on, with his parents moving from India to Nigeria not long after he was born.

At the age of 13, Kaushik enrolled at John Newcombe’s tennis academy in Texas and spent four years at the academy, including travelling the world to compete and being ranked within the top 1000 players worldwide.

“Tennis was my life for a good six years,” Kaushik said. “But I realised when quite young that tennis wouldn’t be my long-term career.”

After studying at university and becoming a tennis coach, Kaushik was contacted by Australian tennis legend Margaret Court and invited to work at her tennis academy in Albury-Wodonga.

“So I packed my bags and came over,” he said. “It was an amazing experience. I was teaching children as young as three and then up to 83-year-old grandparents.”

His next stop was Sydney, where Kaushik completed his MBA and moved into the field of sustainability.

Today he manages environmental and social sustainability efforts at KPMG while also lecturing at Melbourne University and RMIT.

“I was a nomad for more than a decade and my parents were always worried that I would spend my days wandering,” Kaushik said. “But I’ve got a wife. I’ve got a home. I’ve got a job.”

Kaushik says living in Docklands is like living in a country town but right next door to the CBD.

“My dream was always to live in an area that was close to the city but maintained that quietness,” he said.

While he enjoys living in Docklands, there are a few things Kaushik would change. In particular, he thinks Docklands’ branding and messaging needs some work in order to make it clear to Melburnians what Docklands is all about.

But there are plenty of things he loves, especially the Library at the Dock. “I would live there if I could,” Kaushik joked.

Although he gets restless staying in the same place too long, with living in New Zealand or somewhere in Europe still on his agenda, Docklands is home for now.

“I don’t think we’ll be moving anytime soon,” Kaushik said. “Left to my life (check – wife?) we’ll be here forever.”