Famed restauranteur Asheesh Dewan has opened up on what it was like moving to Ireland in the 90s.
The man behind Ananda in Dundrum and a number of other Indian restaurants across Ireland and the UK, Asheesh is a well-known face in the hospitality industry.
"When I arrived in 1995, we didn't have a GNIB office or an IRP card. We had to report to the Aliens' Office once a year. We were all given a green book called the 'Aliens' Book'. We were all aliens," he laughed.
"It was madness. You had to queue at the Harcourt Street Garda Station at 3am with the kids and stuff."
But on rainy days, he recalled, you were offered a cup of tea and asked how you were getting on.
Things were different in the 90s. Emigrating to Ireland was practically unheard of.
Back in '95, everyone chased after the American dream, or you moved to the UK if you had relatives there (and nearly everyone knew someone's mum's uncle's son's nephew who had settled down in Southall, London).
But to Asheesh, Ireland was not just a land of thousand welcomes but a "land of opportunities".
Asheesh grew up travelling when his dad, who was in the army, took the family across a tour of India.
But let's go back to his roots for a second. Asheesh was born in Dharamsala in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
If you ask most Indians to describe Dharamsala they will invariably use the term "hill station" - which isn't a phrase you hear much outside the Indian subcontinent.
It's an old colonial word used in Indian English to describe a popular holiday destination in the hills or low mountain ranges.
Most hill stations are at an altitude of approximately 1,000 to 2,500 metres above sea level which means they're a great escape from the summer heat.
So while Irish people flock to Spain and Italy in search of heat in the summer, Indians retreat to the cool, tranquil refuge of hill stations like Dharamsala.
Dharamsala is also home to the 14th Dalai Lama who fled Tibet following the 1959 uprising.
Growing up in eight different cities gave Asheesh the skills he needed when he made the big move to Dublin at the age of 27.
After having worked with big-name luxury hotel groups like the Oberois and the Hyatts back in his home country, Asheesh wanted to bring a little bit of spice to Ireland's hospitality sector.
He said: "I’m a chef by profession and I had the opportunity to go out and open my own restaurant.
"From there on I’ve done whatever I’ve done. I’ve done a lot of different things. I’ve been very fortunate. People question my positivity but I wouldn’t have done what I’ve done if I wasn’t in Ireland."
By 1998, he had opened his first restaurant "Jaipur" on George's Street which subsequently closed in 2015.
Jaipur opened two new outlets in Dalkey in 2001 and in Malahide in 2003, and Chakra by Jaipur was launched in Greystones in 2005.
In 2008, Ananda in Dundrum quickly became a foodie favourite and went on to consistently feature in the Michelin guide.
Ever the enthusiastic entrepreneur, Asheesh went on to open a number of restaurants in the UK and even co-founded a tech company amongst other things.
But back in the day, he said, there was a lot of bad advice going around.
"My team used to ask me how long are we going to sit in the fringes of society and when will we be recognised. I said change will come when you change," Asheesh said.
"One migrant didn’t want the other to succeed. But that’s changed now. It’s a better place because everybody wants everybody to succeed now. It’s a generational thing as well," he said, "Changemakers have sacrificed their lives here."
He's talking about Savita Halappanavar who almost every Irish person has heard of but remains relatively unknown in her home country of India.
Savita's death after she was denied an abortion by doctors propelled the country into a revolution that saw the Eight Amendment which banned abortion in the Republic of Ireland being repealed in a landslide referendum.
"People in India don't know her but her contribution changed the laws that never would have changed."
Now with several decades of work behind him, Asheesh is winding down but still remains a well-known figure in the hospitality sector.
He said: "It’s been a good journey. When I look back to where I came from and where I worked, where I am now has come with a lot of hard work and a lot of support."
Asheesh was awarded the Permanent TSB Entrepreneur of the year 2008-09 and also the Ulster Bank Ethnic Entrepreneur of the year 2008.
In 2012, he was inducted into the Irish Food & Wine "Hall of Fame".
He is on the board of the Hunt Museum in Limerick, the South Asia and India Initiative at Trinity College and the Shanti Life Foundation in India.
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