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A PASSION for food helped one Lake Macquarie woman overcome personal hardship triggered by a move from her birth country.
Born in India, Promila Gupta describes her first few months in Australia as "tough" and "lonely".
She moved to Whyalla, South Australia in 1983 with her husband Satish and their two children, Shivani and Nitin, to seek better working conditions.
"In the beginning I didn't like it here, it was a big culture shock," Mrs Gupta said.
"I cried a lot. But I thought, I have three options; go back to India, cry all my life, or do something for myself.
"I chose to do something."
Mrs Gupta channelled her culinary skills and started teaching Indian cooking classes at Whyalla TAFE.
Shortly afterwards, she established an Indian restaurant called Little India, and she started to enjoy life in Australia.
Mrs Gupta went on to teach cooking at schools, women's associations and functions.
In 2011, after a nine-year stint in Adelaide, the Gupta family moved to Charlestown.
Mr and Mrs Gupta now live in an apartment on their own.
They are two of 435 people, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows, who make up Lake Macquarie's Indian community.
Mrs Gupta said she loved the city's beaches and picturesque landscape.
She teaches cooking at WEA Hunter and is writing her third cookbook.
But she hasn't lost touch with her roots.
Every year Mrs Gupta travels India to visit her extended family.
"I'm so lucky," she said.
"I have the best of everything here, and when I go [to India], I have the best of everything there."
Mrs Gupta's story is one of nine that features in Lake Mac Libraries' Lake Macquarie Migrant Stories video, which was launched last week at a Harmony Day event at The Place, Charlestown.
It was played to about 150 people who came together to celebrate the city's diversity with dancing, music and food.
The 10-minute video includes stories from around the world, from Samoa to Russia to Chile.
See it at history.lakemac.com.au.