Avishaik and Karishma Bootun: They Risked Everything for a New Future in Canada

Avishaik and Karishma Bootun are rebuilding their lives and that of their children in Canada, far from Mauritius. Through professional reinvention, sacrifices, and courage, their journey shows that every departure can be a victory.

In Canada, nothing felt familiar; the climate, the schedules, and their first jobs were all new. However, it was here, away from Mauritius, that Avishaik and Karishma chose to reconstruct their lives. She started as a baker while he left behind 13 years wearing a uniform, not for an adventure, but to give their two children a broader horizon, even if it meant starting from scratch.

When Karishma arrived first, she took a physically demanding job, far from the small business she had founded in Mauritius. Every morning, she faced the frenetic pace of the kitchen and rushing customers. "Emigration is the art of accepting to start all over again from the bottom," she says.

She perseveres, adapts, and in 2024 becomes a Bilingual Finance Associate in a pest control company. It's a quiet but remarkable progression that reflects her approach: learn quickly and move forward. "I wanted my children to see that you can change your life without losing your dignity," she states.

For Avishaik, leaving behind a profession that shaped him for over a decade was challenging. Departing from the Mauritius Police Force meant giving up an identity forged since adolescence, filled with night patrols and sometimes risky interventions. "When you leave the police, you leave a part of your identity behind... but you also open the door to a new you."

He began as a Bilingual Customer Service Representative at Citibank before joining VIA Rail Canada. After patrolling the roads of Mauritius, he now traverses the vast railway network of Canada, facing different bureaucracies and accents while learning and progressing each day.

The Clarity of a Meeting

The couple could leave everything behind because they had built a strong foundation in Mauritius. Their story began in 2008, around a workbook during the time when tutoring punctuated their lives. They were just 16 and 18. A simple, sincere friendship that became evident. "We didn't know we were writing the first chapter of our story," Karishma recalls. "But everything was already there: mutual support, listening, and respect."

Years passed, with exams, career choices, and the first responsibilities of adulthood. Yet, they always returned to each other as if life had already decided for them.

In 2012, they chose each other. In 2014, they married, and then came their two children, Kriish and Akshainee, the quiet pillars of their strength. "Becoming parents taught us courage," Avishaik confides. "We knew our decisions would no longer be just for us."

The children grew up with an example of a father dedicated to public service. He spent 13 years as a constable and then a respected police officer. "It was my vocation. I wanted to protect, serve, and be useful. The police shaped me. It taught me discipline, humility, and respect for others." The patrols, tough interventions, and growing responsibilities brought pride in returning home, knowing he did the right thing.

Karishma, meanwhile, took a different path in entrepreneurship. At just 12, she was selling little treats to friends and neighbors who wanted to support the ambitious young girl. Over time, she founded her small business, Avi Sparrow Sweets. "I wasn't afraid to start small," she explains. "Every candy, every order was a victory."

The Call of the Horizon

But in 2023, a new feeling enveloped the couple. "At that moment, we felt we had accomplished our mission as parents, entrepreneurs, and public servants," they say. It was as if their Mauritian life had reached its finish line.

An inner call began to grow: the call for change. "We wondered: are we capable of more? Can we go further for our future and that of our children?"

So they decided to take the leap to start anew elsewhere, specifically in Canada, a country where nothing is guaranteed, but opportunities are as vast as its landscapes.

They knew that emigration offers no guarantees. Karishma accepted the most modest and physical jobs, while Avishaik renounced everything that had defined him for 13 years. They moved forward step by step in a country where no one awaited them, but where everything could be built. Each new position, each day, became a lesson in reinvention and perseverance.

Today, the family has found its balance. Kriish and Akshainee are growing up in an environment where courage is transmitted through example rather than words. "Our children see that a dream requires hard work. Nothing is free, but everything is possible."

In the evenings, over hot tea, the couple sometimes reflects on that workbook where it all began, on that first glance exchanged in 2008. They don’t speak of luck or destiny, just of effort, discipline, and a simple principle: to move forward together. "We are two. And as long as we are two, we can face anything," Avishaik asserts.

Their story is not a fairytale. It's a journey. A deliberate migration, an accepted reinvention, and the quiet conviction that new beginnings can sometimes be better than old certainties.