Vishal

Vishal didn’t come to Orana on his own. Five years ago, he and a group of friends drove out to Clyde North looking for an investment property, and by the end of that single visit, they had booked six lots between them.

Today, Vishal and his friends still live within a few streets of each other, and close enough that they walk together most evenings.

Why Vishal Chose Orana

At the Orana Sales Office, Vishal and his friends looked over the masterplan with Nigel. What stood out to him wasn’t just the land – it was the detail already planned around it. 

Green spaces close enough for his children to play and make friends at, a future school, a community centre, sporting clubs, and Orana Village, the community’s shopping precinct opening down the road in September. 

These plans made it easy for Vishal to picture building a life at Orana, with the spaces, services and community they would need as they grew.

A Home Designed for His Family

Not long after his first visit, Vishal’s circumstances changed and he had to give up his original lot, which looked out over what is now Wildbloom Park.

His interest in living at Orana remained, and after considering several established homes nearby, he decided to build on another block within Orana.

Working with Carlisle Homes, he planned every part of the house with multi-generational living in mind. Downstairs, there’s a bedroom and living area for his parents, who fly in from India every alternate year and stay for three to six months at a time. There’s also a room set aside for a temple, another part of a floor plan Vishal shaped around what mattered most to his family.

Out the back, the yard gets used by everyone in a different way, whether that’s his parents sitting outside in the sun or the backyard turning into a makeshift cricket pitch on the weekend.

“My philosophy with home is that every morning when you wake up, you should like it,” Vishal says. “You feel like this is the place you want to be every day.”

Everyday Life in the Orana Community

Vishal, who works in cybersecurity and cloud engineering, works from home most days. He drops his kids at school in the morning and picks them up again in the afternoon, fitting his own work around that rather than the other way round. 

Weekends start with house and yard work, then a walk to the park, or sending the kids off to a friend’s house down the street. On a good afternoon, their kitchen island turns into a table tennis table, and just as often, the backyard fills up with a game of cricket.

Those same friends, the group Vishal first came to Orana with, are still only streets away. Spontaneous dinner and games occur every other week, and most evenings, Vishal heads out for a walk with them just to talk through the day.

Room for the Whole Family

For Vishal’s parents, their life at Orana extends beyond the family home. When they visit from India, Orana’s parks become a place for them to meet the community’s older residents, and they have made friendships they still keep after returning home.

It means their visits aren’t just about filling in time. With public transport only a short walk from home, some days they head into Melbourne without needing anyone to drive them.

A Community That Looks Out for Each Other

The instinct to look out for their community runs through Vishal’s family. For the past three years, Vishal has volunteered as a Justice of the Peace, drawing on his own experience as a migrant to help others with paperwork he once found difficult himself – work that’s introduced him to people right across the community.

His wife has her own circle too, a WhatsApp group of women in the community who check in on each other and organise their own get-togethers.

Looking back, Vishal is clear about the decision to build in Orana. “It’s a sense of satisfaction,” he says. 

“That you’ve made the right decision to move here and build a house. It’s a great place. The family is growing, and it should be your last home.”