LAUREN: ‘I love that
Darren’s a realist; he really
keeps things real, he’s always
levelheaded and helps me
make bold decisions. When
ever I feel a bit anxious or a
bit uneasy, he’s always there
to make sure I’m OK and tell
me things will be fine. He’ll
also drop everything for my
family and I think it’s really
important to have somebody
that cares as much as you do
about your own family.
We’ve been together for
six years and we met throughLAUREN DRAGOSETTI, 30,
& DARREN KUMAR, 28:
‘WE’RE
A MIXED-RACE
my younger brother, so you
could say I’m a cougar! I was
first attracted to his charisma;
he’s a very charismatic boy,
which I was really drawn to.
I never thought anything of
Darren’s race when we met- my mum is Australian and
my dad’s Italian, so I was
brought up by a mixedrace
couple. I accept Darren’s
morals and values, and being
part of the Sri Lankan culture
is so exciting. I have never
felt more comfortable around
a culture and more accepted.
They’re very welcoming and
any Sri Lankan I’ve ever met
has taken me under their
wing and considered me part
of their family.
The only challenge for
me was adjusting to the fact
his family are quieter and
more reserved. I come from
a very outspoken family, but
at the Kumars’, no one really
screams at each other – in
the Dragosetti household,
we all scream at each other
just to say hi.
We’ve never really
experienced any racism or
judgement towards us, except
this one time when we were
on the beach and this old man
walked past and he started
laughing, then pointed at us
and said, “Milk and coffee!”
I didn’t really know how to
react; it was very weird.
One day when we have
kids, we’ll educate them on
our separate cultures and
the values and the morals
that come with them. I’ll
teach them to respect other
cultures and never judge
anyone based on the colour
of their skin or their race.’DARREN: ‘Lauren has such
a strong will and is confident,
which are just some of the
qualities I love about her.
She’s not afraid to speak her
mind, but she’s also one of
the most caring people I’ve
met. I knew she was ‘The
One’ when my grandfather
got sick and she messaged
me constantly to find out
how he was. That’s when I
realised there was something
special there. I never thought
about race at all when we
started dating; for me it’s
always been about the person.
Aesthetically it’s easier for a
person to think more about
my race or background.
My parents were both
born in Sri Lanka and I was
born here, but we’re very
traditional, whereas with
Lauren’s family there are no
conversation topics that are
off the table – none! That
took a bit of getting used to.
Compared to a lot of other
mixedrace couples, we’re
very lucky; we’ve never faced
judgement. I have a very close
family – a lot of my cousins
are living in Sydney now too,
and they all have partners
from different races, which
is great! It’s 2017; it should
be hard not to find a good
group of mixedrace couples
out there. We’re no different
to any other couple.’COUPLE’
It’s been the best
blend of cultures for
Lauren and Darren