slum

Titik Nol 67: Culture Shock

Selamat datang di New Delhi. (AGUSTINUS WIBOWO) Saya baru saja sampai di New Delhi dan amat terkejut dengan culture shock India. Walaupun sudah beberapa bulan saya berpetualang, tetapi gelar saya masih newbie alias pendatang baru di negara ini. Tak semua orang bisa langsung suka dengan sisi India yang tahu-tahu ditamparkan ke wajah.. Sopir bajaj autorickshaw ini cerewet sekali. Kepalanya yang dibalut surban merah terus bergoyang-goyang selama ia bicara. Mulutnya terbungkus jenggot putih yang menjuntai. Saya hanya ingin menumpang kendaraan untuk menuju ke KBRI, tetapi ia sudah mulai bercerita tentang adat India. Salah satu adat orang India yang langsung saya kenali, bicara tanpa henti dengan kepala miring ke kiri ke kanan berayun-ayun. “Bhai – saudara, saya bawa kamu ke Channakyapuri, tetapi sebelumnya, kita mampir dulu ke toko barang kerajinan. Di sana nanti kamu melihat-lihat barang ya. Sepuluh menit saja. Tak usah lama-lama. Kamu tak perlu beli. Nanti saya dapat komisi dari pemilik toko. Habis itu saya antar kamu ke kedutaan.” Saya hanya ingin naik bajaj dengan harga murah. “Bhai, sekarang adalah musim wisata di India. Turis-turis suka sekali dengan barang kerajinan kami. Ada warna-warni.” Terserah. Saya hanya ingin sampai ke kedutaan. “Bhai, nanti kalau pemilik toko memberi komisi, kamu tidak usah [...]

August 26, 2014 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Newsroom Experience

Working in the newsroom Pajhwok Afghan News Agency is the biggest news agency in Afghanistan. I was lucky that I was introduced by a journalist friend of mine to the director of this company. And starting from today I experienced the life in the newsroom. The news of the office came out online and updated in minute basis. The subscription fee might be still high for Afghan standard, up to 200 dollars for big companies, NGOs, and embassies. The website of the news agency is http://www.pajhwok.com, and provides services in Farsi, Pashto, and English. The director, Mr Danish, is a friendly man, and he provided me some books that I might read before deciding to wander around the country. He even promised some assistance from different parts of the country as the News Agency has several local offices in many cities of Afghanistan. Discussing about the photos Mr. Danish requested me to come to the office early to meet with the photographer of the office. They only have one photographer in this city, some other correspondents in different provinces also provide them journalistic photography. The equipment used is a simple pocket Sony digital camera. Mr Danish said that I might [...]

June 12, 2006 // 2 Comments

Rawalpindi – Slums

Phir Wadhai February 1, 2006 A whole day in Phir Wadhai. Phir Wadhai might be never been in any places you wanna visit. Phir Wadhai is the most important transport hub in Rawalpindi, where you can get bus from here to anywhere in Pakistan. But as other bus terminals in Java (Indonesia), Phir Wadhai is another stinky and polluted place. First I saw the place at a glance from the bus which took me from Gilgit to Pindi. I suddenly ‘fell in love’ with it. The huge stinky pond of unflowing water flourishing the road, while people selling fruits, grilled meat, rice, and anything ‘eatable’ around the stinky black water. The environment made me curious how people here survive, and at last I decided to spend a full day in Phir Wadhai to discover the life here. Rawalpindi is a harsh metropolitan, with dreams to offer about high income to the villagers all around Pakistan. Here you can meet people from Northern Areas, Balucshistan, Sindh, Punjab, from big cities like Karachi and Lahore until small villages in the middle of Thar desert. The life here is not that easy, of course. Many of these people are uneducated, so they end [...]

February 1, 2006 // 3 Comments