Travel I

Situasi yang jarang kita nampak

India, aku yakin orang akan terfikirkan bangunan penuh simbolik cinta antara Shah Jahan dan surihatinya, Mumtaz Mahal. Bangunan serba cantik lagi indah yang dilengkapi sebuah masjid di kirinya dan Guest House di kanannya. Tapi pernah tak anda lihat situasi di Delhi?

Di Old Delhi misalannya, ramai penghuni miskin tegar yang membina rumah-rumah haram di tepi jalan raya sebagai tempat berlindung. Di situlah sebuah keluarga kecil menghuni dan disitu jugaklah sebuah komuniti kecil wujud menghimpunkan beberapa buah keluarga lain. Kotor, jijik dan busuk adalah perkataan yang melintas di minda. Kemudian, hadir pula perkataan kasihan tanda belas ihsan pada manusia lainnya. Mungkin juga perut mereka sudah lali dan neutral dengan habuk dan bakteria?

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I was looking at my old blog post this morning that I suddenly realized something. I had never really blog about my trips and share my experience. All I did was post photos with caption.  Some captions weren’t descriptive enough that after certain time, I couldn’t recall what actually taken place in my photos. And there was another thing. Before I started photography seriously, I write and blog a lot. I covered various topics on my blog. I don’t put the blame to my hobby (i.e. photography) though, but I see trend here. That I get lazier. I write less and lesser everyday.

Laziness aside, I’m going to write a short note about my trip to India in 2008. There, I visited three cities and some famous places/landmarks like Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, India Gate, and several dry and wet markets that I couldn’t recall their name (because I have to look into my notebook first and I couldn’t find it right now. Yeah I don’t have 5S for my stuff).  I was very excited and overjoyed at that time.  Was very happy to witness one of the Seven Wonders of the World that I took photos like a frantic person; never wait for a right moment nor aim for better composition. None whatsoever.

Frankly speaking, it wasn’t really the joy of witnessing the Wonders of the World that moved me. It was the unexplainable experience that I get when I was there, when I was travelling across the cities on a rented car, the things and local people that I saw along the journey that moved me. Of course, the Taj Mahal is magnificent and there is no doubt about it. But there are many valuable experiences yet to be found when you travel abroad than just spotting beautiful buildings/places and enthusiastically shoot photos.

Whenever we travel to the new places, if we have ample time, slow down. Look around. Shoot photos/record videos but not all the time. Interact with the locals. Understand their culture. Read history to appreciate things. Try local food (if it doesn’t cause you diarrhea afterwards).  Write down some notes (so you don’t forget or mix up things later on when you come back esp. when you are on business trip and want to do claims). This is how you turn your average holiday trip to something extraordinary.