Jakarta Tales Vol 4: Return of the Storyteller

Hi,

I'm back. After a long sabbatical, though not deliberate, I am back. Since the last mail I wrote was more than a month back, let me keep you under no illusion about the length of this mail: long, really long. And honestly, this time I AM going to give you choices about what you wish to read from the following sections:


1) The Bandung trip and the long weekend
2) The Yogyakarta earthquake and the aftermath
3) The weekend blasts (no, not bomb blasts, the party blasts)
4) Work and the interesting challenge
5) The international Indian dinner, the Thousand Islands and the 2nd Bandung trip

Well, my intention was to give each section such an interesting header that you wouldn't be able to resist going through each one. Alrite, I know it's a cheap shot but c'mon, I'm a marketing person... I have to sell :) I suggest you get yourself a nice big bag of chips or snacks and some soda or tea/coffee while you read this one. Trust me, it's going to be like watching a long film... lolz...I also suggest you read it in parts. That will give you time to soak it all in and then maybe you could form a "Yousuf's Mails Fan Club" and keep mailing me all your words of appreciation ;) Oooooooh, I can already see you saying, "Huh!"

BANDUNG AND THE LONG WEEKEND...

A few weeks ago, AIESEC in Universitas Indonesia invited me to attend an AIESEC national conference in a city called Bandung. I couldn't go during the week owing to work but I decided I would go for it on the weekend. Not only would it allow me to attend my first AIESEC conference in Indonesia (I miss the ones I attended in India during my AIESEC years) but the chance to visit Bandung.

And doing that would make me a true Jakartan :) How? Because Bandung is what Khandala is to Mumbai (although Bandung is a proper city and much bigger than Khandala). It's up in the hills, much cooler than Jakarta and every weekend, it becomes the motto of one in every 5 Jakartans to go to Bandung to escape the humidity of the capital and also gives them a chance to pollute beautiful, "green grass-blue skies" Bandung. In fact, you can see it. The freeways leading to and from Bandung are filled with cars numbered "B" - which is Jakarta's code and inside Bandung, traffic jams are common.

So, I was on my way on a Saturday morning at 9am. Ono (really chubby and plump Chinese girl from AIESEC) was sweet and kind enough to organize the coach for me to go to Bandung and accompanying me was someone from the other end of the world - an Icelandic guy. Let me introduce you to Thomas Christiansson. Thomas is all of 22 and he's already visited 26 different countries. He's just finished his graduation, just finished a mini world tour, has worked with AIESEC in Iceland and the United Nations in the past and is now in Jakarta to work with the National Committee of AIESEC in Indonesia for a year. Whoa! Talk of achievement! Honestly, he really is a highly talented guy with great future potential and management seems to be in his blood.

Anyways, so off we were after I landed 5 mins late at the coach station, the coach had left and had to come back to pick me up (Siddhant, if you're reading this, don't laugh... I am improving on my punctuality).

The 2.5 hr journey to Bandung was a smooth ride and dotting both sides of the freeway are tea gardens, steep mountain slopes and orchards. And the journey seemed really short because while everyone else on the coach slept, Thomas and I kept talking till we arrived in Bandung.

And boy, what an interesting experience that was! I learnt a little bit of Icelandic and believe you me, it is a tough language. I taught Thomas some Hindi and he was really bad at it. But what we both learned about each other's cultures, countries, economies was what was fascinating. Did you know that Reykjavik - the capital - is the world's 2nd most expensive city after Tokyo? Did you know that Icelandic business houses own half and more of Harrod's, Vodafone and other such major English, Swedish and Danish companies? And that Iceland's population is only 300,000 although it's area is bigger than France and England?

300,000?!?! We wouldn't even put it on the map of India! And Thomas knows that. I told him so... haha! The most surprising thing he told me was that in winter in Iceland, the sun rises at 11am and sets at 2pm and during the summers, the sun never sets... even at midnight!

Anyways, three beautiful girls from AIESEC in Bandung picked us up from the coach station and we headed straight for the hotel where the conference was being held. Btw, we got to know that the conference was not exactly in Bandung but slightly higher up in a hill station called Lembang. Good, I thought. The higher, the better! On the way, we met Fahmi, another interesting guy. Fahmi is Indonesian and was an exchange student in Brazil for a year. So till the time we reached the hotel, it was Samba talk all the way :)

The hotel, indeed, was perched high up on a hill and gave us a beautiful view of the valley below with clouds floating past, a la Lord of the Rings (but I've seen better views on my Shimla-Manali trip). Thomas and I were given a rousing reception in true AIESEC style and after a long time, I was blushing, or let's say, slightly embarassed. I had almost forgotten to be a public speaker in the last few years and the AIESECers were nice enough to warmly appreciate the little Bahasa I spoke. They loved "Bissu peeke than" and joined me in the "than"... haha! Thomas, of course, got an even bigger applause for his "roll call" as he is on the National Commitee.

I didn't do much in the conference except talk to a lot of people who were keenly interested in India and my experiences in Indonesia. Come Saturday night, it started drizzling, temperatures fell further and a few of us were out for dinner to "The Peak" - a beautiful restaurant on a hill offering a breathtaking view of Bandung below, illuminated by night. Now that is some view! Honestly, you don't want to leave the quietude and the warmth of the fireplace as the chilly breeze blows past and the city below looks like a galaxy of stars.

The drive we went for afterwards gave me a culture shock. While we were driving through one of the streets, Fahmi pulled down his window, said a "hi" to two girls who were standing on the sidewalk and asked them if they wanted to join us! The girls smiled and said, well, not that night because they had other plans but if he gave them a call later, maybe they would. And they exchanged phone numbers! And the girls weren't prostitutes. They were English speaking, well dressed, beautiful girls. To my surprise, the others in the car said this was Bandung culture. Bandung, they told me, is called "City of Flowers" because "flowers" has a pun. It refers to the numerous bonsai plants, the orchards and gardens in the city yes, but it also means "beautiful girls". Later, I found out that the most beautiful women in Indonesia come from Bandung :) The night lasted long as we played "Chabo Chabo Cha Cha Cha" and partied hard.

The next day we began early. I went to see a strawberry farm and had my first violin lessons. Actually, a girl called Karin was at the conference and she plays the violin as if she communicates through it. So, I thought, what better than someone so skilled giving me basic lessons in my favourite instrument and that too, in such picturesque locales. It took me 2 hours to learn the grip, the poise and the first note. I thought I was horrible but Karin said I did pretty good for a first-timer (She is now helping me find someone in Jakarta who can teach me the violin professionally. Please pray, ladies and gentlemen that I find someone soon).

The conference got over that afternoon and while it was raining heavily, I decided to go to Gunung Tangkuban Prahu... alone. No one was willing to come because they had other plans. But I was intent on seeing the volcano at any cost. So I thought, better late than never.

Off I was in an angkot (a small van like our very own shuttle Omnis in Kolkata). The rain stopped, the skies started clearing slowly and an hour later, I was at 6600 ft and at the top of the crater of Gunung Tangkuban Prahu.

Gosh, it's incredible! At the top of the crater, where tourists stand, the temperature is 12-15 degrees centigrade, the wind is chilly, vapour comes out through your mouth and clouds float past you like sheep. And just 100 metres below, inside the crater, you can see yellow-pale green sulphur burning and boiling at 120 degrees and steaming rocks! That's when you start wondering at God's power of creation and nature's unbelievable bounties. At times, you feel the mountain is talking to you when it rumbles and grunts. But I was diasspointed I couldn't get to Kawah Domas (the other crater) because it was already too late and the way to is through a forest.

The local vendors kept chasing me and other foreigners to buy some traditional handicrafts and I eventually bought two wooden pens, a beautiful Javanese painting made from dry banana leaves and paddy paper and rushed back to Bandung where Thomas and the other AIESECers were waiting and worried that I hadn't returned till sunset. We left for Jakarta at 7.30pm.

And now here comes the interesting part. While on our way back to Jakarta in the coach, we all slept but when we woke up, I had this strange but nice feeling when in the distance, I could see tons of cars. The smell of gas and petrol filled the air and instead of being irritated with it or getting the "oh no, not again" feeling, I felt like I was back home. A warm feeling rented my heart and it was as if I was saying, "Good ol' Jakarta..."

Anyways, now for the long weekend. I thought India was a lazy country but Indonesia is not far behind, or let's say, quite ahead in these matters. But it's nice because it resulted in a long weekend holiday from Thu-Sun without a big festival or reason ;) A few weeks ago, there was a national holiday on Thursday for the "Ascension of Jesus Christ". Fair enough, offices were closed. But then, the government declared a holiday on Friday too so that everyone could have a long weekend and offices resumed work only on Monday! But the government is hapless in these matters because on all such occasions, everyone either applies for leave or reports sick. So what the heck, give everyone a holiday, solve the problem! And I utlilized this weekend in pure indulgence. I spent a lot of money eating at the malls, listening to music, going to see films and hanging out just doing nothing. Ah, what a feeling it is to be idle... haha!

Sampai jumpa

Yousuf