Asialink

Aarti Betigeri


Aarti Betigeri
    


Freelance journalist

  1. How did you come to be living and working in Delhi?
    I'd always yearned to live in Asia - in particular India. My parents left the country in the 1960s to move to Australia and I'd always wanted to know how things had changed in that time. I arrived in Mumbai in late 2008 and about six months later my husband got a job in New Delhi, so we moved here last year.
     
  2. What are some of your daily work activities?
    I am a freelance journalist and predominantly write for Monocle magazine, and also contribute to the ABC, the Christian Science Monitor, and various international travel magazines and websites, amongst others. I teach journalism to a group of post-graduate students, am working on a documentary project and trying to fit in writing a book.

    My day-to-day work is quite varied: I could be spending a day uncovering Old Delhi's gastronomic secrets with a celebrity chef, on the phone to business leaders and economists, in the classroom, trailing a television cameraman through a flower market, or, best of all, sitting by a pool at a Rajasthani resort that I have been commissioned to "review". While the lifestyle stories are fun, what interests me most of all is writing about the great economic changes taking place in India, social justice issues and foreign relations.
       
  3. In your role, what are the highlights of working with different cultures?
    India can be frustratingly bureaucratic - so I like it when I am surprised, such as when a seemingly reluctant interviewee divulges useful information. My journalism students are refreshingly enthusiastic and devoid of the world-weary cynicism that I remember from my own student days. There is also an incredible wealth of stories to tell from here.

  4. How do you manage the cultural differences?
    Living here is an ongoing reality check. Even though I had travelled to India a lot before moving, and was always quite comfortable here, actually living and working here has lent a whole new dimension to my understanding of the country and its people. I have a core of people I call on for help in navigating cultural stumbling blocks - friends, a taxi driver I use regularly, my husband's colleagues.

    The biggest issue for me is language: I don't speak Hindi (although I speak a smattering of my parents' regional languages Marathi and Kannada) and that makes communication difficult - mostly with domestic help and rickshaw drivers, but sometimes sources for stories. Often we manage to get by, but there have been times I've resorted to calling my mum in Melbourne to translate!

  5. What do you enjoy most about living in Delhi?
    One of the aspects of Delhi I love is just how international it is: there are thousands of people from all over the world who've come to this city to work for the UN, a diplomatic mission, NGOs, in the media or to start up their own businesses. It's a very vibrant and multicultural place, and that gives an added dimension to being immersed in Indian society.

    It's also very cultural, there are always visiting foreign dance troupes, bands or theatre groups. Last month I went to see a French electro-funk band at an outdoor amphitheatre; an Israeli ballet company recently staged a modern version of Swan Lake. Last year I went to see a music festival at the Mughal-era Purana Qila, and over the next couple of weeks another music festival is running at another of the city's historic attractions, the Qutb Minar.

    Additionally, it's very easy to make friends here and I have a great network of both locals and expats.

     
  6. How can Australia make a stronger contribution towards building positive relations with Asia?
    There are really not that many Australians in India: I recently heard the number put at 1,500 in the whole country. By comparison there are tens of thousands of Americans, French and British - probably more. Despite the geographical proximity, Australia and India don't appear to have a particularly fruitful relationship and indeed not a lot of knowledge about each other beyond stereotypes and sensationalist reporting. There is an incredible amount to gain from a good relationship particularly given the similarities and I think both countries would benefit from sustained efforts to bring people together, such as school and work exchanges.