Wow

When I finished reading this article, my immediate reaction was WOW! The article is about a writer who lived among slum dwellers in various countries and then wrote a book called,"Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World".

"For his book Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World (Routledge), author Robert Neuwirth lived in places that many of us strive to avoid — slums, or squatter colonies of some of the world's largest cities.

From the Rocinha neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro to Kibera in Nairobi and Sanjay Gandhi Nagar a slum in north Mumbai, Neuwirth, an investigative reporter whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Newsday and The Nation, examines how squatters — people whose urban settlements are not legally recognised — build colonies in the face of daunting commercial and political pressure.

While providing its readers a window into the grittier aspects of squatter life, Shadow Cities — which Publishers Weekly called a 'superbly probing book' — takes note of squatter pleasures. Some friends he makes along his journey enjoy what would be considered middle class comforts in much of the developing world."
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I personally feel such assignments are absolutely awesome! Such stories give a kick like no others can. It's amazing that this writer lived amongst the slum dwellers to write his book which is commendable and also necesary for gaining a perspective. I think it would have been impossible for him to be honest about the issues they are facing if he wouldn't have stayed with them. Kudos to that man who actually went about living with the slum dwellers. I mean it's not an easy task. Adjusting, adapting to new situations, language, poverty, damn there are thousand things to take care of and he ain't even a desi! Whoa! As a journalist such kind of stories, assignments give tremendous amount of job satisfaction and I hope in future as a journalist I get a chance to do such challenging stories :D