When Christopher Columbus set sail to the west, he was sure that the world is round. However, his mistake led him to find the new world, America, instead of India. Columbus was proven right, the world is indeed round. However, things have changed, 500 years after his first journey, the world appears to be flat, again.

Ketika Christopher Columbus berlayar ke Barat, dia yakin bahwa bumi bulat. Namun, kesalahannya malah membuat dia menemukan dunia baru, Amerika, bukannya India. Columbus terbukti benar, bumi memang bulat. Tapi, segalanya telah berubah, 500 tahun setelah pelayaran pertamanya, tampaknya bumi menjadi datar lagi.

When Christopher Columbus set sail to the west, he was sure that the world is round, or at least pear-shaped as he took mistakenly the calculation of earth's longitude. However, his mistake led him to find the new world, America, instead of India. His belief was contradicted to some others' view who believed that the world was flat. Columbus was proven right, the world is indeed round. However, things have changed, 500 years after his first journey, the world appears to be flat, again.

Ketika Christopher Columbus berlayar ke Barat, dia yakin bahwa bumi bulat, atau setidaknya berbentuk pir karena dia salah menghitung garis bujur bumi. Namun, kesalahannya malah membuat dia menemukan dunia baru, Amerika, bukannya India. Keyakinannya bertentangan dengan pandangan orang lain yang yakin bahwa bumi datar. Columbus terbukti benar, bumi memang bulat. Tapi, segalanya telah berubah, 500 tahun setelah pelayaran pertamanya, tampaknya bumi menjadi datar lagi.

Let me put it on this way, when Columbus sailed to the new world, he was actually looking for a faster way to reach India to bring back invaluable spices to Europe. Now, people in United States are heading for India not for spices, but for the brainpower. Now the Americans do not need ships to get there, the only thing they need is fibre-optic cable laid down under the Pacific Ocean.

Maksudku begini, waktu Columbus berlayar ke dunia baru itu, sebetulnya dia sedang mencari jalur yang lebih cepat ke India untuk membawa balik rempah-rempah yang berharga ke Eropa. Kini, orang-orang Amerika melirik India bukan demi rempah-rempah, tapi demi kekuatan otak. Kini orang Amerika tak perlu kapal untuk ke sana, yang mereka perlukan hanyalah kabel fiber-optik yang terbentang di dasar Samudera Pasifik.

Actually it is not really for Americans. This trend happens here, in Australia. A friend of mine once told me that his friend, an Indian descent, called customer service regarding his mobile phone and suddenly a familiar accent greeted him. The only thing in his mind was something like, "Hey, I'm not calling to the other part of Australia, it is connected to India!" How flat the world is.

Sebetulnya bukan cuma orang Amerika yang begitu. Di sini, Australia, juga ada tren seperti itu. Temanku berkata, temannya yang keturunan India sedang menghubungi layanan pelanggan ponsel, tiba-tiba dia mendengar aksen yang tidak asing baginya. Pikirannya berkata, "Hah, aku tidak sedang menghubungi bagian lain Australia, ini tersambung langsung ke India!" Betapa datarnya bumi ini.

Nowadays, Indian call centre is not unusual, especially in the States and probably Australia (I don't call customer service that often, so it still has to be proven). It costs cheaper for companies to use call centre or customer service in India rather than having their own call centre in their head offices. Yet, it is reliable, Indians can speak English very well (they are even trained to speak with particular accent and slang) and they are available 24/7/365, it means 24 hours customer service without overtime payment.

Belakangan ini, call center India bukan hal langka, terutama di Amerika dan mungkin Australia (Aku tidak begitu sering menghubungi layanan pelanggan, jadi belum terbukti). Biaya yang ditanggung lebih kecil, jika perusahaan memakai layanan pelanggan atau call center di India daripada di kantor utama mereka. Lagipula orang India dapat diandalkan, sangat baik berbahasa Inggris (bahkan dilatih berbagai aksen dan bahasa gaul tertentu), dan mereka siap 24 jam sehari, 7 hari seminggu, berarti layanan pelanggan 24 jam tanpa upah lembur.

That is only one example on how flat the world is, there are lots more examples on how people are interconnected with each other without geographic boundaries.

Itu hanya satu contoh betapa datarnya bumi. Masih ada banyak contoh bagaimana orang saling terhubung satu dengan lainnya tanpa batasan geografis.

According to Genesis, God created the world and he made it round. But who have flattened it?

Menurut Kejadian, Tuhan membuat bumi dan bentuknya bulat. Tapi siapa yang membuatnya datar?

... to be continued

... bersambung