Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Lidah


Bagian manakah yang mengendalikan keseluruhan hidup manusia? Yang menentukan nasib buruk dan nasib baik? Bagaikan mobil, bagian ini adalah kemudi yang mengarahkan jalan hidup semua manusia. Semua berasal dari sini, dan semua berakhir di tempat ini.

Sang merah jambu yang luwes dan mampu bergerak melawan waktu. Otot yang disebut sebagai kekuatan terbesar yang mengendalikan sejarah. Semua peristiwa besar yang merubah seluruh sejarah manusia datang dari tempat ini, sebuah tarian kecil yang mengawali segala perang dan kehancuran. Yang membuat dan membawa kedamaian dan ajaran. Gua garba sang agama dan politik, yang melaluinya semua kebijaksanaan dan hujatan meluncur mengeluarkan tangis pertamanya ketika melihat dunia. Tempat dimana kerahiman dan pengkhianatan disimpan sebelum akhirnya dilahirkan ke dalam dunia nan fana ini.

Seks? Genital? Huh, hanya itukah yang ada di dalam pikiran manusia saat ini? Semuanya diarahkan kepada pemikiran kepala kecil dan liangnya. Seks memang memegang peranan dalam kelahiran dan kejatuhan kerajaaan-kerajaan agung dunia, bertanggung jawab atas semua kebijakan-kebijakan dari para pembesar-pembesar jagad. Tapi, seks hanyalah kelanjutan dari organ ini. Seks hanyalah budak disandingkan dengan sang maha ini.

Ia tidak pernah mendapatkan pujaan dan sanjungan. Tidak ada ketenaran dicapainya, karena sang ibu ini kalah pamor dengan budaknya sendiri, yang telah menebar segala pesona dan kepuasan kepada seluruh dunia. Ya, sang ibu menjadi seorang dalang yang tidak pernah diperhitungkan di dalam pementasan teater kehidupan ini. Sang budak telah bangkit dan menutup semua kekuatan sang ibu, yang membuat sang budak terangkat derajatnya, lebih tinggi dari sang ibu.

Satu kata, lidah!

Lidah?

Ya, lidah! Sang ibu dan rahim dari segala kebesaran, kekuatan, dan hujatan. Sang candradimuka penggodog agama dan politik. Yang menentukan kebenaran umat manusia, dan pengecaman atas apa yang dianggap tidak benar.

Seks lebih kuat dari lidah!

Benarkah itu? Seks lebih kuat dari lidah?

Iya!

Pikirkan lagi! Apa yang mendorong orang untuk mau bercumbu? Semua diawali dengan kata-kata rayuan. Semua diawali dengan pikatan yang keluar dari sang ibu.

Dari mana semua dogma dan kebijaksanaan berasal?

Lidah.........

Dari mana kehancuran kerajaan agung lahir?

Perang dan kehancuran! Pengkhianatan!

Lalu, dari siapakah perang dan kehancuran terpercik?

Politik, dogma, kebijakan!

Dari mana politik, dogma, dan kebijakan berasal? Semua meluncur begitu saja dari lidah seseorang. Otak memang sang sumber, tapi siapakah sang pengendali? Jika memang otak memiliki gagasan, tetapi sang lidah tidak bergerak untuk menyambungkannya dengan kesatuan alam semesta, apakah ia akan menjelma menjadi inkarnasi dari semuanya?

Sang ibu akan menjadi medium bagi sang gagas untuk keluar ke realita, dan terjadilah sang titah. Titah akan menjadi sabda, dan mengendalikan hidup mati semua orang, sang pengucap dan banyak lagi.

Dari manakah sebuah negara memutuskan perang kalau bukan dari lidah sang pemimpin? Hanya dari sebuah lidah, ribuan nyawa orang akan menjadi taruhan.

Darimanakah datangnya permusuhan antara dua orang teman, kalau bukan dari kebencian yang diutarakan oleh lidah? Kebencian tidak akan mengganggu selama ia tersimpan jauh, dan ketika lidah mengucapkannya, ia akan menjelma menjadi nyata.

Huh, bagaikan dewa! Mengubah yang abstrak menjadi nyata.

Ya, semua perasaan hanya ada dalam pikiran, dan lidahlah yang mengubahnya menjadi termanifestasi. Sugesti manusia yang paling besar datang dari lidah! Ia akan mengubah segalanya, bahkan keyakinan hati terdalam kita.

Sugesti terdalam? Mengubah keyakinan hati? Bukankah keyakinan hati tidak tergoyahkan?

Tidak tergoyahkan, huh? Itu pernyataan yang sangat lucu! Ketika kau takut dalam pikiranmu, ketakutan tidak akan muncul apabila lidahmu tidak berkata, “Aku takut!” Siapa yang menentukan kesakitan? Ketika lidahmu berkata, “Aku sakit!” maka kau pun akan menjadi sakit. Akan tetapi, ketika lidahmu diam, kau tidaklah sakit!

Lidah adalah dewa bagi sementara orang. Lidah adalah sang penyelamat dan pembawa api kehancuran. Dan dari lidah, nasib dunia ini ditentukan. Dari situlah, muncul legenda akan sebuah kata rahasia, esensi dari dunia ini. Hanya dengan menyebutkan kata itu, dunia bisa saja hancur atau menjadi baru.

Lidah.... Kata.........

Friday, April 18, 2008

King Gyanendra and Sun Quan : Hesitant Monarch

Okay, I've guessed that there will be lots of questions here. Who the hell is King Gyanendra? And who the hell is this Sun Quan? Well, I think it will be a wise action for me to explain first these two names.

King Gyanendra is the recent king of Nepal – and will probably be the last one if nothing went wrong (or went right?) in Nepal. Whereas Sun Quan is a legendary character from a classical chinese epic, Romance of Three Kingdom (a.k.a. Sam Kok). (Hey, so what is the relationship between these two? One of them came from eon ago, and the other is the recent persona!) Well, the relationship between these two characters will be explained later – or perhaps you will be able to deduce it from the explanation of their background below.

Let's talk about Sun Quan first, since he is the older character. =)) Sun Quan is a prince from Wu Kingdom in the era of Three Kingdom, the second son of Sun Jian. The Kingdom of Wu is one of the three big forces at that time. Their leader was Sun Jian, the father of Sun Quan and Sun Ce. Unfortunately, Sun Jian died and leave the kingdom to the crown prince, Sun Ce. According to the legend, Sun Ce was the brightest ruler of Wu, even better than his father. Thus, Sun Quan was so relax upon the possibility of ruling the land. Unfortunately, even the brightest star should fade away, thus died Sun Ce of illness. The death of Sun Ce forced Sun Quan to assume the cape of the ruler. He was so hesitated, since he never dreamed of being a king, since he considered that his brother was a better ruler than himself. But, the show must go on, Wu must stand out among Shu and Wei. And history noted, the early death of Sun Jian and Sun Ce would raise Sun Quan to the stage of history.

Enough with Sun Quan, let's take a big leap to the present day. The next story took place in a country next to China, Nepal. As most people know, Nepal is the only Hindu kingdom left in the whole world. But at the end of the 20th century, something happen there. A wise king Birendra and his family was shot by the drunken prince till death. What was the motives? It was simply because King Birendra didn't allow the prince to marry a girl of his choice. At dinner party, this prince shot down his whole royal family, including King Birendra and the crown prince Dipendra, leaving only Gyanendra, the brother of Prince Dipendra. With no one left to serve as king, Gyanendra was appointed to replace both Birendra and Dipendra. (Okay, I got your point. The similarity is in the king – crown prince – replacement, right?) However, unlike Sun Quan who finally rose to the center of the stage, Gyanendra faced a lot of problem. And the ultimate problem to come happened when Nepal finally held a general election. This election was won by the Maoist party, the party which wants to eliminate monarchy at Nepal. What happened next? Well, since this is a real world, Maoist gave a month-time to the royal family to prepare for their downfall. After a month, the monarchy of Nepal will be completely eliminated, changed to republic. And there won't even be a symbolic king as in many other countries.

Hhh, so what is the point of writing this down? Nothing. I just instantly remember Sun Quan of Wu when reading the article of Gyanendra and the downfall of Nepal's monarchy this morning. They came from the similar tragedy, but unfortunately ended in a different way. Sun Quan managed to reach glory, while Gyanendra should suffer the fate as the last emperor of Nepal. Be patient, king! Even the monarchy of Nepal is no more, the romanticism will still be there, in the heart of the people.

Eh, additional trivial things. If Sun Quan lived in the era of Three Kingdom, I read that Nepal is surrounded also by two big forces, India and China. Strange, so strange! Is this a cycle of history????? Gyahahahahaha!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Parting with Pride

Last Saturday, I came to the regular training of SMADA English Debate Community, a.k.a. SEDC. As usual, I was with Ika, my ex-trainee who is my teaching partner now. I have to admit that these several months, I gave her bigger portion, a greater time to be with the kids. Not because I´m lazy or something, but I want to give greater time for her to adapt and adjust herself to the teaching-learning condition. I have to say that I´m old enough, and 4 years taking care of SEDC is such a long time. As far as I know, not many trainers have been able to keep being in a single place for such a time.

I am tired, for there are many other things to take care of, for there are many unfinished business. And it is not that I love leaving this kids behind. As you can read in my previous posts, I really love teaching. I really love being an educator. I really love learning together with various people. I just need to realize that I do not have enough capacity anymore in dealing with them. Not being an official debater of my varsity anymore give me no access to JDF (Jogja Debating Forum). Thus, it means that I am not as capable as I used to be in giving those kids the latest info or development in debating realm. Hence, I need to retreat and give up my position to the younger ones, who are still progressing and developing themselves, who still have the access towards newest and recent info and development.

I realize this with my full consciousness. I am so aware of the fact that I will soon leave them behind. But one hurting moment is when those kids were looking for Ika when they had some problems. They directed their questions towards her, though I was there. Hmm, at that very moment, I felt very useless, I felt that my presence there was not counted. It felt bad when you are in the position like that. Seems like you are one of the unworthy kind. Yet, for all these years, these kids from SEDC were the ones supporting me, upheld me in my worse condition. They were the reason for me to keep smiling, to keep enduring the hardship I had in debating world. The reason for me to stay strong.

Yet, at the same time, I feel glad that one of my ex-disciple was able to surpass me, to replace me, and to be there when those kids needed something. It means that what I have been giving her all of these times were not going in vain. That those were useful. That I can be considered as a successful teacher.

But afterall, I am only a mere human being, crawling on the earth with my two legs. Nothing in me is so perfect. Thus, I am torn in this condition.

So, crying in the same time when I am smiling. So, this is it. Parting is one of the risk of meeting. If you do not want to part with someone else, then the only way to avoid that is only not to meet someone. Good luck for Ika, good luck for SEDC!

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Cinematherapy

I just read some article in Nirmala about a unique therapy. A very unique one, cinematherapy. Wew, a kind of therapy that I will never refuse. Really, who can resist such a temptation? For a cinema freak like myself, this is a blissful heaven!!!

Now, let´s see what this therapy offered us.

Cinematherapy. From the word formation, we can see that this term comes from cinema and therapy. In short, this is a kind of therapy using film. The focus of this therapy is only the patient watching some sort of movies.

What can movie actually offer us? Well, according to some research, there are at least two kind of effect produced by watching movie. The first one is the pop corn movie therapy. (Wow, pop corn! Nice food to accompany me in watching movie). This therapy only mean that the patient will find some excitement and thus chaneling his / her emotion through the feeling they got. Included in this category are action and comedy movie. Well, in fact everytime someone watching this kind of movie, they will get carried away, hence releasing the stress which has been accumulated through time. This releasing through the excitement gotten by watching this kind of movie is the result of pop corn movie therapy.

Yeah, we know that already. But is there any other effect acquired through watching movie other than that? Well, here comes the second effect, which is the evocative effect. This one is way more serious than the previous. This is usually carried out by those with drama genre. (Oh yeah, another justification for me to keep collecting drama! Heh heh heh!!!)

In this evocative effect, the audience or the patient will identify themselves to one or more characters from the movie, thus identify the similar problem that they have. It doesn´t stop until that moment only, but widened to the point where the characters in the movie reached the solution or at least inspiring the patient that there are others with similar condition like themselves.

Furthermore, in the end of the article, it was written that some genre will give particular effect, different from the other genres. Yet, to be personal, I don´t agree with the writer that Ayat-ayat Cinta is classified as the religious movie. (NO!!! There´s no way it is a religious movie!!!!)

In the end, what is the conclusion? Well, *glancing at my pile of DVDs* let´s started watching movies!!! Steel Magnolias, here I come!

Monday, April 07, 2008

Hyper Reality in a Reality Show

Reading several articles in Kompas about reality show, it seems that all the rotten things behind those programs unveiled. The first article is about Ian Kasolo, the finalist from Dangdut Mania 1 in TPI. He was one of the striking contestant at that time, who successfully stole the attention from the society. Supported by his resemblance to Ian Kasela, he was one of the memorable contestant. Though he didn´t manage to win the competition, the impression that he left is quite good.

In that article, he admitted that after the show, life didn´t go as he already expected. There is no glamorous job, no glamorous life like all artists, not even any privileges. Yes, he did star in some sinetron at TPI, accepting singing job in some cheap show sometimes, but not more..... His recent life turned out to be miserable, working under another contestant. Nothing he could do to help and assist his family. And furthermore, he is scared to death to come back to his hometown. Why? Because almost all the people in his hometown thought that he is already a successful and rich singer. What an ego!

Surprisingly, at Monday (06/04), Kompas again published three articles in its Kehidupan rubric about the reality show. (Wew, so happening, eh?) It is said that in the recent situation, where the economic growth is way beyond our expectation, and the social condition is far weak, the television has positioned itself as the Messiah, as the salvator, as the way to reach something in an instant. It offers us with the temptation of dreams, fame, and richness.

No, I didn´t try to criticize the television, since they have absolute power in looking for the profit. They offer things, they make people dreamed, they lead people to ecstasy. Seen from the marketing and economics side, it is legal for the television to turn into a stage of hyper reality, where something beyond reality happened. This is a fake thing, quasi matter, but beyond the real reality. (Ouw, confusing!) In this case, the television became a phantasmagoria room, where the images come and go in a speed of light, within the pre-created hysteria.

If I had to put the blame on someone, I will certainly put it into the people, who take everything literally, by giving in all their dream within this room, who also giving in all of them within it, thus leaving the real way, the usual way, the usual self, hence being someone completely different from themselves.

And quoting the manager of TPI´s comment, ¨We just gave them the chance to be on TV, not promising the contract or such!¨ Thus, allow me to laugh!

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Tim Underdog

Apakah yang paling penting di dalam mengikuti perlombaan yang cukup intens? Apakah itu sebuah determinasi yang sangat kuat, ambisi yang sangat tinggi, ataukah sebuah keinginan untuk bersenang-senang?

Ada sebuah kejadian yang baru saja terjadi di dalam sebuah perlombaan debat. Sabtu kemarin, SMA mengirimkan 2 tim debat untuk mengikuti kompetisi di SMA 8, sebut saja tim A dan tim B. Kebetulan, karakteristik kedua tim itu sangat berbeda.

Tim A berisikan orang-orang yang cukup rajin datang latihan, karena mereka sadar bahwa mereka masih sangat jauh dari sempurna. Dan kalau boleh dikatakan dengan jujur, kemampuan mereka sebenarnya masih sangat memprihatinkan. Dari dalam lubuk hati mereka sendiri sebenarnya tidak ada target yang cukup tinggi, hanya menikmati proses berdebat dan bersenang-senang, tidak peduli menang atau kalah. Bayangkan saja, mereka bisa bergoyang ngebor pada saat debat, atau bahkan bergaya seperti rocker pada saat berbicara di depan.... Pokoknya aneh-aneh lah!

Sementara itu, Tim B berisikan para veteran debat yang sudah cukup lama malang melintang di kompetisi. Kemampuan mereka jauh di atas Tim A. Kemenangan adalah ambisi mereka. Hanya sayangnya, kesibukan yang mereka miliki tidak mengizinkan mereka untuk datang latihan setiap waktu. Walaupun begitu, mereka masih sangat percaya dengan kemampuan mereka sendiri.

Dan tibalah hari perlombaan. 3 preliminary round. Seperti sudah diperkirakan, Tim B berhasil clean sweep (alias selalu menang dalam 3 ronde), menduduki peringkat kedua, dan berhasil masuk ke babak quarter final. Di sisi lain, Tim A sempat kalah dengan selisih nilai yang cukup tinggi (margin 5) di babak pertama. Maklum, mereka langsung berhadapan dengan salah satu tim yang memang sudah dijagokan untuk menang. Maka dari itu, mereka tidak merasa kecewa dengan hasilnya, wong sudah dianggap wajar kalau mereka kalah dengan margin sebesar itu. Hal inilah yang kemudian menyebabkan mereka semakin memutuskan untuk bermain dengan santai. Have fun go mad! Memang, di babak kedua mereka berhasil mendapatkan kemenangan, tetapi hanya dengan margin 1. Biar bagaimana pun juga, total margin mereka adalah -4.

Kejutan terjadi ketika di babak ketiga, Tim A bertemu dengan tim dari sebuah SMA swasta di yogya (cuiii, ga mau nyebut merek..... Hahahahahahaha!!!!). Kebetulan, kedua tim sebenarnya sama parahnya (Duh, dan parahnya, aku menonton pertandingan yang ini). Crap debate lah! Crap vs crap! Dan itu berarti bahwa yang menang bukanlah yang terbaik, tetapi yang paling sedikit membuat kesalahan. Wew, berpengalaman menjadi seorang adjudicator, aku paham sekali rasanya mengadju di prelim ketiga, di ruang bawah. Pasti emosinya teraduk-aduk. Sebel ngeliatnya, ada debat kok busuk banget!

Nah, di sinilah kejutan itu terjadi. Tim A sendiri sudah mengakui bahwa kalaupun mereka menang, maka bukan berarti bahwa mereka itu sudah baik, tetapi karena memang lawan mereka sangatlah buruk. Tibalah saat pengumuman pemenang... .Dan, mereka menang dengan margin 8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Masuk deh ke babak quarter final bersama dengan Tim B. Sebenarnya pada saat itu, mereka merasa sebal ketika mengetahui bahwa mereka masuk ke quarter final. Maklum, mereka sudah lelah, dan baru bisa pulang kalau tidak lolos ke quarter final. Dengan masuknya tim ini ke babak selanjutnya, maka rumah baru bisa dicapai setelah maghrib.

Berbekal kesadaran akan kemampuan yang hanya segitu, Tim A mengikuti quarter tanpa beban apapun. Dalam hati, mereka tidak berpikir sama sekali untuk masuk ke semi final.

Dan, setelah hari yang melelahkan, tibalah saat pengumuman tim mana saja yang masuk ke semi final. Pada saat itu kami semua masih sempat bercanda, bahwa Dias (salah satu anggota tim A) akan bergoyang dangdut di sekolah apabila timnya tidak masuk semi final. Sebenarnya kami semua hanya ingin menggodanya, karena semua orang juga tidak berpikiran bahwa tim A akan lolos.

Pengumuman tiba....... Dan, yang berhasil masuk ke semifinal memang sudah bisa ditebak, tim A!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sementara tim B gagal!!!!! Langsung meledaklah tawa kami semua! Tawa penuh ketidak percayaan!

Jadi, apakah yang menyebabkan kemenangan tim A? Determinasi? (Sepertinya tidak) Kerja keras? Sikap santai? Atau jangan-jangan justru janji Dias untuk bergoyang??? Hahahahaha!!!