Senin, 11 November 2013

Sweater Hijau & Rambut Panjang Terikat

KM 21,antara Bandung-Sumedang,4 November 2013

Nona…
Aku punya cerita,iya cerita dari masa lalu yang sepertinya terlalu mubazir kalo dibiarkan cuma sekedar jadi memori di dalam otak ku yang volumenya terbatas ini. O iya,sebulan yang lalu tepatnya tanggal 10 di bulan ke sepuluh menurut kalender resmi yang diakui di negeri ini,kamu ulang tahun yang ke 20 kan? Selamat! Tapi maaf,aku nggak bisa ngasih apa-apa. Bukannya aku nggak sanggup buat beli sesuatu atau nggak mau ngeluarin sedikit dari kiriman bulanan dari bapakku,aku cuma takut kamu nggak sudi buat nerima hadiah dari ku. Tapi, kamu harus percaya kalo aku nggak pernah bosan buat menengadahkan tangan setiap habis ritual ibadah 5 waktu buat ngemis sama Tuhan yang aku sembah. Aku selalu minta sama Dia biar Dia nggak pernah bosan buat nyayangin kamu.Soalnya aku yakin plus percaya kalo dia uda sayang sama kita,nggak ada satu hal pun yang bisa bikin kita nggak bahagia di dunia ini.
O iya,tadi aku janiji buat cerita sesuatu ya? Jadi,begini ceritanya…
Waktu itu,di suatu sore,di lapangan sekolah SMA ku yang sempit dan multifungsional itu aku lagi latihan Pramuka. Waktu itu sore yang cerah dan aku bisa liat di langit biru yang dirubung awan putih,bahwa ternyata lukisan alam yang dibuat sama Tuhan itu memang tiada duanya nona. Kalo Leonardo Da Vinci cuma bisa ngelukis Monalisa diatas kanvas yang ukurannya nggak sampe 1x1 m, Tuhan punya langit yang katanya sampe 7 lapis buat dijadiin kanvas lukisannya. Tapi,yang bikin sore itu terasa lebih indah dari lukisan alamnya Tuhan yang biasa aku liat setiap sore adalah….
Nona….
Kamu harus tau,karena lapangan sekolahku itu kecil dan satu-satunya yang tersedia,kami sebagai anak Pramuka harus berbagi lapangan sama anak Paskibra yang juga acap kali menggelar pemusatan latihan di lapangan yang sama. Yah,kalo menurut aku sih itu merupakan sebuah estetika tersendiri ketika ngeliat anak muda rela buang-buang waktu luang di sore hari cuma buat latihan baris – berbaris di bawah langit sore yang walaupun indah tapi cukup menguras keringat. Tapi nona…kamu harus tau kalo ada sesuatu yang bikin aku selalu bersemangat buat datang ke lapangan itu dan berbagi lahan sama anak paskibra. Iya,waktu itu ketika aku dan sekitar 20an anggota pramuka lainnya sedang latian baris-berbaris,kami berpapasan tepat di tengah lapangan dengan anak paskibra. Dan, tiba- tiba lensa kedua bola mataku menangkap sebuah ‘frame’ yang sempat membuat detak jantungku berhenti di ‘pit stop’ selama sepersekian detik. Dunia tiba-tiba menjadi ‘slow motion’,langkah kakiku yang tadinya menghentak seirama dengan 20an anggota pramuka lainnya,berubah menciptakan irama sendiri. Aku ingat, ‘frame’ hasil tangkapan lensa kedua bola mataku waktu itu isinya ; seorang gadis berwajah oval,berambut hitam panjang terikat,berbibir tipis tapi sensual,berkulit putih bersih khas gadis rumahan,dan dibalut sweater hijau yang membuat si gadis rumahan ini terlihat lebih mencolok diantara seluruh anak paskibra. Benar saja nona,’frame’ hasil tangkapan lensa kedua bola mataku itu langsung aku simpan di dalam memori otakku yang volumenya tak seberapa. Seandainya waktu itu memori otakku sudah penuh,aku bersumpah pasti akan menghapus  seluruh file-file tersebut demi menyimpan sebuah ‘frame’ yang lebih indah dari lukisan lembayung senjanya Tuhan.Sumpah nona,’frame’ ini tiba-tiba menjadi stimulan yang bisa memacu hormon endorphin dan dophamin dalam tubuhku. Wajah lugu si gadis rumahan ini sekarang sudah menjadi virus yang nggak bisa dihapus dari memori otakku.
Nona….
Waktu aku menulis memoar ini,aku baru saja pulang dari sebuah warung aceh di salah satu sudut di tengah hiruk pikuk Jatinangor.Aku juga tadi ketemu pengamen yang bawain lagunya Slank yang judulnya “terlalu manis untuk dilupakan”,tapi sayang aku nggak punya uang receh buat si pengamen. Oiya nona,kamu sekarang uda jadi mahasiswa semester 5 fakultas kedokteran di salah satu perguruan tinggi swasta di Medan kan? Kapan-kapan kalo kamu punya kesempatan buat liburan ke Bandung,aku janji aku bakalan ngajak kamu jalan-jalan ke Braga buat ngeliat musisi jalanan Bandung mainin gitar sambil nyanyi.Asal kamu tau nona,Braga itu salah satu sudut tertua dan paling eksotis di Bandung.Yah,mungkin nggak jauh beda sama kawasan Merdeka Walk-nya Medan lah.Tapi,aku yakin Braga lebih romantis karena banyak bangunan dengan desain ‘art deco’ terhampar di sepanjang jalan.
Cukup sekian nona buat ceritaku hari ini,mungkin esok,lusa,pekan berikut,bulan berikut,atau ntah kapan aku akan berbagi cerita lagi sama kamu…

Selamat malam nona…….

THOSE SHOCKING SHAKING DAYS : ANTOLOGI ROCK INDONESIA

“This anthology is up there! I love the music that is in this anthology and I’m obviously glad to take part to disseminate it all over the world.”  Inilah kata – kata yang terucap oleh Eothen “Egon” Alapatt,produser musik yang mangarsiteki lahirnya album kompilasi musik rock & funk Indonesia era ’70-an.
                Album kompilasi  yang berjudul “Those Shocking Shaking Days:  Indonesian Hard,Psychedelic,Progressive Rock and Funk1970-1978”  telah banyak menuai pujian dari kalangan pecinta musik di luar Indonesia. Antara lain ikon musik hardcore Henry Rollins dan pemeran karakter Frodo dalam trilogi The Lord of The Ring,Elijah Wood.Album ini berisikan 20 lagu dari beberapa band papan atas yang pernah mewarnai belantika musik tanah air pada era 70’an.Seperti Koes Plus,The Balck Brothers,AKA,The Gang of Harry Roesli dan SharkMove.Namun publik pasti bertanya-tanya siapakah sebenarnya Eothen “Egon” Alapatt,orang yang bertanggung jawab atas terciptanya antologi musik rock Indonesia ini?
                Produser musik asal Amerika yang kerap dipanggil Egon,merupakan pemilik dari label rekaman Now-Again Record dan juga general manager Stones Throw Record,salah satu label independen papan atas Amerika.Egon rela menghabiskan waktu dan materi untuk berkutat dengan proyek yang murni dia prakarsai sendiri dan didanai oleh dana pribadinya.Dia berpendapat bahwa musik rock Indonesia pada era ’70-an merupakan sebuah era yang dipenuhi oleh musisi-musisi yang tidak hanya berbakat tetapi juga memiliki karakter tersendiri yang khas.Pada era tersebut Indonesia masih berada dibawah rezim pemerintahan Soeharto yang represif.Oleh sebab itu pula banyak musisi rock yang gencar menyuarakan perlawanan dan pemberontakan terhadap rezim yang represif tersebut melalui musik.
Hal itu terlihat jelas dari beberapa lagu yang menjadi pengisi line up album kompilasi ini.Salah satunya adalah lagu yang dibawakan oleh Freedom of Rhapsodia yang berjudul “Freedom”  berisikan lirik sebagai berikut : “I don’t care if the government won’t stay out of my life/I want freedom, freedom like a bird/I want to walk and sleep anywhere I want”.Begitulah lirik secara keseluruhan dari lagu tersebut dan dinyanyikan secara berulang-ulang.Selain lagu tersebut,ada juga lagu dari AKA yang dimotori oleh frontman  dan rocker  paling tetarikal dalam sejarah musik Indonesia,Ucok Harahap.Lagu mereka yang berjudul “Do What You Like” kental dengan nuansa pemberontakan dan kritik terhadap kondisi bangsa kita yang saat itu masih sangat terkekang dan tertutup.
Sekarang album kompilasi ini telah beredar luas di Amerika dan beberapa Negara di Eropa, seperti Belanda yang notabene memiliki pertalian historis yang sangat kuat dengan Indonesia.Banyak musisi – musisi Belanda yang merupakan keturunan Indonesia seperti Daniel Sahuleka dan Andy Tielman yang merupakan frontman dari The Tielman Brothers.Selain itu,salah satu band yang mengisi line up album kompilasi ini,The Black Brothers lewat lagu mereka “Saman Doye” ,merupakan band yang dulu populer di Belanda dan sering mengadakan konser di sana.Akan tetapi,hal yang sangat disayangkan adalah para musisi ini seakan terlupakan dan begitu juga dengan albumkompilasi ini.Album yang mendapat sambutan hangat dan menuai banyak pujian di luar negeri justru tidak populer di negeri sendiri.
Apa yang telah dilakukan oleh Eothen Alapatt bersama label rekamannya seharusnya menjadi tamparan bagi para pelaku industri musik di Indonesia sekarang.Industri musik Indonesia saat ini seakan telah kehilangan warna karena terjebak ke dalam pola industri pasar,dimana para musisi yang ingin sukses tidak cukup hanya memiliki bakat tetapi juga harus memiliki penampilan yang  menjual.Fenomena menjamurnya boyband dan girlband  di Indonesia juga menunjukkan bahwa premis tersebut adalah hal yang konkrit. 

The Tree ,The Rain ,and The Rainbow

                It was about twelve years ago when I often spent my time with the three kids who were two years older than me. They are Rian,Ichan,and Susang. I was an eight year kid at that time, and even though I was the youngest among all of the kids, they never ostracized me. That’s why I felt so happy when I spent my time with them. Once, we had our own ‘secret garden’ which was located in the yard behind the Susang’s home.It was not too wide,but there was a big old rambutan tree which was opposite to the mango tree.Beside,it was also overgrown with kinds of flower like roses,orchids,and some cactus which made Rian felt so annoyed, every time he saw it he wanted to cut it into thick slices.
                The peaceful ambience of our ‘secret garden’ made us felt like in The Garden of Eden, even though actually we just lay down under the rambutan tree and being placed on a plaited mat.Once,it was so cloudy and we were lying down when the ‘host’ offered us some pieces of watermelon.Susang asked us to come into the house because the rain seemed to fall soon.”It is better for us to stay here and wait for the rain come”, Ichan was whining.On the other hand, Rian and I just kept on wolf the watermelon down and didn’t pay attention to the host’ bid.”Hey,all of you,you should come into the house”,Susang’s sister shouted. We all  just stated at her and said nothing at all.
                And the rain finally come hard and we got up directly from the plaited mat. Initially,we would come into the house but Ichan who was a smarty-pants kid, offered a crazy idea to us.”We mustn’t come into the house, how about going out in the rain?”,he offered. I never thought of this crazy thinking but I said yes directly,and so did Rian,he looked so enthusiastic.”What are you guys talking about?It’s a heavy rain and I won’t do that!”Susang  whine.”It’s up to you,but we won’t regard you as our friend anymore if you don’t want to come with us!”,Ichan thundered.”Yayayaya,what are we waiting for?Let’s go and beat the rain guys!”,Rian shouted enthusiastically.”Come on,just leave this ‘coward  boy’ behind guys!”,Ichan said sarcastically and then he ran first to leave us behind. Rian and I followed him and apparently, Susang followed us too.
                We ran after Ichan who left us behind and looked back occasionally.He suddenly stopped running and again offered a crazy idea,”how about having a race to the stadium?”.He challenged us to have a race to a stadium which was only about  1 km from Susang’s house.But,just for your information, the stadium was exactly in front of my home and both of my mom and my dad would be absolutely angry with me if they found me going out in the rain.”What?My mom would kill me if she found me doing this crazy idea!”,I shouted.”So?It’s not our business,you can leave now boy!”,now Rian disputed me.”Come on,for those who can arrive at the stadium first,he is the winner and the three losers have to buy a drink for him,understand?”,Ichan explained.”Yes,we got you sir!”,Rian and Susang shouted.”Okey,1,2,3,go,go,go”,Ichan shouted and all of us started the race.
               
While having the race,there was a thunder struck and all of us shocked but kept on running.”Woow,what a scary thunder”,I shouted.”How do you feel guys?Is it pretty crazy,isn’t it?”Ichan was screaming out loud as if he wanted to express his freedom.”I’ve never felt so free like this before guys!yuhuuu!”,Susang scream out loud.”Shut your mouth up!I am gonna’ beat you all guys!”,Rian ran faster and now he is leading the race.At that moment,I couldn’t really explain what I felt because that was really the moment when I found happiness,freedom and friendship all at once.At that moment too, I was shocked by the thunder but I was not afraid at all and I just felt so enthusiastic. 
We finally finished our race,and the winner was………..…Rian!”I win,I win,I win…You’re all the losers…hahahaha”,he shouted boastfully.”You have to buy a drink for me!”,he asked for the reward. “Yup,we’ll buy it later,look at that guys,the gate is opened why don’t we come into the stadium?”Ichan offered.”Of course,come on in guys….!”,Susang screamed again.We started to run into the stadium and all of us were screaming to express our freedom.”Daaaaar…”the thunder struck again.”Face downward guys!”,Susang shouted.”Woooow…hahahaha…”,all of us just laugh out loud and started to run again.Rian and Susang  were suddenly clapping eyes on me,they looked as if they wanted to invite me to strike Ichan.We three ran after Ichan and this is it,we caught and struck him.He shouted and said that he gave up on us.

After It rained about for an hour,the rain stop slowly.We were so tired after having race,and running around the field.Then, all of us lay down in a side of the field just being silent watching the rainbow which was looked as if it smiled at us.No one of us spoke, that was really the moment where there were only we’re four,the rain and the rainbow.I guessed that the sky and the rainbow might laugh to see our craziness.Yup!The craziness of four innocent children who didn’t know the world and sin I think.I write this writing while here the rain is coming and the thunder shock me again.If I have a time machine,I would like to go back to that time,to see the tree,feel the rain,and watch the rainbow smile at me.              

I Was A Lonely Hunter That Day

I walked in an empty space and suddenly found a strange door in front of me. Its color was dark-blue, smaller than the USA’s white house door but taller than my dorm’s. Nothing’s special in this door but it had a magical power that attracted me to move closer. First, I tried to hold it on but it had no handle at all. I could only take a look at that and suddenly there was a blast of wind which opened the door and then I lost my way and didn’t know where I was. It was really a strange place which full of old trees, I didn’t know what tree it was but there was a tree which had huge green leaves. Then, when I looked at the tree, its leaves fell onto the ground slowly. I walked a few steps and got closer to it, I felt as if I was in an autumn in Jerusalem. Even though in fact, I didn’t know that Jerusalem had an autumn in a year or not.
                Then, I tried to take a leaf and smell it. I smelled an odd scent which made me feel a little dizzy, then I threw it away. I kept on walking around and tried to find my way back, but I suddenly heard a bird was singing. It sounded as if the bird wanted to welcome my arrival to this strange new world. I looked around and saw the big beautiful singing bird. Oh God, I’ve never seen such a bird before! Its eyes stared at my eyes intently; its fur was dense and iridescent too; its wing told me how courageous it was. Unfortunately, when I strode slowly and tried to get closer to that bird, it flew away and left me alone in a lonely space. At that time, I felt that myself was like a lonely hunter who hunted on a lonely hill. I cried out loud and kept on walking around the lonely world but I felt something’s strange under my feet.
                I suddenly lost my footwear, so I was forced walked on my bare feet. I continued my journey and surprisingly, in every footprint I left planted so many green grasses. I felt like as if I had a magical power who could make something grow only by my feet. But after all, I was really so lonely at that time, all I could do was just to keep walking around and hope I could find my way back home. After having walked a few hours, I arrived at a wide desert but I didn’t find any camel at all. It was so hot and I started to feel so thirsty, but how could I find waters of the spring in a desert like this? I fantasized that there was an Ice cream vendor came with his “ice cream anthem” to me, but it could not heal my thirsty. I decided to take a rest for a while but suddenly there was a strange sound called me. I looked around but I didn’t see anything. That sound kept calling me and then said “hey fucking jackass, you can not run away from here!”
                That sound gave me a real scare! I was really afraid and so limp, I wanted to scream out loud but I could not. Until I finally fell into the desert, I suddenly felt so cold and another astonishment was the snow falling into the desert. I shivered because of the snow which was like a snow on the Sahara. I looked through the sky and saw how the snow fell to pierce myself. I felt that my tears rolled down on my face and portentously, when I was asleep I saw my mother came closer to me. She ran her hands through my face, she gave her most beautiful smile and told me, “Don’t be afraid my son, I’m here with you. Now, close your eyes and let’s get out of here!”

                I closed my eyes and didn’t know what happen then, but when I opened my eyes I was in my room. Oh God, It’s only a dream! I felt so lonely in an empty space, got a real scare, saw the snow fell on the Sahara and finally saved by my mother. It was all just in my dream! Yes, it was absolutely a fantastic and horrible journey but that’s enough. I don’t want to be a lonely hunter who hunts in a lonely hill anymore.