Skip to main content

Train Talk on the Rainy Fasting Day

"Don't talk with strangers" is a familiar words that my Mom said.

But I think I'm just too naughty to obey that rule. I love talking with strangers, actually. Tapi liat-liat stranger nya kaya gimana yaa.. My Mom raised me that everyone has a kind soul right in ther deepest heart. Sesangarnya preman, dia masih punya hati nurani. My Mom said that God never creates a bad guy, yang menjadikan mereka jahat itu ya devil. And yes, though personally I think it's just too naive... I'm living my world like that.

Somehow, talking with any kind of strangers is a pleasure to me. Bisa mengenal dunia dari yang paling bawah hingga ke yang paling atas, dan dari situ gue bisa bersyukur atas jalan hidup gue. (Di dalam blog ini sering kan gue bertanya-tanya tentang diri gue sendiri, nasib gue, dan tujuan gue hidup apa. So galau content blog ini, yes).

And this time, at the first day of fasting.. 6 Juni 2016, like about 4 p.m.-ish, I talked with a nice old man on my way home by train. I didn't talk to him, he was the one who greeted me first.

It started with a shallow talk like, "Wah, saya di recommend buat pake L****o sama teman-teman saya. Pakai S*****g nggak enak buat bisnis."

And our long conversation started here. Not just about cellphone, but about life...

"Kamu rumahnya dimana?" He asked me.

"Di Bendungan Hilir, Pak."

"Naik kereta sampe mana?"

"Sudirman..."

"Lho, bukannya enakan dari Palmerah, ya?"

"Nggak, Pak. Kalo di Palmerah saya harus transit dulu di Tanah Abang (which is too crowded kalo jam segitu), walaupun emang jaraknya jadi lebih dekat ke rumah," I answered him politely. "Bapak ke arah mana?"

"Oh, saya ke Bintaro. Lebih suka naik kereta sekarang, berangkat-pulang kantor lebih fleksibel. Dulu kalau bawa mobil sendiri harus berangkatnya dari jam setengah 6 pagi."

And we talked about rute-rute kereta...

"Kamu tinggi juga, ya. Berapa tingginya? 170...?" He asked me.

"175," I said.

"Whoa, tingginya. Kamu masih kuliah, kan? Kuliah di mana?"

"Trilogi.. dulu namanya STEKPI," I answered him and we talked a lot about Trilogi. From its history to the present time...

"Kamu asal mana? Jakarta?"

"Bukan, Solo, Pak.."

*BELIAU LANGSUNG NGOMONG BAHASA JAWA. PARAH, SKAK MAT. CUMA NGERTI BEBERAPA KATA*

Beliau ketawa melihat wajah gue yang rasanya sudah terlihat sangat.... bodoh.

"Orangtua saya asal Solo, tapi saya lahir di Jakarta, Pak.. Saya hanya bisa beberapa kata bahasa Jawa saja," kata gue malu-malu. (Maybe lebih tepatnya malu-maluin. Putri Solo macam apa gue, nama eyang masih ada R. A sama R. tapi ngomong bahasa Jawa belepotan).

"Bojo saya juga gitu. Orang Jawa, lahir dan tinggal di Jakarta, nggak bjsa bahasa Jawa tapi maksa ngomong Jawa. Jadi nggak ngerti bahasa kasar sama bahasa halus kalau ngomong sama mertua bagaimana," kata beliau memaklumi.

"Kamu belum kepikiran buat nikah, kan?"

"No, absolutely no," kata gue buru-buru. "I'm still too young."

And our deep conversation started..

"Bagus. Kejar dulu mimpi-mimpi kamu. Pacaran juga silahkan saja, tapi jangan sampai merusak kamu," kata beliau berapi-api. "Kamu harus cari cowok yang lebih tinggi dari pada kamu. Terus pas pacaran jangan cuma cari senengnya aja, tapi cari pacar yang bisa kamu ajak diskusi setiap hari, belajar bareng, omongin isu-isu di sekeliling kita.. anggap aja makan bareng sama ada yang perhatian itu cuma sebagai bonus."

I... was... speechless, actually. I wanted to scream, "OMG Sir, I don't even have someone special! I don't even have a boyfriend. Please stop torturing me by telling me love life. I am lonely, I know. I have feeling for someone, yes, but I don't want to think about it. Please stop making me like I need a boyfriend."

But I was just sat there quietly, listened to him. Once I nodded my head, once I politely smile.

"Saya tahu kamu cerdas, lho, apalagi postur dan wajah kamu itu mirip sama teman saya, orang Rusia. Dia itu tidak beragama, tapi dia itu orangnya tertib dan disiplin sekali. Malu saya sebagai seorang yang beragama bisa kalah sama orang Rusia. Dan mereka juga menghormati diri mereka sendiri.

Kamu juga harus bisa menjaga kehormatan kamu. Your pride is your virginity, once it gone... you have no pride. Pertahankan satu hal itu, jangan tergoda sama pergaulan di Jakarta. Nanti kalau udah ijab kabul, baru boleh. Terus honey moon nya naik haji.. seperti saya dulu. Indah banget rasanya...

Dulu waktu saya hidup di Amerika, pergaulan di sana benar-benar parah. And wearing hijab itu bukan jaminan kamu bakal terlihat benar, lho. Di sana juga banyak yang pake celana-celana pendek *maksudnya hotpants* tapi kelakuannya justru jauh lebih baik daripada yang muslim."

I got shocked when I heard him speaking in English. Fluently.

I thougt tentang temannya dia yang Rusia, hidup di Amerika, or bla bla bla lain yang beliau beri tahu ke gue itu... a big nonsense. Penampilan itu kan selalu jadi penilaian pertama seseorang terhadap kita, bukan? Dan dari penampilan beliau... honestly, he looks like a hobo. Seriously.

But I think he can read my mind and my judgement about him, so he showed me A LOT of photos of him through his cellphone. Foto sudah mampu mengatakan ribuan kata yang tidak terucap.

Memang benar, kita nggak boleh langsung mencap seseorang dari penampilannya.

He said he has a son who's still single and is still studying for his doctor degree, he said he loves playing golfs (he showed me the photos, of course, and what shocked me more was... he was playing golf with the vice president of Indonesia. It seems both are good friends).

I've learned a lot from him this noon.

Other than the love advice, other than the self-esteem advice, he made me realize that appearance is not everything, he was the most humble stranger that I've talked to.

So, thank you, Sir.

(One thing that keep haunting me is.... what is he, actually? What does he do for a living?

Well, I guess no one could tell except his family and God....)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Give and Take

What happens to teenager this day? What happens to Indonesian culture about polite, manner, and grace? It's so pathethic that now we rarely see it in our life. Let's take the easiest samples: 1. Menyela pembicaraan orang. 2. Make fun, laugh, yawn, stared hatefully toward the elders (it can be your lecturer or even your parent). 3. Being ignorance, arrogant. 4. This may be the simpliest sample of all... keluar / masuk ruangan tanpa ijin, main kabur,padahal sebenarnya bisa ijin dulu. etc. Some of the examples above are actually based on my observation in actual life. But then the question is: Can we live without polite, manner, and grace? Sekarang coba kalau dibalik. Kita jadi orang yang mendapatkan perlakuan yang tidak sopan. You feel uncomfortable, angry, sad, and insecure, don't you? Is that good? How can we have polite, manner, and grace? Well, I'm kind of person that believe in "Give and Take". Give and take is actually hands that help each oth...
Post a Comment
Read more

Self Reflection

I haven't wrote anything. But will try to write... again. 4 tahun yang lalu, gue menuliskan tentang masa-masa menjadi maba  (mahasiswa baru) yang baru saja selesai melaksanakan PKKMB. Hari ini, beberapa teman angkatan 2015 sudah melaksanakan wisuda. Gue belum, semoga tahun depan mendapatkan giliran. Aamiin... Btw , entah mengapa pukul segini memang enak untuk menjadi sendu. Bukan sendu dalam konotasi negatif, tetapi cenderung ke arah positif. Tiba-tiba, jadi mengenang apa saja yang terjadi selama 4 tahun belakangan ini. Masa-masa di mana gue melepas seragam putih-abu, dan menggantinya dengan pakaian bebas. Malam ini menjadi sebuah renungan terhadap diri sendiri, atas apa yang telah dicapai, kesalahan, kebahagiaan, pertemanan, dan lain sebagainya. Katanya, kuliah adalah masa terakhir sebelum menghadapi dunia nyata. Katanya, semakin kita dewasa, kita cenderung menjadi realistis... mematikan cita-cita di dalam diri. Mematikan jiwa anak-anak yang ada di dalam hati. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Applications and Deadline.

Requirements for applicants High School student 10th grade (SMA kelas 1) For departure in 2014: Born between 01 August 1996 and 01 August 1998. Permission by parents and school Indonesian Citizens (for YES program participants: not a US passport holder, was not born in the US, one parent is not American citizen) Physically, mentally and spiritually healthy (for YES program participants we provide opportunities for disabled students) Participating and passing the serial stages of selection carried out by Bina Antarbudaya How to Apply Contact your nearest chapter to inform yourself where and when to buy the PIN for application. Open the online application system website. Activate your PIN and choose a username and password. Fill the application in between 14 days. Print out the selection pass card. Print out the Parental Permission, and fill it out. Print out the Acceleration Agreement (for Acceleration class students only). Bring all the printed and completed docum...
1 comment
Read more

That Fangirling Moment When They Talk About F1 (2.0)

I AM RIGHT! I'll present this post to who loves watching F1, to whoever that thinks that no one could break Vettel's record. JUST IN FACT: Max Verstappen is the youngest ever that won a race! Let's take a look back to the Spain GP, of course! I am so proud of my baby-rookie-cutie!! I mean, he's only 18! We are from 1997!! It will be difficult enough to break his record, EVER. (The Spain GP udah lewat lama..... and tomorrow will be the Canada GP, though.) As a huge fan of Sebastian Vettel (don't forget about his younger bro, Fabian) and as a long lost girlfriend of Lewis Hamilton... (sobbing) still and will always be theirs, of course. But I can't resist that I REALLY REALLY excited about Verstappen's achievement. I hope Vettel, Hamilton, Verstappen, or Ricciardo could win the Canada GP! It's enough for Rosberg, I guess. (What an evil mind of mine). As Indonesian, of course I ship Haryanto. I still have that believe. Hamilton came from GP2 once, b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Intermezzo: Naif atau Bodoh?

Andai dunia itu nggak sesulit yang kita rasakan, ya. Dunia itu nggak baik bukan karena 'dunia' itu sendiri kan? Tapi karena manusianya. Dunia menjadi kejam karena ulah mereka yang tidak bertanggung jawab. Orang-orang yang mengenal saya mengatakan jika ada batas tipis antara naif dan bodoh di dalam diri saya. Terlalu lugu untuk melihat ini semua, tetapi sebenarnya bodoh karena tidak mengerti apa-apa. Saya bersyukur, karena saya dikelilingi oleh orang-orang yang melindungi saya agar tetap menjadi diri saya yang sekarang. Maksudnya, seperti bunga lotus yang tidak akan pernah kotor walaupun hidup di kolam berlumpur. Mereka, teman-teman saya, tetap menjaga saya seperti itu. Namun, ada kalanya saya harus sendiri. Pertemanan itu nggak harus selalu bersama-sama, cukup sirat hati yang menyatukan ikatan pertemanan. Nah, ketika saya sendiri itu lah saya merasa... bodoh. Maksudnya, saya sering melakukan kecerobohan. Mungkin, apa karena saya terlalu dilindungi mereka? "Dia itu adala...
Post a Comment
Read more