Novel, 220 pages
Author: Alice Kuipers
a very light but full of meaning story...
This story is about a girl named Claire and a mother (a doctor) who are too busy to see each other everyday even though they live under the same roof. Usually, they write a note and then attach it to the refrigerator door. Each of them cannot reduce their activities even when the mother is sentenced by another doctor that she got a breast cancer. Their life continues that way until the mother passed away.
hmm, I cannot imagine of living that way. Talk to refrigerator door almost every day and attach notes to answer? It sounds pathetic and violates the human right of getting compassion from each other. Human being is not a robot that doing multitasks without having enough time to be together with family. We need to talk, look at the eyes of our mother, hold her hands, and feel the warmth of her hug. I know that the frequency of meeting doesn’t guarantee that the family relationship will be good but having no minute to see our house members is a disaster for humanity.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Life on the Refrigerator Door
0 comments
Tuesdays with Morrie
0 commentsNovel, 192 pages
Author: Mitch Albom
It is a must read novel which i reviewed last year in my extensive reading class.. i love it and i bet everybody who wants to learn about life will love it too...
After not meeting for 16 years, finally Mitch came back to see his old kind professor, Morrie. However, his reunion that time was a little bit different since his professor was suffering from ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), a brutal disease that will kill him slowly. Every Tuesday, Mitch visited Morrie to discuss life from the eye of a dying man. By this last class with his professor, Mitch found out the meaning of life, love, and every uncertain thing about life which he used to be afraid of.
My Comment:
Professor Morrie is not a Moslem but almost all of his way of seeing life somehow represents Islamic values. How he tries to understand and accept life fully (without being conquered by his capitalistic surrounding that demands people to walk while they are sleeping or not realize what actually they are doing) has touched my inner invisible feeling and made me realizing some Islamic values I have forgotten. I cannot blink my tears back when I read the four last parts of this Mitch’s last thesis with his lifetime teacher since I am often afraid of loosing someone in my life. The idea is frightening me so much but the lesson of accepting what is happening in life sets me free from evil’s trap.
Buat Meda
0 commentsKali ini, surat tulisan tangan tatik yang kuketik ulang di blog (persis aslinya, gak kurang, gak lebih!, tentunya atas seizin dia juga).. emm, aku lupa kapan dia menuliskannya. tapi sepertinya setelah ada beberapa masalah di Forkis... thanks to tatik...you dont know how precious your words to me...even till now...
Ok Da ceritamu tadi malam memberiku skemata baru. terima kasih atas ceritanya. And salut buat Meda. seandainya aku jadi kamu, mungkin aku gak akan sehebat kamu menghadapi permasalahan ini. Yang mencoba menjadi sahabat buat semua orang, mencoba menyelami permasalahan setiap orang hingga nyaris sempurna. Pokok'e Meda keren..lah.. Tapi tidak selayaknya para pengemban dakwah berkubang pada perasaan dan permasalahan pribadi (mungkin kalimat ini sangat tidak berperasaan, dan sok mau gak peduli permasalahan orang, sorry!!) karena dakwah ini harus realistis, bukan sebuah euforia...
aku hanya pengen...FORKIS dan orang-orangnya bisa menunjukkan taring-taring yang tajam dalam pergolakan pemikiran di Sastra. Kesempatan ini,aku gak tau, bakal kita dapatkan lagi ato nggak suatu saat kelak. Kesempatan untuk menjadi orang-orang pilihan, kesempatan untuk meraih surga-Nya. Kita harus segera mengumpulkan puing-puing yang terserak.
.....................................................................................
Tatik mencintai dakwah ini. Kalo semua orang punya masalah, aku juga punya masalah. Masalahku guedhe...banget. Dan inilah masalahku. Aku gemes...huu...pokoknya gemes dengan dakwah yang tidak bergreget ini. sekali lagi maaf atas tulisan gak karuan ini. Wes pokok'e tak tunggu Meda datang padaku dan mengajakku begini: "Tatik, ayo kita....ayo kita..." dan aku akan jawab sambil berlari "...Ayo..."
Dear Riza
0 commentssore tadi aku sudah minta izin ke Riza agar surat yang kutulis untuk dia tanggal 15 Juli tahun 2008 lalu boleh untuk kuposting di sini (aku masih menyimpan filenya ternyata). aku menyukai surat-surat yang kukirim atau kuterima dari teman-temanku karena semangat yang tersimpan di antara huruf-huruf itu membuatku sadar bahwa hidupku bukan hidup yang biasa.
berikut ini adalah keseluruhan suratnya...
Sebenarnya, aku bisa saja langsung berbicara kepada riza, tapi ya seperti kataku tadi, aku suka pakai surat. Lebih romantis.. he he...
Setelah rapat kita, setelah hearing problem dari kalian semua, dan setelah telfon ephy, memang ada masalah kronis, tapi bisa diatasi. Meda ga akan ngegombal ala sastra, tapi aku perlu bilang bahwa di tengah di kehidupan pribadi kita yang makin berat, ditengah tugas-tugas kuliah yang makin menggunung, dan di antara persiapan masa depanmu yang ibarat hidup dan mati (kau pasti tahu maksudku ), ada sebuah kewajiban besar di pundak kita SAAT INI, yang harus kita kita jalani HARI INI hingga sembilan bulan kedepan. Forkis dan Dakwah. Jika memang semua terasa berat, Meda bilang iya. Tapi ada seluruh tim untuk bersandar, ada Dzat yang tak pernah tidur untuk mendengarkan setiap rintihan kita. “ Dan mintalah pertolongan kepada Allah dengan sabar dan shalat. Dan sesungguhnya yang demikian itu sungguh berat, kecuali bagi orang-orang yang kusyuk, yaitu orang-orang yang meyakini, bahwa mereka akan menemui Tuhan-nya, dan bahwa mereka akan kembali kepada-Nya.”(Al-Baqarah 45-46).
Sekarang, yang menjadi pijakan kita setelah semua yang telah terjadi adalah membulatkan tekad untuk mewariskan peradaban forkis kepada adek-adek kita dengan sempurna, sehingga ketika tiba saat kita untuk melangkah pergi, ada pilar-pilar baru yang melepaskan kita dengan rela karena mereka yakin bisa meneruskan estafet perjuangan ini. Ya, sekarang aku mempunyai sebuah cita-cita yaitu untuk mempersembahkan yang terbaik bagi generasi sesudah kita. Setelah itu...
“...biarkan keyakinan kita, 5 centimeter menggantung mengambang di depan kening kita. Dan... sehabis itu yang kita perlu... Cuma...”
“Cuma kaki yang akan berjalan lebih jauh dari biasanya, tangan yang akan berbuat lebih banyak dari biasanya, mata yang akan menatap lebih lama dari biasanya, leher yang akan lebih sering melihat ke atas.”
“Lapisan tekad yang seribu kali lebih keras dari baja...”
“Dan hati yang akan bekerja lebih keras dari biasanya...”
“Serta mulut yang akan selalu berdoa...”
(sepotong keyakinan dan mimpi dari novel 5 cm)
Dan meda tidak bisa sendirian untuk mewujudkan semua ini. Meda butuh sebuah tim yang sekuat dahulu, tim yang tidak bosan dengan agenda dakwah, tim yang menjadikan dakwah sebagai poros kehidupan, tim yang siap bercucuran air mata dan darah, tim yang selalu optimis, tim yang saling menguatkan, tim yang tidak berpura-pura menjadi orang lain, tim yang hati dan pemikirannya satu, tim yang saling memberi informasi, tim yang selalu berkomunikasi, tim yang memegang rahasia perusahaan dan tim yang yakin bahwa semua ini hanya untuk Allah.
Kita adalah pewaris kejayaan. Pemegang estafet peradaban, dan zaman menunggu kita memberikan tongkat estafet ini kepada ahli waris kita dengan sempurna sehingga kejayaan dapat diteruskan. Kita adalah generasi terbaik, jadi mari kita tunjukkan bahwa kita adalah yang terbaik. Demi Allah dan demi tegaknya kalimat La illa ha ilallah.
Salam perjuangan dari
yang selalu mencintaimu dan akan selalu mencintaimu,
Rosaline
nitty-gritty greeny
2 comments“I am a tiny green grass living under big tree”
“Disable to see the marvelous world carefree”
“Oh, oh big tree, will you telling me?”
“Of what you see, what you feel being a big tree”
“Stop it, idiot! You’ve made my dream disappear!” Shouted the big tree angrily. However, the green grass kept on singing, louder. Suddenly, tuk!!!
“Ouch!” the green grass cried. “This is your hundredth acorn. You hurt my stalks.” He groaned to the big oak tree with his pathetic voice.
“That’s for you who have ruined my hundred mornings with your dreadful songs.” The Oak tree replied.
“I just want you tell me about the world I cannot see, that’s all.” Again, the green grass yelled the very same question. ‘That’s all.’ Greeny whispered, more to himself. Yes, since he was able to differentiate between tall and short, his biggest castle in Spain was seeing the world outside his box with his own eyes, or at least somebody told him about it. But nobody cared, the Oak tree didn’t care.
“Pray to God, then. Ask Him to make you as high as I am” mocked the Oak boastfully. He was too proud to tell the little Greeny about the beautiful scenery that he saw every second. He didn’t want to share it with the grass that always woke him up in the morning so that he could enjoy the sunshine touched his leaves and see the birds chirping on his branches.
‘God doesn’t care about me.’ The green grass muttered. Poor Greeny. He was small and sadly always thinking small. He asked God why he was so minute that he couldn’t get enough sunrise and living under the shadow of big tree. Worse, he could see what he wanted to see. He always thought that God was unfair by giving him a tiny and fragile body. And let the big tree mocked him every day. He thought that his life was miserable.
Day by day, the poor little green grass didn’t raise his stalks up in asking the big-headed Oak tree with a question that he had been using since he was able to understand that he could communicate with his neighbor. On the other hand, the tree always ignored him. Until one day, …
The wind was howling making all the trees in the jungle implanted their roots deep down to the earth. The rain fell heavily frosting the whole area with unbearable coldness. If it continued, the flood was undeniable. “God, please help me. I don’t know what is going on. You never gave us such uneasy moment like this. I really hope that it is just a nightmare dream and I will not remember it at all tomorrow. Please, help me.” The green grass sobbed in the middle of disaster. Begging to God so that he could pass that petrifying night, he didn’t remember that he always complaining God.
“Ha ha ha, the scary grass is praying. Yeah, you should pray a lot or God will ask you to leave for hell.” The Oak tree teased Greeny even the situation was not good at all. “I don’t need to pray. I don’t need to beg to God. He gives me strong roots and trunk. Nothing can destroy this big strong oak. Ha ha ha.” He bragged. He did not realize that an immense thunder was grumbling in the distance and approaching him in no time.
A blaring sound outraged the jungle. The Oak tree was burned till half of his trunk and he could not show his proudness any longer. The petrifying green grass was stunned. No words came out from his little mouth. He was just drowning in his own stillness and thanking God serenely from his deepest heart.
Faking Pace
0 commentsA handsome girl in pink
Walk gaily on the Broadway
Enchanting with a nameless grace
The billboards’ illuminating
Performing the play
Bounding Manhattan as a lace
Everything
Seems to be okay –
On the surface
Dinner time coming
No word to say
Everybody’s on their race
Only smiles, faking
And courteously goblets sway
Heart drumming, stiffing her face
Everything
Seems to be okay –
On the surface
She hears the requiem lucidly beating
Television freaks out but is coy
Off she goes, steady then frail pace
Damn enlightening night
24.05.07
01:56 a.m.
EGO
0 commentsHERE I am
Trapped by thousand word
I love this word
I hate that word
HERE I am
Sitting on the corner of lonely world
Encircled by gunpowder world
I scream to the “real” world
Seems they have their own world
HERE I am
Sinking into segmented work
No time but work, but work
HERE I am
Perplexed by what so called worth
Books are worth
Diamonds are worth
Trains are worth
Emptiness is worth
Cherish,
Actually
The Chain
6 Agustus 2007
