This Year

October 2, 2013 by Prisanti Leave a comment

You know, sometimes I live different life in my head. A thing that I playback once in a while when I’m alone or wishing things I didn’t have. That life has more drama, where I have 2 lifetime best friends, forming a band, and playing the piano. I play Billy Joel song like some kind of music prodigy. On my earlier life, I got into a car accident. I saved a life of a child stranger that one day, continuing my dream to race on The Amazing Race. He sends me an e-mail on my 26th birthday, telling me that he is now on Marocco. Completing the race for the final three spot of the show. I’ve been playing the same alternative life in my head for quite sometimes now. More than 10 years if I remembered correctly.

But no, my real life is quite normal life to live on. Less drama, less upbeat. I can’t play any music instruments and my favorite band is Blink182, there is nothing cool about that. I wouldn’t participate in any race because I’m not a sport fan. My knowledge about sport is only limited to the spectator bench. I am a proud commuter and got into traffic every day to go to work.

Yes, my life is quiet normal. But I do cherish my life. I believe that every single moment in my life happened for a reason. It is an honor to give meaning to each moment, to each second.

2 weeks after this, I will be turning 26. I’ve imagined my life turned 17, 20, 25, 40, and so on. But I’ve never imagined being 26. My Mom once said I couldn’t skip life to someplace I dream to be, I have to go certain steps to go there. Just because it isn’t symbolize enough, that doesn’t mean it’s not important. Last year, I get lucky to celebrate my birthday on my ultimate wanderlust, this year I want to celebrate my birthday with you :)

If there are two things that I love the most, it is words and colors. So, I want to ask for your help.

If you have any books/children books that you don’t use anymore or books you want to get rid of. Do send it to me. Any children books will be sort out and donate immediately to Taman Bacaan Pelangi. Any teen/adult book or etc. will be auctioned and you get to state the starting bid price. All benefits resulted from the auction will be given to Sahabat Anak to provide scholarship for the child.

In exchange to that, I will send you a small gratitude. For 25 people contribute the most (either with the most books donated, the most bid, or the biggest bid, etc), you will get this mini tote bag. You get to pick from 5 different designs. And for anyone who contributes to this cause, I will be sending you a random postcard with the same design.

I will be accepting book donation and held the auction for the entire October at http://books.uncletivo.com.

I am really looking forward to your hello.

Do help me spread the words and make your life more colorful :)

Contact me:
+628128439678
prisanti.putri@gmail.com
@prisantiputri

Send your book donation here:
Prisanti Putri
Jl Anggrek blok F4 no 9
Cinere, Depok
Jawa Barat
Indonesia
16514

And last thing, here a video to make your day. Have a nice day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh-o5g4tLVE

The Game and The Song

August 13, 2013 by Prisanti Leave a comment

It is easy to fall in love with Game of Thrones, the infamous HBO original TV Series, following the success of The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, or True Blood. I like fantasy movie and Game of Thrones gave all of those in one hell of a series. As each layers unveiled, there is more and more action, there is more and more story to discuss. The creatures, the dragon, the myth, the King beyond the Wall, the undead, the God of Light. As if all element of story is there. You got the action, the drama, the mystery, the fantasy, love, sex, politics, war, everything.

It is a different tale than The Lords of The Ring trilogy, which the original book series—The Song of Ice and Fire has always been compared to. If I’m going to say one distinct thing that I love more about Game of Thrones it is how George RR Martin made his characters so alive. How he painted each character as a protagonist, as well as an antagonist.

It reminds me of the story of Mahabharata, the tale about Pandawa and Kurawa that have been told million times, on different cultures. As a child, I watched the TV series (originally made by Indians, broadcasted at Indonesian local TV channel) with my dad. We used to record it on VHS and watched it together after my dad got back from work. I also owned the comic book written by the legend, R.A. Kosasih (PS: You can order your copy at Anelinda if you’re interested).

The story about Mahabharata isn’t entirely about good versus evil, which I found so confusing at that time. Yudhistira the eldest of the Pandawa, being portrayed wise and always telling the truths, gambled his own wife—Drupadi—at a dice game. That was the most interesting scene that I remember (along with Baratayudha war), the gambling table and how Sangkuni threw the dice. Drupadi, being a faithful wife to all Pandawa (yes, all the Pandawa shared Drupadi as their wife) is actually a racist. Bima, which always portrayed as a strong and reliable knight is a jock and a bully. He teased the Kurawas, challenged them into battle, and in the end, out powered them.

Growing up, it is weirder to see people portrayed them as heroes. Many babies named after the Pandawa just because they would make a good role model, it is amusing to find how I haven’t met someone named after Karna. Yeah and then there is Karna. You should read about this character and you’ll get exactly the point why the story of Mahabharata is so interesting to discuss. If we look closer at each character and giving reasons to their action, you’ll realized that it is just the same formula. When you’re playing the game of thrones, you either win, or you die.

Just like Drupadi, the women in Game of Thrones often seen as a consolation prize. Political marriage arranged to gain power and strengthen position, as if they are nothing than a tool to seal the deal. They’ve been raised knowing what would be their fate and how to deal with it. But what I like about Game of Thrones is some female characters in the series portrayed as a bad ass rebel, a strong force that ride on Dragons or become the assassins. But even characters that look like an annoying bitch has a depth story. Look Sansa for example.

Original image can be found here, along with easy guide of Game of Thrones.

The series also famously said to have political reference because each character represents a house, a banner (as well as a sigil and a motto) that identified them. They live to it, sworn to it, die with it. Here I quoted one of interesting conversation between the Shae and Master of Whisperers, Varys.

Varys: If you let yourself believe that a foreign girl with no name could spend her life with the son of Tywin Lannister…

Shae: I have a name.

Varys: You have one name. As do I. Here only the family name matters.

It is more interesting to discuss because there is some people that called themselves as ‘The Brotherhood without Banner’, the name that George RR Martin took from his fan group name.

After all, Game of Thrones hooked me with such angle of storytelling. It is weird that you have so many character that you actually root for instead of just one hero. It does make me seeing the world more colorful, even if it is a dark color.

“Let me give you some advice, bastard: Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.”

Tyrion Lannister

Fast Forward July

July 7, 2013 by Prisanti Leave a comment

It’s been a long time since I started to write flooding lines again. Most of it is gibberish, but it surely feels liberating.

July and Ramadhan will greet us (or is it already?) in a few moment. What had happened?

Silence and contemplation. Words and good news. Lines, lanes, and some canes. You, you, and everyone who isn’t us. The iron throne, the ladder, The Rain of Castamere. Rando, some photos, and a map of the city you haven’t heard. Good luck and a pair of jeans. The Disneyland and the sea. Stone, lantern, and good friends. Tickets, lots of it. The zombies and a zombie. Yellow slab and the live tiles.

I’m not talking non-sense, it does summarize what happened on my life these couple of months. Sometimes, I feel like watching fast forward movie. Everything happened so fast, moment which wildly appeared, or maybe moment you wait for a whole life. Whatever it is, just stand still. I hope you all have great moments to remember, the one that you’ll be telling your grandson on your living room. Under the bright sky and some wild trees.

The Half of The Story

July 7, 2013 by Prisanti Leave a comment

It is funny nowadays people tend to become the next Merriam Webster and be more judgmental each day. They try to define everything and read everyone.

Happy people equals insecure people.

Sad people equals ungrateful people.

Why do we need the urge to define any of them? We know nothing. We just know the half of the story. Why do we need to write the other half?

I’ve been the story maker for a long time, that is why I like to hear story and the big ‘why’ behind everything. I like to analyze where the trait come from, or what would people react when they given a situation they’ve never encountered. I called it a gift, and it never failed me. Sometimes, I just know what would happen. But it’s still assumption and mere luck. For some people, it’s still the half of the story. Let it float the way it should be. Don’t try to write it. Because you’d never know what the other half of the story consists of.

It might involves the yellow brick road, the dire wolves, or the cheshire cat, even dragons. You’d never know.

Cerita Para Penepuk Tangan

April 28, 2013 by Prisanti 1 Comment

Sejak tahun ini dimulai, berita di media makin menggila. Mencoba mengikuti arus berita sama seperti membeli tiket ke kemuraman. Dari semua berita tidak enak itu, entah kenapa yang paling tidak enak tetap kegagalan UAN.

Di sisi lain cerita, beberapa teman saya mencatatkan pekerjaan-pekerjaan baru di luar kota, di luar pulau, dan di luar negeri. Beberapa melanjutkan pendidikannya. Beberapa menuliskan namanya di terbitan buku (*), beberapa membuat organisasi-organisasi atau gerakan perubahan. Yang jelas, kalau sudah di tahap saya, tahap iri-liat-yang-lain-sukses pasti sudah terlewati, karena mendefinisi tujuan-tujuan adalah mutlak pilihan pribadi. Yang ada justru senang karena melihat ternyata kita pernah bertukar kata tentang apa yang ada di ujung-ujung jalan.

Kalau ditanya apa yang sudah saya lakukan di tahun ini untuk sekitar, sebenarnya belum banyak. Kadang saya terorientasi untuk berbuat banyak, tetapi mungkin ada sesuatu yang menghalangi. Mungkin saya sok sibuk, mungkin saya memang malas. Sisi baiknya saya semakin sadar tentang posisi-posisi, ini salah satu quote yang sesuai yang sudah pernah saya bagi:

“Change does not happen by a few “chosen” individuals, but more often comes from ordinary citizens working to make a difference.”

Ya, ada orang-orang yang tersorot lampu panggung, ada orang-orang yang berdiri di belakang layar, ada orang-orang mendapat posisi tepuk tangan. Saya sering berdiskusi dengan teman-teman tentang posisi tepuk tangan ini. Bagaimana kita benar-benar kagum dengan para penggerak perubahan, para pencapai mimpi, para pejalan dunia. Dan bagaimana sebenarnya kita bisa mencapai hal-hal tersebut tapi kadang terhadap oleh kondisi-kondisi, entah yang dibuat-buat ataupun memang nyata adanya.

Tapi kemudian kita sadar, walaupun ada di posisi tepuk tangan, kita harus tetap tepuk tangan dengan semangat. Karena orang-orang yang tersorot lampu panggung tidak bisa berdiri di sana tanpa tepuk tangan kita, orang-orang yang berdiri di belakang layar tidak bisa duduk di sana tanpa mengharap tepuk tangan kita.

Ingin bertepuk tangan lebih keras? Ini mungkin bisa membantu :)

Tiza Mafira memulai kampanye #Pay4Plastic di Change.org, salah satu platform petisi terbesar di dunia yang baru membuka jaringannya di Indonesia dengan Iman Usman sebagai penggagasnya. Kampanye Diet Plastik-nya menghasilkan banyak suara-suara baru dan berhasil mengajak perusahaan besar macam The Body Shop untuk mengadakan acara macam Rampok Plastik.

Sebenarnya, kadang saya skeptis dengan program petisi, benarkah hanya dengan beberapa klik di internet situasi akan berubah. Saya pernah mengurus sebuah web petisi dari YouthLeader dan ternyata di belahan dunia lain, perubahan itu nyata terwujud. A few clicks won’t hurt you, tapi yang benar-benar penting adalah bagaimana ikut menerapkan kata-kata yang tertera sebelum kamu menekan tombol Setuju dan tetap konsisten melakukannya :)

Nila Tanzil baru saja mendapat penghargaan Kartini Awards lewat Taman Bacaan Pelangi. Saya kagum sekali dengan beliau, salah satu cita-cita saya adalah punya perpustakaan umum, haha. Senang sekali ternyata ada yang berbagi mimpi yang sama dan membuat banyak anak di bagian Timur Indonesia punya banyak kata untuk dibaca. Dan lembar-lembar kertas untuk dicium.

Sekolah Kita Rumpin merupakan salah satu tempat alternatif untuk belajar di sebuah lahan sengketa di Rumpin, Bogor. Kurikulum yang tidak berpusat pada mata pelajaran semata tapi lebih menitik beratkan kepada pembinaan karakteristik sang anak membuat saya sangat bersimpati dengan keberadaannya. Kali ini, Sekolah Kita bermaksud membuat Taman Bacaan untuk mengakomodasi para anak untuk belajar dan berkarya dengan lebih nyaman. Jika tertarik untuk mendukung program ini, bisa langsung cek halaman proyek Wujudkan ini yaa :) Ini saya bertepuk tangan dan berusaha bertepuk tangan dengan semangat. Kita semua nyata ada di dunia, dan semua dari kita adalah mampu melakukan banyak hal. Lebih dari apa yang kita kira sudah kita lakukan. Suatu saat nanti, mungkin posisi-posisi kita akan bertukar. Apapun itu, apapun hal-hal yang terjadi di ujung sana, kita harus selalu bersemangat dan melakukan yang terbaik di saat itu. Salam hangat :)

(*) Hafidh dan Puty menjadi illustrator buku kumpulan cerita pendek yang menarik. Hafidh menggambar untuk Singgah dan Puty menggambar untuk Setahun Berkisah. Cerita Puty dan Setahun Berkisah bisa dibaca di sini. Saya sempat memasukkan cerpen saya untuk Singgah, tetapi memang belum terbiasa dengan format cerpen jadi banyak sekali kurangnya dan pastinya tidak terpilih :)) Tapi saya suka konsep kumpulan cerita tentang 4 tempat singgah yang ikonik; stasiun, halte, bandara, dan pelabuhan. Dibeli ya, dibeli.