ZAKI BANI AL MUBAROCK

It's amazing to see little children slowly grow and develop. My nephew is three months away from being 2 years old. He now has 8 teeth, two are still struggling to burst free, and make more vocabulary in his words. He's the only child I ever paid so much attention in detail og his growth. From tiny little baby up to now, he has shown great changes both in attitude and phyisical features.

I remembered when the first time he was adopted, he was small, so brown and a little bit shabby. It was understable as he was born during Merapi Mount eruption in 2005. My uncle said the sky was dark and ashes of the volcano blakented the whole village. The baby delivery was helped by local midwife. At age of ten days, he was then bought to my brother's home. So, actually he was my little cousin but as his parents still have many mouths to feed ( not to mention, the family still have a baby girl), the baby was put into my brother's custody...he's now my little nephew.

At his first arrival, everyone thought he was having too dark skin and shabby. Yet, my sister in law and her husband loved him dearly. They were married for almost ten years and still no signs of pregnancy. His presence in this small family soo produced great happiness of the two...well, including me...so it's the three of us. As time went by, the little baby turned into a handsome child. I admired my sister in law who had endless for the baby. Her love and care had transformed him into a child of love and affection. And this circumstances had played great role in his later development.

He becomes the center of happines in my brother's home. His laugh and cries made them look into this life more passionately. I followed his growing attentively. I became often visiting my brother just to see my nephew. Now, his skin is more lighter in color, and he has amazing smile...well, just look at the picture :-)... When, he is hungry, he now can say "Mom, i want to eat with egg"

Yeah, he speaks...although not too complete but i'm certain he is a clever kid. When, someone throws garbage lousily, he will say "No...garbage, pu in the garbage bin...", he woul pick it up and walked towards the garbage bin...

It's so great every meeting with him...there;s always something new in his progress. Yesterday, i met and gave him the clothes i bought a couple weeks ago. To my surprise, the clothes were too small for him...he's growing ....i guess i have to buy much larger clothes then...

For us, he's a miracle in our family...the center of our joy... a little angel to us all...and i do wish thi love will keep burning ...

A Song of Sorrow

Hatred

how it clouded you my friend

blinded your heart and mind

corrupted your nature of goodness

expelled anything merry in you

Hatred

like venom of a cobra king

once it seeps through your vein

it spread rapidly

upstopable

i mourned for you

suffering a contagious desease

yet unaware of its existence

killed you softly

taken your soul away

traded for a place in satan palace

LASKAR PELANGI - A MUST READ BOOK

Sudah lama ingin baca novel ini terutama setelah diangkat dalam Kick Andy. Mungkin sudah terlalu basi buat dibahas soalnya buku ini telah terbit sejak tahun 2005 dan kesohoran buku ini telah merambah seantero negeri. Terakhir baca novel sastra yang cukup berkesan saat baca karya Ayu Utami, Saman. Selebihnya agak males beli buku2 cerita baru yang kebanyakan didominasi teenlit, chicklit, dan banyak karya lain yang selalu menyangkut sex. Sempat baca Jangan Main-Main dengan Kelaminmu karya Djenar Maesa Ayu...wow, the language was too harsh for me... yang bikin aku finally tetap pada prinsip bahwa karya yang bagus adalah karya yang bisa dimengerti pembacanya, having moral lessons yang dapat meningkatkan pekerti manusia...that's my version of idea...

Nah salah satu yang masuk kriteria aku di atas adalah Laskar Pelangi. Setelah berjuang selama 2 minggu buat merampungkan di sela-sela perjalanan naik KRL PP Bekasi-Tanah Abang, akhirnya kelar juga bacanya. Kata pertama yang muncul di benak ialah LUAR BIASA, FANTASTIC... benar-benar menyentuh ... aku bisa dibuatnya tertawa, menanggis sekaligus terkagum-kagum. Kagum dengan persahabatan kesepuluh anak Belitong; Lintang yang super cerdas, ehm...seandainya gak drop out mungkin dia bisa melebihi kejeniusan Einstein kali ya J, Mahar dan Flo yang eksentrik, Syahdan dan Harun yang lugu, Sahara dan Samson yang garang, Kucai, Trapani dan Ikal. Mereka menamakan diri sebagai laskar pelangi karena kegemaran menikmati keindahan pelangi sambil bertengger di dahan-dahan fillicium di halaman sekolah Muhammadiyah.

Sebuah novel memoar masa kecil Adre Hirata yang begitu menggugah semangat bahwa keterbatasan bukan halangan untuk melahirkan para generasi yang cerdas dan berbudi. Sekolah yang memiliki fasilitas seadanya mampu melahirkan anak-anak yang luar biasa, anak-anak yang meskipun bersekolah di sekolah kampung yang terpinggirkan namun memiliki semangat juang yang luar biasa. Sebuah memoar yang mengambarkan peran luar biasa dari pahlawan tanpa tanda jasa, Bu Muslimah dan Pak Harfan. Meskipun digaji minim, bahkan sering tak digaji, tapi tetap menjalankan amanah dan gigih menanamkan budi pekerti luhur sebagai landasan hidup kelak dalam meniti kehidupan. Walhasil, hampir kepuluh laskar pelangi mampu memegang teguh prinsip-prinsip budi pekerti luhur dan ajaran agama yang kokoh sehingga tidak mudah tergelincir dalam meniti hidup...lihatlah nasehat Pak Harfan di awal pertemuan mereka hiduplah untuk memberi sebanyak-banyaknya, bukan untuk menerima sebanyak-banyaknya...

Kehidupan para laskar pelangi pun ibarat galuran pelangi nan indah yang beraneka warna.
Diawali saat SD Muhammadiyah, sekolah kampung di Belitong dengan fasilitas yang sangat terbatas bahkan minus, membuka pendaftaran untuk murid baru kelas satu. Ada ultimatum bahwa apabila sekolah tidak mampu mengumpulkan minimal 10 murid baru, maka sekolah tersebut terancam tutup. Hingga saat-sat terakhir, hanya 9 anak yang mendaftar dan siap masuk kelas di hari pertama. Digambarkan bahwa di kalangan masyarakat Belitong yang kebanyakan kurang mampu, menyekolahkan anak berarti mengikatkan diri pada beban biaya yang harus ditanggung selama bertahun-tahun. Ini juga berarti tertutupnya kesempatan untuk mempekerjakan si anak secara penuh waktu demi membantu mengurangi beban hidup yang semakin berat...sebuah fenomena yang banyak kita jumpai di masyarakat kita saat ini yang semakin terpuruk akibat melambungnya harga-harga dan makin menggilanya biaya pendidikan.

Pada saat harapan sudah hampir pupus, Harun, seorang anak berusia 15 tahun dengan keterbelakangan mental, datang sebagai juru selamat karena ibunya enggan membiarkannya berkeliaran di rumah, dan SLB pun terlampau mahal dan tak ada di sana. Dalam peristiwa inilah, Ikal, narrator of the story yang merupakan Adrea, bertemu dengan Lintang, Mahar, Syahdan, A Kiong, Kucai, Borek alias Samson, Sahara, Trapani, dan Harun, Bu Muslimah dan Pak Harfa, guru penuh kasih namun penuh komitmen untuk mencerdaskan anak didiknya.

Berawal dari kelas bersepuluh inilah pertemanan mereka terbentuk dalam laskar pelangi. Berbagai kisah suka duka digambarkan dari kacamata Ikal dengan apik (meskipun kadang terlalu hiperbolik mengingat bertaburnya banyak bahasa Latin, istilah keilmuan dan puluhan nama tokoh-tokoh dunia yang kadang gak nyangkut di otak...ehm, ada Salvadore Dali, Rene Descartes, Bibal tower, Fillicium dsb)...petualangan di Pulau Lanum, pertemuan dengan Tuk Bayan Tula, hingga kisah romansa singkat Ikal dengan Aling yang meninggalkan buku Seandainya Mereka Bisa bicara yang berkisah tentang Herriot di Edensor...guess what, Edensor menjadi judul buku ketiga Andrea.

Pokoknya begitu mengugah dan keren habis :-)

Nanny 911

Ever see Nanny 911? It's one of my most favourite TV shows lately...broadcasted in Mtero TV every Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. It taught many useful lessons about parenting and how to make your children to be discipline. Overall, this show taught the lesson of love towards children...children raised with love would surprisingly follow the pattern. Children raised with hatred would react the same way they were taught to. They imitated what they saw and heard. So it basically showed that children should be treated with love, care, discipline, respect and honor.

For example, last Sunday, parent with two children of four and two and a half were frustrated with their uncontrolled behaviors. They were still using sippy cups and pacifier (doddies). When their mother wanted to take those dodies away, they went crazzy with all the kicking and biting. The mother was far too lenient with the children. She almost was in total submission with her kids because she assumed that what a mother should do. In return, she failed to gain respect from her babies. When they did not get what they wanted, they would cry and scream loudly, kicked, and bite her. While the father, being a navy soldier, treated his children like little soldiers thus also failed to gain respect except fear.

The nanny was invited to help. Then, she showed them how to be a good parent and how to deal with the children. First rule was set up: no bitting and kicking. All must obey this rule. Mother should enact discipline in the house by introducing rewards and punishment. If they were misbehaved, they would get consequences for their act, and vice versa. Love could be expressed altogether with discipline. Father must leave his 'little soldiers' treatment and should spend some times with the kids...to talk and to show them that he loved them. The second rule was to get th esippy cups and pacifiers away as they were inapropriate to use them.

It was showed how hard the nights for both parents and kids with no sippy cups and doddies. The children were screaming and crying loudly begging to get them back. The mother almost gave up...for her to hear them scream and cry was unbearable. The Nanny was strict and stern. It was time for the kids to grow up...it would be harder to get rid of those things if they grew older...so the plan went on.

Surprisingly, it's working. The second night, the kids fell asleep without the pacifiers and doddies. They biting and kicking stopped. The mother and father succeded in showing their children that every action came with consequences. The mother got their respect as well as their love. All ended well.

Parenting is not taken for granted. It needs sufficient knowledge to achieve good parenting. To spoil the chil too much will give misleading messege. To punish them is even sending wrong message if it is not done correctly. But one thing for sure, parenting is the nature of every parent in this world. and it is looked forward dearly.

Palestinian Children

Palestinian children

heart so pure

thoughts so innocent

clear like Zam Zam spring

eyes so bright as dewdrops in the morning

christalized into magnificent gaity

like petals within the blooming flowers

ready to grow along with hope

then it was all gone

shattered into pieces

broken

alongside with their crumbled houses

swept away by tidal waves of hatred

destroyed by millions of fearful bombs and canons

their slightest joy was confiscated

their merry crushed within seconds

tears run out dry

empty as a dying shell

becoz sorrows was too great to endure

left nothing but misery

even a dream was rare for them

except nightmare that smelt like gas

choked them like a rat

"Where is justice?"

They asked many times

to many millions people

of various nations and races

Yet, no one anwered the call

silence like frozen statue

dare not to look them in the eye

Wisdom in Life

Sometimes, a wise lesson just pop up in when you mostly need it. Itulah pelajaran yang dapat kulihat pagi ini. Sejak berangkat dari rumah telah mulai mengeluh soal cuaca yang rintik-rintik, soal ulah sebagian penumpang kereta yang menyebalkan, soal sepatu yang sudah mulai aus dan berlubang di sol-nya, soal baju yang kurang nyaman, bla..bla...bla...buanyak banget sampai hati jadi gak tenang. Apalagi saat penumpang sebelah bertingkah a little bit annoying... could not appreciate others. Yang satu sudah tahu gak dapat nomor duduk, tetap aja gak mau berdiri...akhirnya yang punya nomor duduk nyempil sebelah aku. Eh, sudah bela-belain geser dikit biar muat, dianya malah makin nyandar yang tentu saja makan space aku...Terpaksa sambil nyengir gak nyaman, memiringkan badan ke sebelah yang mengakibatkan postur duduk jadi aneh dan punggung sedikit sakit karena ketekuk. Bukannya nyadar, eh malah makin menjadi-jadi. Ugh, so annoying dan makin ngomel dalam hati. Pas naik metro, hampir jatuh karena tiba-tiba metro melaju jalan...wuih alhamdulillah masih selamat. It's like started a day with bad omen.

Then, waktu belok lampu merah terlihat loper koran yang maaf cacat (kaki kiri lebih kecil sehingga jalannya pincang) terpeleset di pemisah jalan yang kecil karena licin. Namun, dengan gigih dia bangun kembali sekuat tenaga dan melanjutkan menawarkan dagangannya. Subhanalloh, sungguh luar biasa... hati jadi sangat tersentuh dan terharu dengan semangat pantang menyerah dan kegigihan tersebut. Tidak sedikitpun keluar ucapan makian dari mulutnya. Dia tetap tersenyum. Dan yang lebih luar biasa adalah dia tidak mau menadahkan tangannya dengan meminta-minta meskipun akan banyak orang memberi melihat kekurangan fisiknya. Setiap hari dia terlihat berjualan koran di pertigaan lampu merah tersebut.

What a lesson... Rasanya jadi malu banget. Fisik yang tidak sempurna saja mampu memperlihatkan sebuah keiklasan dan rasa syukur dalam menjalani hari-harinya, apalagi aku???Tetapi nyatanya, keluh kesah dan rasa tidak puas selalu menyelip. Sungguh suatu pelajaran berharga di pagi ini...

Colors of Diversity

Diversity is natural gift from God the Almighty
That makes this world aglow in colourful rhythm
like the natural beauty of rainbow in clear blue sky
so dazzling in the eyes
heart wonders in awe
seeing the greatness of The Creator

So lucky for those who see it that way
for it would bring a step closer to The Most Merciful
embrace this diversity with love
strive forward to enhance its magnificent beauty

So unfortunate for those who see it as a division
that set humanity apart
rainbow colors turn into a fierce blazing flame
in color of a bloody red
engulf the heart with the blakest hatred
until it perish
and what is left a bare emptiness and sorrows