Wednesday, August 16, 2006

love books, love stories, love songs, love..., love.., love..!!!


I just had lunch in Indonesian restaurant. Oh, how I long for Indonesian food I love! Anyway, when I was having my lunch there, my ears caught a tune of Indonesian song. As a matter of fact I don’t really like Indonesian songs. The only group music that I like is Project Pop and it is more like a group of entertainers than singers. Why do I not really like Indonesian songs?

This is the chorus of the Indonesian song I was just listening to during my lunch:
Jangan pernah memanggilku kekasihmu (Never call me your lover)
Aku takkan pernah jadi kekasihmu (I will never be your lover)
Jangan panggil aku kekasihmu (Don’t call me your lover)
Karena aku tak pernah mencintaimu (For I never love you)


Well, that’s it. Indonesian songs are always about love between man and woman. You can count with your fingers any Indonesian songs that do not serenade you about love between man and woman. Well, maybe not just Indonesian songs, but also the soap operas and mostly the big movie (Ada Apa dengan Cinta? Eiffel, I’m in love…!!, Banyu Biru, Biola tak Berdawai, etc). It is a pity that when we hear the word ‘love’, we will straight away think about a relationship between young man and young woman and their struggle to live happily ever after (why are romance stories mostly ended when the couples finally could live together or get married and be marked with ‘happily ever after’??). Love means more than that. And I cannot accept the opinion that love story will always talk about man and woman relationship.

Once, I was introduced to a female student from Singapore. She studies journalism at Melbourne and likes reading and writing. I just thought we could share our ideas since I like reading and writing as well. I asked her what books that can make her interested to read. Then she answered, she likes reading devotional books (!) and autobiographies (!!) and declared that she never likes reading novel nor love story books and said that kind of book was just wasting her time to read. I DISAGREE with her. Yet even though I would love to argue her opinion about love story book, I said nothing – was afraid that my argument would ruin our first meeting.

Ok, let’s talk about books. What is your opinion of Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings? In my opinion, there are love stories inside. Samwise Gamgee’s love to his master, Frodo Baggins that he would sacrifice anything to be his company destroying the ring. Pippin’s love to Merry as a cousin yet a friend. Legolas the Elf’s love during the journey to Gimli the Dwarf as a best friend. Gandalf’s love to keep the world peace that he refuses Saruman’s offer to conquer the world together. Gollum’s obsessive love over the ring that he would do anything to own it. I daresay even a fantasy book like The Lord of the Rings can be considered love story. Ever read Filosofi Kopi by Dee, one of my favorite Indonesian authors? Read it. Highly recommended. It’s also about love stories. Ben’s love to something called coffee bean that he will do anything to make a perfect drink from the bean. Rico de Coro’s love (Rico de Coro is a cockroach) to a little girl who stays in a house he lives in that he sacrificed his life to save her. Hera’s obsessive love to any man named Herman that for the rest of her life she spent it to look for a man named Herman. Really! Even autobiography books may contain love stories. Beethoven, for example. I like reading the story of his life. He really, really loved music. Even though he lost his hearing, he could not stop loving music. He kept living with music till the day he died. Beethoven’s love to music.

See? Love is not always about man and woman relationship. Yes, you will always find love between man and woman in novels by Sandra Brown, Danielle Steel and a group of authors of Harlequin’s. And I never call the books as love stories. I simply call them romance.

And now let’s talk about music, specifically Project Pop, the only group I love. Why do I love Project Pop? Their songs are also about love. Love to their country, Indonesia (Indovers), love as a fan (Pacarku Superstar), love among friends (Ingatlah Hari Ini), etc. But most of all, their songs talk about everything, not only love. They talk about traffic jam, they talk about a funny fat man, they talk about bakpia and lumpia (traditional snacks from Indonesia), they talk about banci (a girlie man), they talk about dangdut (traditional music from Indonesia), they talk about anything! They are as creative as they can be!

So? Come on! Please do not build a narrow frame toward the word ‘love’. Love is complicated and that makes it different and special. If it is as simple as ‘man and woman relationship’, we’ll never know the true meaning of love.

For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not die but have eternal life.
John 3:16


Wednesday, 16 August 2006
2:09 pm

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