Blog Yuliani

Betapa jauh sudah kita meninggalkan dunia mesin ketik. Bagi saya sendiri, terakhir menggunakan alat berisik itu, kalau tidak salah, lebih dari dua puluh tahun lalu, ketika menulis tugas di kelas 3 SMA. Benda itu sendiri sekarang sudah tidak ada lagi di sekitar saya, sudah lama tidak melihatnya; kalau pun ada pasti sudah berselaput debu tebal karena tak pernah disentuh. Maka tertegunlah saya tadi pagi melihat seorang bapak tua dengan telaten memperbaiki sebuah mesin ketik tua di halaman depan rumahnya. Beberapa tungkai hurufnya terentang seperti kerangka fosil tua di padang gurun. Ringkihnya mesin itu seperti sepadan dengan kakek itu. Hmm, mungkin dia membutuhkannya untuk mengisi formulir urusan administrasi ini-itu di kelurahan, pikir saya. Tapi ada satu yang bisa saya mengerti, kenikmatan merawat barang yang dulu pernah menjadi penting, rasa senang ketika berhasil memperbaiki sesuatu yang rusak. Walaupun mesin ketik itu akan kembali menghuni pojok berdebu setelah itu, kepuasan yang di...

This almost-five-year old boy of mine keeps puzzling me lately with his questions, and statements, about god. Who made god? Where does he live? How come I cannot see him? If he created the sun, then he must have a very loooong hand to reach it up there. If god is everywhere, then he must be there in the streets, in a bottle, in the shops. All kind of silly thinking. Whatever answer I gave him is certainly never satisfying. He keeps coming back with another mind-boggling conundrum. I believe every parent experience this. It is an exciting time. It is amazing to see how this one time baby sudenly opens up his minds to such realm. But how temptating it is to say “we are not permitted to say that about god,” asking him him stop his exploration. It is like putting up a no tresspassing sign at the borders of this sensitive area. I’ll resist this easy-temptating-way to deal with this. I think what I will do is to let him say out loud whatever he thinks of god, and tell him that nobody has the...