APALAH ARTI SEBUAH NAMA – WHAT IS A NAME

Ini sih kalimat yang terkenal banget di dunia. Apalah arti sebuah nama. Tapi menurut saya sih, nama itu penting.

This is a very famous word in the world. What is a name? I think a name has a very important meaning in our lives.

Saya jadi mau cerita waktu saya lagi melaksanakan tugas negara menjadi petugas sensus – hee.. lebay ya.. – di desa-desa tetangga desa saya. Dengan tidak bermaksud menghina atau apa, tapi kadang saya benar-benar tercabik antara geli, terpesona dan kadang prihatin pada beberapa keluarga yang saya sensus, yang orang tuanya memberikan nama-nama yang antik buat anak-anaknya.

So I have this to tell you. One day when I perform my duty as a census officer in some villages in my area. I don’t mean to under estimate the people, but I really feel like I am in between amused and apprehensive to some families who give unique names for their children.


Seperti waktu di sebuah rumah saya tanya “Nama anaknya siapa bu?” si ibu jawab – menurut pendengaran saya – “Justin Alviano” saya lalu menulis di form, Justin Alviano. Eh, si ibu bilang “Loh, kok pake U si mbak, bukan Justin mbak, tapi J, A, S, T, I, N, A, L, P, I, A, N, O.” Di rumah lain, saya ketemu anak yang namanya Runtah, Kartun, bahkan Gali. Padahal katanya nama itu adalah doa dan harapan orang tua buat anaknya. Kalo dikasih nama Gali, masak orang tuanya pengen anaknya jadi Gali sih?

Once, when I asked the mother “What is the name of your children?” the mother said – what I hear – “Justin Alviano” then I wrote it in the form, Justin Alviano. But then, the mother said “Don’t use U, it’s not Justin, it’s J, A, S, T, I, N, A, L, P, I, A, N, O.” In other family, I met names like Runtah (means garbage or trash in Javanese), Kartun (its Indonesian word for Cartoon), and even Gali (it’s a Javanese word for some bad guys, like robber, or criminals). I red that names is a hope and pray of parents for their children. When they named their children Gali, is it mean that they want their children to be a Gali?

Saya pernah baca di bukunya Asma Nadia, yang kalimatnya saya lupa persisnya, tapi intinya tentang kewajiban orang tua memberi nama dan nama panggilan yang baik untuk anaknya. Juga dalam memberikan panggilan sayang atau panggilan akrab buat anak-anak kita, atau orang-orang di sekitar kita, hendaknya kita memberikan panggilan yang baik.

I have red Asma Nadia’s book, I forget the complete words, but the point is about the obligation of parents to give a good name for their children, and also when we call other people with their nick name, we should call them with a good name.

Saya jadi inget sama ceritanya orang tua saya, yang katanya konon dulu-dulunya mau kasih saya nama Sedah Wulung karena katanya kayak namanya siapaaa gitu di pewayangan. Ah, kalo nama saya jadi Sedah Wulung, ntar saya dipanggil ‘Dah..’ atau ‘Lung...’ gak mau aaahhh....

So I remember what my parents told me. My father said that they would name me Sedah Wulung, taken from one profile in pewayangan (traditional puppet show in Java). Thank God they didn’t, because I don’t want to be called ‘Dah…’ or ‘Lung…’

Oh, waktu saya chatting sama seorang Bapak-bapak dari India, dia bilang nama saya artinya adalah nama salah satu Dewa di India yang berwujud setengah perempuan setengah laki-laki, yang punya banyak pemuja dan kuil di India. Ah, saya jadi pengen ke India. Oh, tapi saya ini perempuan beneran loh...

Oh, one day I chatted in my YM with an Indian, and he said that my name has a good mean. It is the name of one of the famous Indian God, who is half women and half man. Ah, its make me want to visit India. Oh, I am a true lady though…
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Pantai Randusanga - Randusanga Beach

Pas dapet hari libur kemaren-kemaren, saya jalan-jalan ke pantai baru – maksudnya baru pernah saya kunjungi – di daerah Brebes, namanya Pantai Randusanga. Saya gak pernah bosen kalo ke pantai. Padahal yang diliat ya cuman laut.

Some days ago, I went to a beach in Brebes, Central Java, named Randusanga Beach. I never get bored of beach, though all I see there is only the sea. Literally, Randusanga comes from words randu (silk-cotton tree) and sanga (nine). So it maybe means nine silk-cotton tree beaches in English. I don’t know hee…

Jalan ke pantai Randusanga naik motor, ternyata agak menantang, pemandangannya sih seru, karena di satu sisi, ada pemandangan bagus banget, tambak-tambak ikan dan pohon-pohon bakau. Sementara di sisi satunya, well, agak berlawanan, yaitu kandang-kandang bebek sepanjang jalan, dengan aroma bebek, ayam dan ikan yang campur jadi satu. Jadi agak binun, pengennya lama-lama ngeliatin tambak-tambak, tapi dikebut aja motornya biar cepet ngelewatin kandang-kandang bebek, hee.... Oh, ada juga warung-warung lesehan ikan bakar di pinggir jalan ke pantainya.

I went to the beach by motorcycle, and I found that the road is kind a challenging. I saw a beautiful view in one side; line of embankment or big fish ponds, with mangrove trees in its side. Meanwhile, in other side, well is kind of a contradiction; it’s a duck farm along the road, complete with the smell of ducks, chickens, and fishes. So I am getting confused, I want to stay longer to see the beautiful in the right side, but I also want to go away faster so I can leave the smell sooner. Oh, there are also some restaurants along the road that served grilled fish.

Dan setelah berjuang melewati aroma bebek-bebek di kandang, masuk ke Pantai Randusanganya, hemmm.. kalo kata Trinity sih, ‘yah, antiklimaks deh..’ coz pantainya yaaaa.. pantai, hee... saya gak tau apa yang kurang di pantainya selain pengunjung yang cuma beberapa, tapi asiknya, kalo mau tereak-tereak di pantai, di sini cocok, hee... Dan kayak pantai-pantai kebanyakan di Indonesia, banyak sampah di pantainya.

And after finally be able to escape from the smell of the ducks, here’s the entrance of the beach, hemmm… I found that the beach is sooo… ordinary, hee.. I don’t know what is missing from the beach, beside the lack of visitor. But, it is a nice beach if you like to jumping and screaming out loud in the beach. And just like other beaches in Indonesia, there are many litters in the beach.

Anyway, saya selalu suka pantai, yang kayak apa juga. Dan walaupun guide saya agak ogah-ogahan meng-guide-i saya kesana untuk yang kedua kali karena yang pertama kali saya lupa bawa kamera, akhirnya saya dapet juga foto-foto bagusnya.

Anyway, I always like beaches, whatever it looks like. And I finally can get some of the nice pictures.


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Superman

Saya sih sebenernya lebih suka Spiderman daripada Superman. Karena saya gak terlalu suka sama superhero yang bisa terbang dan pake kostum berkelambu, hee... Tapi kayak kata Bill di film Kill Bill – volume berapa ya, saya lupa – filosofi nya Superman emang beda sama superhero-superhero yang lain. Kalo superhero yang lain pake kostum buat menutupin jati diri manusia biasanya, Superman pake kostum untuk menampilkan jati diri aslinya sebagai manusia super. Superhero lain terlahir sebagai manusia biasa, sementara superman memang terlahir sebagai manusia super. Kostumnya yang dipake Superman itu emang katanya selimutnya yang ditemukan bersamanya waktu pesawatnya jatuh ke Bumi. Oh, tapi kalo film Superman versi Smallville sih saya suka, karena Supermannya gak pake kostum Superman yang ada kelambunya, lagian ganteng sih, hee…

If you ask me, I would prefer Spiderman than Superman. Because I don’t really like flying superheroes that wearing costume with sheet, hee… But as it said by Bill on the Kill Bill Movie – I forget the volume – the philosophy of Superman is different than any other superheroes. The other superheroes use their costume to cover their human identity, while Superman wears his costume to reveal his true identity as a super man. Other superheroes were born as ordinary people, while Superman was born as a super man. He wears his costume that is found with him in his plane when it crashed to the Earth. But, I like the Smallville version of Superman movie, because he doesn’t wear that sheet, and the Superman is really good looking in that movie, hee…


Errr… di beberapa postingan saya sebelum-sebelum ini kayaknya beberapa kali saya nulis tentang Supermannya saya. Saya lupa sejak kapan dan kenapa saya menamainya Superman. Oh, mungkin karena dia suka sekarang ada dimana, tau-tau bentaran udah ada dimana...hemm... – padahal jelas-jelas bisa pindah-pindah nya karena pake motor, bukan terbang, hee..

Err… in some of my post before this, I mention about my Superman several times. I can’t remember since when and why I call him Superman. Oh, maybe because he is a kind of busy man that for one minute he is in one place and in the next minute he is in other place.. hemm… - even I know he moves around on his motorcycle, not flying, hee….

Beberapa hari yang lalu ada kejadian di antara saya dan Supermannya saya, yang terus Supermannya saya bilang ’saya bukan Superman’ dan terus Supermannya saya gak pake nama Superman lagi. Hee.. sebenernya saya si seneng denger dia memanggil dirinya sendiri Superman, tapi saya lebih seneng manggil dia gak pake Superman, karena Superman itu suku katanya kebanyakan... heee... – apa sih nih, gak jelas yah.

Some days ago, there is something happened between me and my Superman that makes him said ‘I am not Superman’ and he refuses to use Superman name after that. Hee… actually I like to hear him call himself Superman, but I prefer not to call him Superman, just because it has too many syllable..heee…

Terus saya jadi pengen dengerin lagu nya Five for Fighting, Superman, yang jadi soundtracknya Smalville, dan lagu favoritnya saya juga. Saya paling suka pas bagian liriknya

So it makes me want to hear the song from Five for Fighting, Superman, the soundtrack of Smallville, and also my favorite song. I have this my favorite lyrics..

’...I am more than a bird, I am more than a plane
More than some pretty face besides a train
And it’s not easy, to be me…
Wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie, bout a home I never see
It may sound absurd, but don’t be naïve
Even heroes have the right to bleed
I might be disturbed, but don’t you concede,
Even heroes have the right to dream,
And it’s not easy to be me….
… I am only a man in a silly red sheet
I am only a man looking for a dream…
And it’s not easy… to be me…’

Sebenernya waktu (yang sekarang gak mau disebut) Supermannya saya bilang ‘saya bukan Superman..’ saya mau bilang, saya gak pernah menganggap kamu Superman yang super dan gak pernah salah, saya suka kamu bukan karena kamu super, karena saya bukan Wonder Woman, jadi saya gak pengen punya Superman, nanti saya bisa jadi berasa meaningless di deket kamu. Dan karena kalo kamu Superman, ntar jadi kebanyakan terbang-terbang kesana kemari. Kan saya maunya banyakan sama saya.... ciiieee…. Heee… oh, dan karena saya juga tau kalo jadi Superman itu gak gampang.

When my Superman (who is not now) said ‘I am not Superman’ I’d like to tell him that I never see you as a super-and-always-right Superman, I like you not because you are super, because I am no Wonder Woman either, so I don’t want to have my own Superman that it will makes me feel meaningless when I stand beside you and because if you are Superman, you are going to flying around all the time to save the world, and you will have less time with me, heee… Oh, and also because it’s not easy to be Superman.

See, Superman ajah bilang kalo dia just an ordinary guy, not that super... cuman pria biasa yang gak super-super amat. Buat Supermannya saya, – walaupun sekarang maunya jadi manusia biasa yang kaya Bapak-bapak – saya suka kamu yang seperti kamu, yaitu yang kaya Bapak-bapak, hee… Buat saya sih si Bapak udah hebat karena masih sabar nemenin saya dengan segala kekurangan saya, saya yang suka tiba-tiba kesel gak jelas, yang suka tiba-tiba mbingungi, yang suka suudon sama si Bapak. Ah, saya jadi malu.. Maap in anakmu ini ya Pak…hee…

See, since Superman himself said that he is just an ordinary guy, not that super. For my Superman – even if you want to be ordinary people – I like you the way who you are, you who have a fatherhood sense, heee… for me, you are pretty good since you stay beside me, my always-change-mood… heee…
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13

Saya sih gak percaya angka keberuntungan, hoki-hoki an dan sebagainya. Saya juga gak ngerti kenapa angka 7 dianggap sebagai nomor keberuntungan dan angka 13 adalah angka sial. Tapi dari dulu saya perhatikan, di apartemen saya di Jakarta – jiahhh… kayak punya apartemen ajah – ralat, maksudnya di apartemen yang sering saya inepin kalo saya lagi ke Jakarta, gak ada lantai 13 nya. Dari 12, trus 14, trus 14A. Di hotel juga gitu, gak ada kamar no.13. Dan terakhir, yang baru saya sadari belakangan ini, ternyata di kampung saya juga gak ada jalan no.13 loh… hee.. padahal kampung saya di desa, ternyata mitos ini juga berlaku. Tapi, tetangga-tetangga saya yang udah hidup disitu sejak jaman baheula – termasuk saya – ternyata juga baru sadar kalo di kampung saya itu gak ada jalan nomor 13.

I don’t believe in lucky number, or bad luck number. I don’t understand either why people take number 7 as a lucky number and 13 as a bad luck one. But I do notice that in many places, people avoid number 13. In my apartment – I mean apartment where I stayed when I go to Jakarta, there is no 13th floor. There are 12th, 14th, and 14A. So in the hotel, there is no room number 13. And the last, my recent notice, in my neighborhood, there is no 13th street. It is so silly for me, since I live in a small village, in a small town. But, my neighbors – including me -, that has been live there for years never realize that there is no 13th street there.

Saya jadi pengen tau kenapa sih 13 itu jadi angka sial. Jadilah saya gugling dan ketemu beberapa bacaan menarik. Di antaranya adalah, bahwa kepercayaan mitos angka 13 dimulai dari ajaran Kabbalah, yang diamalkan oleh penyihir di jaman Fir’aun, dilanjutkan oleh zionis Yahudi, dan sekarang jadi tren lagi di kalangan selebritis dunia. Bangsa Yahudi juga gemar dengan numerologi sehingga mereka dikenal sebagai kaum Geometrian.

So I start search on Google about this bad luck number 13, and I found some interesting articles about that. Some of them told me that the believing on the 13 myth was started from Kabbalah that carried out by witches in Fir’aun age, continued by Zionist – Jewish, and nowadays, is becoming a trend among the celebrities. The Jewish also interesting in numerology, that is why they also known as The Geometrian.

Menurut mereka, angka 13 merupakan salah satu angka suci yang punya daya magis dan religius, seperti angka 11 dan 666. Sehingga, mereka menyisipkan angka 13 dalam ajaran Kabbalah. Misal, jumlah kartu Tarot adalah 13, demikian juga kartu Remi.

According to Kabbalah, 13 is one of the sacred numbers that has magical and religious power, just like number 11 and 666. So they insert the number 13 in many areas of their live, like the number of Tarot card and also playing card.

Tapi, banyak perusahaan-perusahaan besar dunia yang menyisipkan angka 13 di logo perusahaannya. Kayak Mc Donalds, bahkan Microsoft Windows. Bahkan, lambang negara AS paling banyak angka 13 nya. Tapi lagi, mereka juga menghindari angka 13. Di AS, gak ada jalan nomor 13. Bahkan ada penyakit ketakutan berlebihan terhadap Jumat tanggal 13, ‘paraskevidekatriap phobia’, dan di AS, tiap hari Jumat tanggal 13 ekonominya merugi $800 - $900 juta karena banyak orang males traveling dan berbisnis. Hemm..

But, many of big companies in the world that also insert the number 13 in their logo, like McDonalds, and Microsoft Windows, is being said can be seen as 1313 when you rotate the picture. Even, the symbol of USA has many of number 13. But, again, American also avoids the number 13. In US, there is no 13th street or 13th avenue. Even, there is phobia for Friday the 13th, called ‘paraskevidekatriap phobia’, and also in US, it is said that ever Friday the 13th, they loss $800-$900 million because many people have less passion for traveling and doing business. Hemm…

Sementara di Cina, 13 dianggap sial karena 1+3=4, dan dalam bahasa Cina, 4 dibaca dengan intonasi berbeda (sie), selain berarti empat, juga bisa berarti mati.

Meanwhile in China, 13 is considered to be a bad luck number, because 1 + 3 = 4, and in Chinese, word 4 that is red in different intonation (sie), has two meanings, that is for, or dead.

Orang Indonesia juga rupanya sudah mengadopsi mitos ini sejak lama. Buktinya kampung saya yang saya tinggalin sejak taun 1988 aja gak punya jalan nomor 13. Padahal kita bukan penganut Kabbalah, ya kan? Harusnya sih yang beginian gak usah diikutin, kan dalam Islam gak ada yang memberi rezeki selain Allah SWT. Betul? Hehee…

And Indonesian apparently also has been adopting this myth since many years ago. That is why there is no street number 13 in my neighborhood, in where I lived since 1988. It is so funny since we are not following the Kabbalah, right? I think we should not believe in this myth, more over, in Islam religion, there is only Allah SWT who can provide us with blessing, right?

Jadi begitulah rupanya cerita angka 13. Saya sih gak percaya angka keberuntungan, warna keberuntungan dan pembawa keberuntungan atau kesialan yang lain. Nomor keberuntungan saya adalah 0 -9. Hemm.. lucky me…

So, that is the short story of the number 13. I don’t believe in these lucky or bad luck numbers, and also lucky color or something like that. My lucky number is the number 0 – 9. Hemm.. lucky me…
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