MY DAUGHTER IS A WRITER

ByGola Gong/Translated by Dida Tea

“I shall be born in India again and again.With all her poverty, misery, and wretchedness, I love India best. ” (Santiniketan/Rabindranath Tagore).

When I was a child, I dreamed to be a pilot. In fact, My parents were teachers. So, adagio that “like father like son” or “fruits fell will not be fell down far from the tree”’ was broken here. That was only myths. In the eleventh age, because my right brain was too active resulting from often read and watched the film, I must give my left hands unwillingly was amputated by the elbow (1974). At that time I jumped from the tree; imagined that I was a sky diver, but without any parachute.

MY DREAMWhen I got matured my dream changed. Even “the fruit fell much more far away from the tree”. In 1988 I chose the profession of a writer (the reporter, the writer, the writer of TV script), because not make it a problem about my body disablement. Since then my profession had improved to the speaker in being a lecturer in writing (fiction and journalism).My teenage self dreamed of becoming Rabindranath Tagore with Santiniketan in Ashram, India. I sat under the tree, read out poetry and prose to children. Or Ki Hajar Dewantoro with the Taman Siswa (Student’s Garden); ing ngarso sung tulodho ing madyo mangun karso tut wuri handayani (a proverb of Javanese language. The teacher was the leader who gave the good model. Also active, creative, constructive, and productive. He prepared followed the pupil from behind while leading him. The concept of his education acknowledged is acknowledge the child’s right for independence to grow and develop in accordance with the talent and his nature. In the development of the child’s contemporary psychology, Howard Gardner popularized the compound intelligence term (multiple intelligences), where each kids could having more than one intelligence and the talent.The dream was realized in 2002.From the honorarium as the writer, on the area behind my house I built “Rumah Dunia(House of The World): My House is the House of the World, I Built it With My Words”. Here I maximized the right brain; I formed the climate of discussions (accelerated learning) be different to that happens in the general school when we must always become the follower pupil, the value must not be red (it means bad value, and was ready to record anything was told by the teacher.

Every week, from 14.00 – 17.00 pm, I shared knowledge to the students in Banten in the field of journalistic, fiction (the short story/the novel), and the film. Several of them has succeeded in being the reporter, the writer of the scenario, and the writer. Their works have been spread in the mass media; printed and electronics. There are those that achieved the UNICEF Award achievement of the same class through to the wrote competition of IKAPI BOOK FAAIR 2004 and the local level felt happy, although always emerged the concern in my mind: will my four children become the writer like their father and mother?

WE ARE NOT FORCING

The Kahlil Gibran words indeed true, that our child not again belonging to us but there are belong of his time that yearned for them self. We on 40 years already not at our time again. I remembered when I was a teenage, I asked to Emak (a nickname for mother in Sundanese), “What do you want me to be?” Emak answered, “Emak wanted to see you were happy.” After I became a parent, there are those that asked,”What do you want your children to be? To be a writer like you? To be a person who success and rich?” I answered,”I want to watch them being their own self.”I also remembered my parent’s message, “Don’t you ever to told your children to be the writer like you. If the child did something that not emerged from his wish, but because of his parent’s order, then you already ’killed’ your children.” What that was said by them was true. When I was a kid, I was never to forced by them to become a teacher. They left me” to become my own self”. Currently I became to “a fruit that fell very far away from the tree”.

Of course I and the wife not want to be a “killer”. I did not want to become a kind of parents that always rushed away. We told to them, that understanding or get that what the problem really is, was far more important from just the value was blue (good value) in their school report. Or if having the child that having ballet course, the piano course, I will not force them to do that, except if that emerged from their own wish.

But did you know, my daughter now is the writer!

Evidently this time the myth was true: the fruit will not fell down far away from their tree. I was the tree and Bella is the fruit.

We did not force Bella to be a writer like us –her father and her mother. We only introduced literature to children by means of read in front of them. The prophet Muhammad had said taught literature to your children, because literature made the heart become soft. If the heart was soft, then the wish to share always will be always available. We wanted children to care; that the life not merely about pursuing the wealth and the throne, but shared with the peer was also important.

DISCUSSEvery Time before our children go to sleep, we indeed gave the additional menu of “a bed time stories”. Also we let the books scattered around in the lounge room and certainly in front of television. We provided the shelf and its books. If they were interested want to read, we only have to show the book what must be read by them. After read, we asked them to tell the contents of the book; the synopsis, the leading figure, the character, the conflict, the channel, the plot, setting, and its ending. The discussions took place around the bed time, in leisure time or in the dining table. Slowly we told them to write a book review, certainly with a gift. By means of like that, we began to introduce four speaking skills to our children; heard, spoke, read, and wrote.Bella (9) indeed more enthusiastic compared with Abi (8), her little brother. Often Bella stood behind me when I made a story. If he asked about methods to wrote, I answered her by directly gave the example. I also often took my daughter attending at the writing class, met the writer and the launching of the book in Rumah Dunia.One day, Bella asked to be accompanied to the traditional market.

Teach Bella how to wrote, Pa!” she asked me. I was very happy to accompany her. I Brought her to the Central Market. I ask her to sat in a place, that could gaze at all through all corners around the market, pay attention to how merchandises like broke-crack, vegetables, and the when fruits are being stacked. I introduced her in to the point of view. I offered her to imagine (the process to) that she was the trader of the chicken porridge, the coconut trader, or was the parking attendant. Moreover he was “interviewing” the vegetable rice cake vendor; from capital and his profit until how many children did he have.

In February 2005, Bella asked,”How many pages to made a novel, Pa?

” I answered forty pages. A year later, in April 2006, Bella handed over the text of her first novel: The Tale of Flower (afterwards changed the publisher to be “Beautiful Days”). At that time Bella was 7 years old. For a year she wrote her novel.

I was startled.

My daughter was a writer?

I felt so happy. Earlier I supposed that my daughter more led to her Kinesthetic Intelligence (sport), because if she ate or did anything, his body had almost moving around. But evidently my daughter’s linguistics intelligence was good enough. Currently she was completing her two latest novels at the same time; It’s My Bedroom and Ada Deh.

I and Tias set them free. We only provided their means and let them freely to flow found their own path, roamed with compound of multiple intelligence which they have. We are sure, they will find they estuary by they own self.

And the Lord proved it.

My daughter currently is a writer.

The one that made me excited far exceeded the happiness when my newest novel rose or got the annual bonus from the place I worked for, was when Bella being a writer not on our will, but that emerged from the wish herself.

Yes, currently my daughter is a writer!

*)The writer was a writer/author and leader manager of the learning community Rumah Dunia (House of The World) in Serang, Banten, Indonesia. *)This Article was published in the Humaniora of KOMPAS, on February 9 2007*) Photos: Me, Bella, and Abi (my son)