Categories
Creative Writings Poem

Winter, 44

 

Hash has been melted slowly

Rotten prey smells peacefully

Sunken myself out of the unholy

Love is one thing that can save me.

 

“You are as warm as summer,”

Said those weavers.

Replenishing the fear of blue,

As the sky starts to sing in gloom.

 

The warmth has been consumed. 

Has the lotus started to bloom?

Has God finally met His doom?

As we reminisce, the past has gone too soon.

 

The hash, unfortunately, has reached its intent

As Heimdall cold-handedly closed the border.

We blindly curse at the boulder

While hell already bashed our end.

 

Author: Sultan Mahesdewa

Editor: Yohana Satvika Wahyuveda, Ruth Tirza Arina (QC)

Illustrator: Ajeng Suci Hati

Categories
Current News

The Friendly-Neighbourhood INSADHA: Is It Really Friendly or Nah?

Source: Documenta INSADHA 2023

Sanata Dharma University. On August 18, an Instagram post went viral in which INSADHA (Inisiasi Sanata Dharma) was the main focus of the topic. The headline of that post – “Emang boleh ospek kampus tapi seniornya seramah ini?” – made netizens wonder about the friendliness of INSADHA itself. Many doubted that the seniors were only friendly in front of the camera. Others believed that it was just for content and clout.

August 7, 2023, marked the beginning of INSADHA 2023 until the Inauguration Day on September 9. INSADHA has been known for the friendliness of the committee since back then. INSADHA was also known for taking care of the new students. While initiations at other universities are often done outdoors under the blazing sun, INSADHA was mainly held inside the iconic Driyarkara Auditorium.

Compassion is one of Sanata Dharma University’s core pillars, which is why it is deeply ingrained in the students’ selves. Not only that, every Sanata Dharma committee event must prioritize compassion in both mind and spirit. INSADHA has opened its doors to new students with warm smiles and laughter. Even in batch 4, which was not as intense as the previous batches, the INSADHA committees still happily welcomed this year’s students.

The history of Indonesian university initiation events has been a dreadful one. Many initiation events were rife with bullying and seniority. There were cases of seniors ordering new students to stand still under the sun for extended periods of time or shouting at them to instill fear. As such, many students were traumatized after the initiation ended. More importantly, they did not feel welcomed by the big family of their university.

On that note, it’s understandable why people have been doubting how sincerity of the INSADHA committee. Were they only being friendly in front of the new students and then talked about them behind their backs? Were they just acting nice for the camera? How much care and thought does the INSADHA committee really put into their work?

Azel, an English Letters 2022 student, recounted her experience as a group companion for this year’s INSADHA. “We were told to see the new students as our friends. We try to get rid of the seniority mindset. Like, that is the one thing we are always reminded of and always emphasized in our training sessions.”

Group Companions of INSADHA 2023. Source: Documenta INSADHA 2023

She also noted how the committee, mainly group companions, must always be joyful, even when they’re feeling low and dreadful. When asked about faking that happiness, she said, “It was hard to maintain that happy feeling on D-day, but when I met them – the new students – it felt like all my bad moods were gone. I would be cheered up again, especially if they happily greet me. So, for me, it’s not truly faking our emotions constantly.”

Helen, an English Letters 2023 student, reminisced about her experience as an INSADHA 2023 participant in batch 3. She smiled and shook her head when asked if the INSADHA committee had ever done something awful to its participants. “No, I have never seen any discrimination directed towards us by the committee. They’re all nice to me and the others. Although, I saw one of my group companions being too exhausted. Even then, he was never mean to us. Yes, he sometimes has quiet moments if he’s tired, but he tried to maintain that happy feeling throughout the event.”

Another INSADHA committee member from the security division, Ana, an English Letters 2022 student, shared that before INSADHA began, the 3rd vice chancellor gave all of the committee advice on remembering Sanata Dharma’s vision on humanism. “Humanism ideology is essentially the core of INSADHA,” Ana said.

It was hard to erase the stereotypical idea that university or school orientations always left a sour taste in people’s lives. It was logical for people to think that way if we track the records of bad orientation history in Indonesia’s institutions. However, despite people’s doubts about INSADHA being “too friendly” or “faking their friendliness,” INSADHA is a friendly and joyful (albeit exhausting) orientation based on the facts from the experiences of both the committees and new students. 

 

Journalist: Kenar Syalaisha Kanayana

Editor: Nanda Pratama Putera Tomasila, Vonna Meisya Saputra (QC)

Categories
Current News

What Happens in the Waiting Room: Teater Seriboe Djendela’s Opening Performance Ruang Tunggu

(The performance of Ruang Tunggu actors and actresses. Left to Right, the Prisoner, the Prostitute, the Muslim Woman, the Husband, and the Wife; taken by Abraham Samuel Kalauserang and Josef Andi Setiadi)

Ruang Tunggu is the first public performance comeback of Teater Seriboe Djendela (TSD) since a hiatus due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This play was held on Sunday, September 10th 2023 at 17.00 o’clock. About 70 students from different study programs came to watch their jaw-dropping opening performance in K.22 room, Campus 1, Universitas Sanata Dharma. 

Through this play, TSD’s comeback has made its name famed once again. This could be proven by the enthusiastic applause of the audience after the curtain closed. Apart from that, what made this performance more special was that one of the scriptwriters also played as an actress in Ruang Tunggu. 

This opening performance was greatly accepted by the TSD’s audiences. The performance itself was terrific, as it left the audience stunned by all of the aspects of the performance, whether its actors and actresses, its story, or its settings. Vimala Shella from the Economic Education Department and Kenar Kanayana from the English Letters Department proved successful as scriptwriters in presenting Ruang Tunggu as a new performance adapted from a short film entitled Parlour Game by Denny Sangra. 

Ruang Tunggu tells a story about a group of people (the Muslim Woman, the Prostitute, the Husband, the Wife, and the Prisoner) stuck in a waiting room together in which the Game Master explained the possibility that one person can either have their wish come true or die by the end of the wait. As an inspired work, some minor changes were applied to its character backgrounds, such as the Husband and the Wife in which they are missing their departed instead of longing for a child they never had like the original one as explained by Kenar Syalaisha Kanayana as one of the actresses and scriptwriters.

(The QnA session of  Ruang Tunggu taken by Abraham Samuel Kalauserang and Josef Andi Setiadi)

Ayu Aprilia Dewi as the Wife and Skolastika Putri S. W. as the Prisoner, with Agnes Seraphine reading the opening and closing poem. All actors and actresses starring in the Ruang Tunggu performance went through a selection process and have undergone training to support their performance.

Even though the performance itself ran smoothly, it cannot be ignored that there were some obstacles in the making process. “The preparation took around a month. During that time, we experienced obstacles. For actors, the hardest part was trying to get into the character. Other difficulties involved technical and artistic issues,” stated Maria Vionitha, the Social Media Manager and Lighting Operator of TSD Performance.

A lot of challenges were faced in the scriptwriting process. The differences between film and play script format made it difficult for the scriptwriters to adapt. It did not stop there, there was more to it. It was a play adapted from an open-ended film which made it difficult for the audience to interpret the meaning. Kenar Syalaisha as one of the scriptwriters had to anticipate this possibility and worked harder to make the delivery as clear as possible. She hopes that the audience can interpret the meaning and the moral of the story on their own.

All in all, TSD’s first opening performance after the COVID-19 outbreak is hoped to open the path to rise again and continue the old TSD tradition established by its predecessor before COVID-19. This performance was proof of TSD’s existence with unquenchable spirits that will always be brave to hit the stage through its stories and characters.

 

 

Journalist: Valentina Pascalia

Reporter: Dulce Cicilia Sariri

Editor: Desca Geovani Kristi, Ruth Tirza Arina (QC)

Categories
Features People

Jojo: The Unexpected Benefit of Having a Peculiar Hobby

To have a hobby means to love doing something. Have you ever felt like having a hobby that is uncommon or unheard of for most people? If so, let me introduce you to the alums of English Letters of  Sanata Dharma University batch 2020. His name is Yohanes David Kurniawan, or you can call him Jojo, and he has a hobby of playing a rhythm game titled Pump It Up.

Pump It Up is a rhythm game that requires your feet to play. The idea is like any rhythm game: you have icons that suit the beat of the music, and to press those icons, you step on the buttons accordingly. Pump It Up itself is very famous among rhythm game players. However, it may be unfamiliar to some people.

The first time he played this game was when he and his friends had just finished the national test for high school, but later on, he got addicted and started to play it more often. “When I started college, I could play five times a week.” Kak Jojo said, showing his range of playtime. While playing, he also met a lot of people who were in the Pump It Up community, and that got him more involved.

Being good at the game also needs practice and tremendous determination. To be where he is right now, playing at a high level, also comes with a background story. With the community and friends he made while playing the game, he also got challenges from his friends, such as playing the same song repeatedly until he got an S grade in that particular song, and so on. This experience builds his mentality to be hardworking and determined.

YouTube player

That’s one benefit of playing the game, but not the only benefit. Kak Jojo stated, “I have always been lazy to work, so playing this game helps me build my physical abilities.”  He plays on a high level, and doing it trains your stamina because of how fast the note is, it almost feels like you ran for miles. To add to that statement, he also flexes that when he’s an actor for USD’s English Letters annual musical event EL the musical, he has the second-best stamina record. Side information about EL the musical is a musical performance held yearly by the students of the English Letters Department at Sanata Dharma University.

Yes, he always loved music, so he joined as an actor in 2018 for a piece titled Mamma Mia! He also joined the English Letters Music Organization, so with his experience playing Pump It Up, counting beats was his forte. Playing Pump It Up has a lot of benefits that we might not realize today, but it might come in handy later on in our lives.

Not forgetting about all the benefits above, the significant benefit is that enjoying yourself makes those other benefits come through. “There’s a lot of memories like when we played co-op together, and we might have fallen while doing it, and I missed it when those times died down.” Fun times like this are what make the process enjoyable because you get to meet a lot of new friends, connecting you with people who have the same passion for playing the game.

In conclusion, we all have something that we enjoy doing, and that thing might be underestimated by other people, but as long as we love doing it, who cares? A closing statement from Kak Jojo: “No matter how weird your hobby is, if you enjoy doing it, then go for it.”

 

Journalist: Gregorius Beryl Satya Shira

Editor: Sitti Aminah Intan Utami, Vonna Meisya Saputra (QC)

Categories
Creative Writings Poem

No One’s Fault

Mother said it was supposed to be the place

Where he could rest until the kingdom came.

Mother said they should not grimace.

What kind of people had they become?

 

They flaunted their tyranny

As metal teeth were against the wooden cross,

Cutting down the symbol of victory,

The rest watched as eyes were blanketed with gloss.

 

His beloved wife could not do anything—

She was weeping with her wet, sorrowful eyes in silence.

Inside her was a soul prone to dying,

Yet she ought to embody acceptance.

 

“Mother, will we be alright?”

I asked my mother while thinking about the future.

Looking down at my small figure, her eyes not so bright,

“We will be alright,” she murmured, sounding unsure.

 

Standing in front of the mirror

I saw my mother’s reflection

Wearing an expression of horror,

Sitting on the chair without motion.

 

Her shirt, as gloomy as the night.

Her eyes, as empty as the void.

Her fingers, trying to conceal fright.

Her mind, thinking what we could not avoid.

 

Mother once told me it was not our fault,

That it was no one’s fault.

I started to change my mind, however,

As fear started taking over.

 

(inspired by: https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/indonesia-46604707)

 

Author: Catharine Juliana/204214051

Editor: Sitti Aminah Intan Utami, Vonna Meisya Saputra (QC)

Illustrator: Betsy Mariana Agoha

Categories
Creative Writings Poem

A Symphony of Memories

In the chaos of life, my hands were molded into feet.

I see something that shapes us, something sweet.

It is indeed the glorified version of life, nurturing ephemeral moments like the sheath of a knife.

 

Hold tight, my dear friend; we knew this fate would not be the same.

It is different yet tempting to end.

Toy cars, the old mango tree, and sounds from the early days are framed.

 

I disappear, but I reappear for something I wish to hear.

I close my eyes, but I open my eyes for moments I wish to see.

I manifest myself to him, the one I’ve longed to meet.

 

As I sip my coffee in the kingdom of peace,

As I rest my legs on the mattress of sheer bliss,

Now that I’m sitting on the throne of God,

Rest in peace, my golden memories.

 

Author: Muhammad Abid Abdu Annafi/234214141

Editor: Sitti Aminah Intan Utami, Vonna Meisya Saputra (QC)

Illustrator: Betsy Mariana Agoha

 

 

Categories
Features Movie Review

Eva Stories: When Instagram, Holocaust, and a Diary Collide

Eva Stories (2019)

In 2019, the world was introduced to a unique and innovative storytelling experience that broke new ground in the realm of social media and film. “Eva Stories,” a short film created entirely through Instagram Stories, captured the hearts and minds of viewers around the globe. Directed by Mati Kochavi and produced by his daughter, Maya Kochavi, this project asked a compelling question: What if Instagram existed in the past? While exploring this idea, “Eva Stories” also delivered a powerful narrative and imagery as a solemn reminder of the importance of remembering the Holocaust.

The premise of “Eva Stories” is simple yet brilliantly profound. To put it simply, it is based on The Diary of Eva Heyman, where the story follows the life of a young Jewish girl in Hungary during World War II. The film invites us into Eva’s experience through her Instagram stories, as she documented her life during those horrendous times. This ingeniously conveys Eva’s life from the blissful days of youth to the harrowing experiences she and her family endure as the Holocaust unfolds.

Eva Stories tells the story of 13-year-old Jewish girl Eva Heyman during World War II. (Screenshot from Instagram’s @eva.stories)

One of the most remarkable aspects of “Eva Stories” is its ability to blend the familiar format of Instagram Stories with the grim historical backdrop of the Holocaust. The juxtaposition of Eva’s seemingly typical teenage experiences, such as friendships, school, and romance, with the gradual encroachment of Nazi oppression is deeply moving. It reminds us that behind every historical statistic, there is a real person with dreams, hopes, and fears.

The performances in “Eva Stories” are surprisingly incredible, especially by its young lead actress, Mia Quiney, who brought Eva Heyman’s character to life with authenticity and emotion. Her portrayal adds a human touch to the historical narrative, making Eva’s story even more heartbreaking. Oh, and not to mention their meticulously crafted production design, and no, I’m not only talking about the outfits. They have a tank too.

Critics argue that condensing such a complex historical event into Instagram Stories may oversimplify the Holocaust. While this is a valid concern, “Eva Stories” was never intended to be a comprehensive historical account. It serves as a remembrance to what millions of people suffered.

In conclusion, “Eva Stories” is a remarkable piece of cinematic storytelling that bridges the past and present through the innovative use of social media. It somewhat creates a precedent in the potential of cinematic writing; we’ve seen films like “Searching” (2018) and “Missing” (2023), but “Eva Stories” brings something new to the table. Besides the important message that it conveys, this innovation alone is a reason to go see the short film. In a way, this way of storytelling easily takes us to places where (or when) we could not go before. I can’t say that I want to relive the Holocaust, but “Eva Stories” asks us to empathize. It brilliantly synthesizes the impact of both storytelling in the digital age and historical narratives.

You can find the short film through their official Instagram profile @eva.stories

 

Journalist: Brian Alexander/204214181

Editor: Nanda Pratama Putera Tomasila, Vonna Meisya Saputra (QC)

 

Categories
Creative Writings Flash Fiction

The Hollow Days

 

Arnold had been musing for thirty days. He had lost someone who was very precious in his life. She always woke him up every morning. She always cooked his favorite dish. She was always by his side. He stared at the dewy window of his office. He mourned the fate that befell him. He wondered why this disaster could happen to him. Lately, he had been daydreaming more often and sometimes he cried without realizing it. He endured the hollow days patiently and resiliently.

“Mom, why did you leave me so quickly? I still want to spend time with you,” Arnold said in his heart. Yeah, he lost his mother. Her mother passed away in a car accident when she went to London a month ago. He remembered when he heard his mother had passed away. He was very shocked and didn’t believe it. He knew it from his uncle. After the accident, her mother was taken to the hospital by an ambulance. Unfortunately, she had passed away when he arrived at the hospital.

One day after his mother’s death, his mother was cremated at a crematorium in Nottingham, Arnold’s hometown. Arnold sobbed during the cremation process of his mother. He had never felt so sad like this before. He saw his mother for the last time when they were at home. At that time, his mother advised him to become a successful person. She also told him that if she passed away, Arnold should stay focused on his life goals.

Since then, Arnold lived with his father and sister. His father and sister consoled him so that he won’t be sad. However, it didn’t affect Arnold. He remained sad. It was the first time he had to live without his mother. Everything that was on his mind was his mother. He imagined his mother seeing him when he became successful. He regretted not having had the chance to make his mother happy. If he could rewind time, he would have done his best for his mother.

One day, Arnold met Rachel, a new employee at his office. Arnold and she quickly became friends. Rachel was a friendly woman. Arnold told Rachel about his mother and she understood what Arnold had experienced. She tried to comfort him. When lunchtime arrived, she invited him to the cafeteria. Arnold agreed so they went to the cafeteria together.

“I understand what you have experienced, Arnold,” Rachel said to Arnold.

“Thank you for listening to my story,” Arnold answered her.

“You’re welcome Arnold, but you shouldn’t be sad all the time, you have to be strong,” Rachel replied.

“I’m trying, but it’s so hard. Can you tell me what I should do?” Arnold asked.

“You can do your hobby, spend time with your family and friends, and stay physically active. You also need to focus on work so you can achieve your dream. Your mother would be happy seeing you successful,” Rachel said.

“You’re right. From now on, I will focus on work and do anything that makes me happy. Being sad all the time is useless. I deserved to be happy,” Arnold replied.

Since then, they have been getting closer. Arnold promised that he would make his mother happy. He believed that if he worked diligently and tried his best, his mother would be proud of him.

 

Author: Steven Yulyanto/214214022

Editor: Yohana Satvika Wahyuveda, Ruth Tirza Arina (QC)

Illustrator: Ajeng Suci Hati

 

Categories
Creative Writings Poem

Magic Hour

In the days of youth, so innocent and bright,

When Santa Claus was real, with his magical flight.

I’d return to those moments, oh, how they’d amaze,

When my family was whole, in a warm, loving gaze.

 

In the frosty December, with snow on the ground,

I’d listen for sleigh bells, their jingling sound.

Believing in legends, like Santa’s great lore,

In a world full of wonder, where dreams could explore.

 

I’d visit that time when worries were few,

When laughter and joy were the things that I knew.

Innocence like a treasure, held in my hand,

As I danced with the legends, in a magical land.

 

The world was a canvas, and I held the brush,

Painting my dreams, in a boundless rush.

Oh, how I’d return to that innocent place,

Where legends and magic adorned every space.

 

To revisit those moments, where love was the key,

To unlock the magic that still lives within me.

For in legends and stories, we find our true grace,

In the innocence of childhood, in that sacred place.

 

Author: Maria Marcelia Angelica S/204214143

Editor: Desca Geovani Kristi, Ruth Tirza Arina (QC)

Illustrator: Kenar Syalaisha Kanayana

 

Categories
Creative Writings Poem

So, It Will

So, it is a plight.
Whose wrath wrongs worlds
Who sings in its own grains
Whom folks consecrates,
In all of its eons. 

A Helios of haste
A Selene ’til Sunday.

In sum of its days.
Whom the Bang bestowed,
Who chanted in its serenity
Whose wisdom wafted wraiths
So, it was a promise.

 

 

Author: Abiel Merari/214214177

Editor: Desca Geovani Kristi, Ruth Tirza Arina (QC)

Illustrator: Ajeng Suci Hati