By Rie Yanti

The economy class train is always an opera to me. Many things to see here. And this is a characteristic of Indonesian trains, I think. I used to go from Cicalengka Town to Bandung City, and vice versa. From Cicalengka Station, I take the economy train called KRD Ekonomi. The ticket costs 1,000 IDR from Cicalengka to Ciroyom Station (a small station after Bandung Station), or 1,500 IDR from Cicalengka to Padalarang. It’s very cheap, but the train will stops at every small stations.

Inside the train, many passengers had taken their own seat at Haurpugur Station (a small station before Cicalengka). So I had to stand up that day. Fortunately, there was always kind person who offered me his seat. Maybe it’s because I’m a woman. So I could sit, thanks to that universal gentlemanliness.

Oh, I forgot to mention two types of seat in economy class. First type sticks along the wall of the train. Thus the passengers turn the back on the window. By sitting this way, you can see all kind of passenger’s activities: reading, chatting, watching other people like I always do.

See the merchants selling beverage (mineral waters, coffees, soft drinks), food (fruits, tahu sumedang, wingko, nuts, salted egg), accessories, newspapers, books, toys, tissues, SIM card, etc. Meanwhile, the beggars were begging for money. He would pray for you after received money from you.

Second type, the seat that is face to face like in the executive class train. Here you still see, hear and smell the noisy merchants. But at least you can enjoy the panorama outside. I always noticed, there is green rice field on the side way to Bandung. In harvest time, the field becomes beautifully gold. Also the farmers harvesting. The hill, the mountain as a background. And the air! Just open the window and inhale deeply. So refreshing.

After more than an hour, I finally arrived at Bandung Station. Welcome, metropolitan life. In this fashion city, I used to visit Gramedia bookstore, CCF (French Cultural Centre), Tobucil, PSS (Sundanese Study Centre), Palasari, or Dewi Sartika book fair. Then go home at midday.

Once, I visited PSS and Palasari until 14.30. So I had to chase the 15.30 train. I didn’t take economy class anymore. I went by “patas” train.

Just like its name, “patas” (cepat-terbatas) is fast and limited. It takes less than an hour to reach Bandung from Cicalengka, and vice versa. The ticket is more expensive. But surely it’s more comfortable. There is no such merchant or beggar in patas train. Only “Reska” (Restoran Kereta Api): two men who officially sell bread, soft drink, and instant noodles.

Since 2009, there has been a new kind of patas train: Baraya Geulis and Rencang Geulis (in Sundanese, baraya means family, rencang means friend, geulis means beautiful). They stop at four stations only: Cicalengka, Rancaekek, Bandung, and Padalarang. The ticket for Bandung-Cicalengka costs 5,000 IDR, and for Cicalengka-Padalarang 8,000 IDR. The seat sticks along the wall and there are hooks on the ceiling for standing passengers.

At Rancaekek Station, a lot of passengers descended. How releasing. Since then, I could sleep whenever I wanted and got tired. While the train kept on working hard. Everyday. Almost non stop. Regardless its tiredness. [photo by Rie]

The Walrus invites writers to submit brief query letters detailing prospective stories on Canada and its place in the world. A good query will convey clearly and concisely the elements of the story, the intended approach, the intended section, and the author’s credentials.

Note that the time required to take a Walrus story from query to newsstand is three months at a minimum. Non-fiction queries should go to pitch@walrusmagazine.com, with the contents of the pitch in the body of the email and samples included as attachments or web links.

Send fiction and poetry to literature@walrusmagazine.com. Two short stories and/or five poems, maximum. Please place the contents of the story or poem in the body of the email. Short stories in The Walrus have no fixed length, but understand that longer pieces are more difficult to find space for. Poems should fit in a single half-page column.

Pitches, fiction, and poetry can also be sent by post to:

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The pay is not revealed. Due to volume, The Walrus will not consider more than one submission per month. And no phone queries or follow-ups, please.

Literary on newspaper, such as short story, essay, poetry, critique, is interesting. It is high standard of literary, but popular at the same time, and as my friend said, “You see the money sooner.” However, newspaper literary has particular taste that does not always suit every writer. If any contributing writer insists with his own taste, it’s predictable, he will get a refusal. Sooner or later the question come up, “Do I really need to write on paper before start my writing career?”

It is important to show your name publicly via newspaper, as often as you can. But since the era of Web 2.0 (the other says that it is 3.0 now), you don’t have to stuck on classical media to begin your writing reputation. Many cases proven, a “nobody writer” became “somebody writer” who has published the books productively, only by compiling her posts on net.

How about keep the conventional publishing part away? Fine! As long as you write and make money with it, people will see you as a writer still, even without any published book. You can stay and survive in blogosphere path, indeed. On the internet, content is the king. Making money by write something to other websites or even your own blog (of course with your very writing style) is possible. And guess what, yet you can be famous.

So, stop staring at that newspaper.

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Sastra koran. Istilah ini tentu sudah tidak asing lagi bagi Anda. Inilah sastra-sastra yang biasa tampil di koran. Bisa cerpen, puisi, kritik sastra, atau esai. Umumnya, para penulis memulai karir mereka dari sini. Saya pernah bertanya kepada seorang teman penulis: apakah setiap penulis pemula wajib menulis di koran?

Dia mengangguk. Pertama, karena dapat dimuat di surat kabar sama seperti memiliki pengalaman bekerja di perusahaan kecil. Bekerja pada perusahaan kecil memang kurang gengsi, tapi akan menjadi bekal untuk bekerja di perusahaan besar.

Kedua, perhatikan bagaimana tradisi baca di negara kita. Masyarakat kita lebih banyak membaca koran alih-alih buku. Berbeda dengan tradisi membaca di luar. Sejak kecil, orang-orang bule terbiasa membaca buku. Membaca pun tanpa memedulikan apa pengarangnya pernah menulis di surat kabar atau tidak.

Nah, di Indonesia, konon beken-tidaknya seorang penulis dilihat dari seberapa sering karyanya dimuat di media cetak. Ini pun (katanya) menjadi pertimbangan penerbit dalam meloloskan naskah buku ke mesin cetaknya. Naskah dari penulis yang tak pernah tampil di media? Nanti dulu deh.

Kecuali jika si penulis itu sudah tenar di bidang lain seperti Dewi Lestari. Kecuali kalau cerita yang diangkat si penulis bisa mengobarkan semangat (meski terkesan utopis) seperti Laskar Pelangi.

Kecuali bila penerbit merasa naskah itu benar-benar akan menjadi best seller. Kecuali kalau si penulis mau menanggung biaya cetak sehingga seperti menerbitkan sendiri (tapi di bawah nama sebuah penerbitan).

Sastra koran memang punya citra yang adiluhung, tapi populer dan kata teman saya, “Uangnya cepat terlihat.” Namun itu bukan jaminan bahwa seorang sastrawan koran akan cepat terkenal.

No more mainstream movie, begitu slogan sebuah acara televisi lokal yang menayangkan film-film pendek besutan sutradara indie. Demikian halnya dengan dunia tulis. Sastra koran bukan satu-satunya pintu masuk.

Sekarang ada blog. Di sini orang bisa menulis apa saja sesuai selera mereka, tidak harus nyastra maupun njurnal. Raditya Dika mengawali karir kepenulisannya dari blog, ingat? Tetap menulis di blog tanpa menerbitkan apa-apa secara konvensional (offline) pun bisa. Dan tetap dapat reputasi serta uang.

Alternatif lain, di kampus-kampus biasanya ada buletin kampus dimana mahasiswanya bisa menyumbang tulisan. Ada pula majalah indie yang walaupun lokal dan banyak yang tak berhonor, tapi lumayan untuk mengasah kemampuan menulis dan merintis jalur kepenulisan.

Yang terpenting, jadilah profesional dengan konsisten dan produktif menulis. Sastra koran hanyalah sebuah pilihan. Setiap orang punya selera masing-masing kan? Ada yang keukeuh berada di jalur mainstream, ada yang betah menulis secara indie, atau bergaya pop-art, ada pula yang tulisannya tidak masuk kategori manapun.

Dan banyak bukti berserakan di luar, semua “aliran” itu berpeluang untuk menjadikan penulisnya terkenal. Sastra memang seharusnya tidak perlu dikotak-kotakkan. Mari bersulang untuk perbedaan pilihan jalur dan gaya tulis!

By Brahmanto Anindito

The sky was so bright, as if it blessed us to go vacation. Iksan, Imey and I, we took our holiday. The destination was fixed. Mojokerto, East Java Province. There’s only two famous places at that regency: Trowulan or Pacet. Iksan had been at Trowulan, so we chose Pacet. Many interesting sites there, actually. Unfortunately, we visited only Watu Ondo waterfall due to limited time.

Watu Ondo, in Javanese term, means stone that forms stairway. Before the Malang-Mojokerto bridge was built, paths around the waterfall was a piled by stones, like stairs. That is way the natives called this place Watu Ondo.

Entering the waterfall location, we had to descend through for about 50 meters. It’s quiet near, but it’s not flat. Descending is easy, you just need to beware of slippery ground. The problem may come when you ascend. It requires a long breath. Huff! That’s what work out for.

Watu Ondo is not only about the 100 meters high waterfall. But also about the beauty of typically tropical rainforest’s wild flowers and fruits. There are wild strawberry and orchids grow on trees. Even Iksan saw some budheng (javanese monkey) taking their lunch with the wild fruits.

Finally, we reach the waterfall area in the valley. There are two waterfalls. And one of them was sparkled by a rainbow. I don’t know how a rainbow can show up like that. I just know, it made Watu Ondo more gorgeous. [photos by Brahm]

By Brahmanto Anindito

Same with the déjà vu, the deja lu (I like to type this way rather than “déjà lu”, because it’s more practical) is a French term. It is something you feel have read such plot or idea before, somewhere, sometime. For instance, my mind will shout “It’s deja lu!” when reading such story circumstance:

• Creative person is having trouble creating. A writer has writer’s block, a sculptor cannot seem to sculpt any masterpiece, a painter is detested by critics who don’t understand how brilliant it is.
• Sexual orientation’s vague. Two friends are very close, say they’re women. Third person comes. He is then falling of love with one of them. But her friend doesn’t agree. I thought, it could be only a jealousy. Near the end, it is clear that she’s a lesbian. She’s jealous because she loves her.
• Weird things happen, but it turns out they’re not real. In the closing stage, it turns out it was all a dream, in virtual reality, the protagonist is insane, the protagonist is writing a novel and the events I’ve seen are part of the novel.
• Modern protagonist follows the mystical advice of a hillbilly folk.
• Strange and mysterious things keep happening persistently for half the story, without even a hint of explanation. The protagonist is surrounded by people who know the explanation but refuse to give it.
• Et cetera.

And you, what is your deja lu? The funny thing is, the longer your deja lu list, the harder you’ll get idea for your next story. Especially when you’re a perfectionist and don’t fancy to write anything cliche.

* * *

Seperti deja vu (arti harfiah: sudah lihat), deja lu (arti harfiah: sudah baca) adalah kosakata Prancis. Maksudnya, suatu alur atau ide cerita yang sudah pernah dibaca, sehingga Anda mudah menebak arahnya.

Entah Anda benar-benar sudah baca cerita semacam itu atau ada anomali di memori otak Anda yang menyebabkan seolah-olah sudah membacanya. Berikut ini contoh beberapa deja lu dalam otak saya:

• Tokoh kreatif yang sedang buntu. Seorang penulis yang mengalami writer’s block, pematung yang gagal memahat masterpiece, atau pelukis yang dikritik habis-habisan oleh kritikus yang tidak bisa melihat sisi brilian dari lukisannya.
• Orientasi seksual yang mengecoh. Dua wanita berteman baik. Seorang pria kemudian jatuh cinta pada salah satu dari mereka. Tapi teman baik wanita itu tidak setuju. Seakan-akan ada kecemburuan. Ya, dia memang cemburu. Namun bukan kepada si pria. Di akhir cerita dibeberkan kalau dia lesbian.
• Keunikan terjadi, tapi berakhir dengan “ci luk ba”. Di akhir cerita ternyata: semua itu mimpi, permainan virtual, tokoh utamanya tidak waras, tokoh utamanya sedang menulis fiksi dan kejadian yang saya lihat adalah bagian dari fiksi itu.
• Orang modern mengikuti nasehat klenik ala orang pedalaman.
• Keganjilan terus terjadi sampai separuh cerita, tanpa penjelasan. Tokoh utama dikelilingi orang-orang yang mengerti permasalahannya, tapi mereka menolak menjelaskan.
• Dan lain-lain.

Tahukah Anda, semakin panjang daftar deja lu Anda, semakin sulit Anda mengarang cerita baru. Terutama bila Anda seorang perfeksionis dan anti menulis sesuatu yang klise.

Omong-omong, apa saja deja lu Anda?