Achdiat Karta Mihardja: 'Not of an age but for all time'

Achdiat Karta Mihardja: 'Not of an age but for all time'

Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The lines of a poem Ayahku (my father) shows how deep admiration blends so well with the bewilderment that Nuska sees in her father. And yet it speaks volumes about her father, the literary giant Achdiat Karta Mihardja.

Kukenang masa kecilku/ayah selalu membaca/kukenang masa laluku ayah selalu berdebat/berperang dia dengan dirinya.

The line literally means "I remember my childhood, father always read. I remember my past father always argued. warring within himself.

In the following lines, Nuska writes Tak habis-habisnya aku berpikir dunia apakah yang ayah cari or endlessly I think what kind of world he's looking for.

Undoubtedly Nuska -- the youngest of four children -- knows very well about her father as she is the one who now takes care of Achdiat and her mother, Tati Suprapti Noor.

They have been married for 67 years and in their daughter's words "It must be God's plan that they have stayed together for so long, despite their differences, which are normal to every aging couple. To me, they are both very lucky to be given a chance to remain together."

Now residing in Canberra, Australia, Achdiat normally visits this country every other year. His visit to his homeland recently drew a lot of media attention -- from one discussion to another discussion, from one interview to another interview.

Yet, his age is not readily apparent in the middle of these discussions or interviews. Achdiat, who is 94, is a well-spoken source as his words are still flowing and his memories of yesteryear are still fresh.

Borrowing Ben Johnson's words in memory of Shakespeare: "He was not of an age, but for all time!" Achdiat too is greater than life and his works will surely live even longer than him.

"No worry. I'll get some rest later if I want to," said Achdiat who prefers to be called Aki or grandfather in Sundanese as he met The Jakarta Post at his Mediterranian-style residence in Rempoa area, South Jakarta.

"Except for my new book, there is nothing new about me. I am over 90."

He just launched a novel, Manifesto Khalifatullah (The manifesto of God's Representatives). It is quite impressive for man of his age to finish a 217-page book in less than a year.

His book written in 1949, Atheis, opened a new chapter in the country's literary world. The novel focuses on the conlicts between atheism and theism, Leninism and Marxism.

After Atheis, Achdiat also wrote the drama novelette Bentrokan Dalam Asmara (Collision in Love), a play Pak Dullah in Extremis (Pak Dullah in extreme side), travel story Kesan dan Kenangan (Impression and Memory), along with several novels, Debu Cinta Beterbaran (Scattered Dust of Love), Belitan Nasib (Mired by fate), Pembunuh dan Anjing Hitam (Murderer and the black dog), Si Kabayan Manusia Lucu (Kabayan a funny man) and Si Kabayan Nongol di Jaman Jepang (Kabayan appears in Japan's occupation era).

At his home, he breaks a brief silence by raising some questions, "Why do state officials now steal money from the state coffers? How come that they let their people live in poverty? Why is KKN (corruption, collusion and nepotism) so popular?"

"I don't understand. Really I can't. Can you explain why?

Though living far away from the country, Achdiat who helped found the Indonesian Department at the Australia National University, feels the need to update himself with news from Indonesia -- most of which is "bad news that I hear recently."

"We have turned our backs on Pancasila (the state ideology) long ago. It has great values, which reflect our identity, a religious and a just nation. I know today's generation look at it cynically with their negative mind-set."

He sometimes flips to memories of his past experiences with great names like Sukarno, Basuki Abdullah, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Buyung Soleh, Chairil Anwar and the like.

His decision to leave the country to lecture in Canberra in 1961 was partly caused by his disappointment with Sukarno, who declared his new ideology Nasakom or Nationalism, Religion and Communism. "Personally, we were best friends, but not in terms of ideology. It's just impossible to combine communism and religion together. Communists are atheists. They don't recognize God. And worse, out of the blue, he banned my party PSI (the Indonesian Socialist Party)."

And before that, Aki was let down by the fact that the LEKRA (People's Culture Association), which he founded with friends like M.S. Azhar and Kelana Asmara was suddenly recognized as an organization linked directly to the Indonesia Communist Party.

And Achdiat, who was then head of Jakarta's culture and education agency, as well as a prominent author and lecturer, decided to leave his cushy life at home.

"It's unclear. That happened behind my back. So if my friends, on the same train, changed the direction to Moscow, I would jump out of the train and stop at Gambir (Jakarta's railway station)," he giggled.

Now in semi-retirement -- he still produces novels and essays with the help of his typist -- Achdiat spends most of his time meeting with people and talking with them about a variety of subjects that are interesting to him.

"I have a plan that hope I can do if God still allows me. It's nearly finished, maybe a month or two more. A collection of my religious short stories, it will be entitled Separoh + Sebelah = Insan Kamil (Half + part = Perfect human being)."

He said that the creative process of his book Manifesto took on a whole life of its own and based on his knowledge of Islam, which goes back to the when he was a young boy. Born in a strict, pious Muslim village, Cibatu in Garut, West Java on March 6, 1911, young Achdiat was "forced to learn to read the Koran" from the age of five.

"It was boring because as a young boy I could not figure out why I had to do this and I didn't understand the meaning of the words I was made to read. I ran away once," he reminisced.

"I did not do that to my children. I gave them the basic principles about religious teachings and the rest they are free. They are also human beings who can think and I believe, have a natural desire to seek what they want to know," he said.

Except for Nuska, none of his children followed their father as an author.

Achdiat enjoyed the fruits of the Dutch ethical policy that gave native Indonesians education in return for what they had taken away from the colonized land.

In 1932, he went to AMS (Oosters Letterkundige Afdelin), a high school level institution, to learn Eastern literature in Surakarta. He continued studying with Professor Dr. R.F. Beerling's lectures at the Universiteit van Indonesia (now UI).

It appears as though the unending intellectual quest keeps him strong and is his engine to keep moving forward.

Though his vision and hearing have been reduced with age, Achdiat admits, "I like getting into good discussions as it's good to hear people exchanging arguments in a healthy way."

During his book launch at Taman Ismail Marzuki last week, Achdiat stayed for almost three hours through the evening.

"Rest is when we need one, if not why should we bother to take some?"

And it is well explained in the last line of Nuska's poem which reads Impian dan idamanmu mengalir terus seperti air sungai yang tak pernah surut, your dream and ideals keep flowing like the river which never dies.