`Gendut' pens restlessness in works

`Gendut' pens restlessness in works

Emmy Fitri and Hygenius Hardoyo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Shy, yet ingenuous is an apt way to describe journalist-cum-
author Herry "Gendut" Janarto.

Gendut -- which means fat or stout in Javanese, as he is
affectionately called -- is so sensitive with what is going on
around him that he's often "provoked" just by seeing bitter or
ironic events.

"Sometimes I feel restless, like there's something disturbing
my thoughts. The urge to write is so strong at these moments,"
said Gendut, a former English teacher.

The youngest of seven siblings, Gendut, graduated from the
teacher's training institute IKIP Sanata Dharma in Yogyakarta in
1982. He then worked as an editor at PT Gaya Favorit Press
(Femina Group) from 1983 to 1990.

He recently launched his book, entitled Sang Presiden (The
President), a collection of his 10 short stories. The fact that
the book was reprinted twice in less than two months highlights
the success of the book's release.

Sang Presiden is not Gendut's first book. He has written
several others, most of which are biographies of celebrities,
former government officials or business people.

"For those kinds of books I really write them for the income,"
Gendut quickly added.

"Some others I write just because I want to build a
friendship," he said, referring to his books which are not
produced for commercial interests.

The books are Teguh Srimulat, Berpacu dalam Komedi dan
Melodi (Teguh Srimulat, Races in Comedy and Melody), Bagito, Trio
Pengusaha Tawa (Bagito, the Three Laughing Businessmen),
(Indonesia) and Teater Koma, Potret Tragedi dan Komedi Manusia
(Teater Koma, Portrait of Human Tragedy and Comedy).
It seems that Sang Presiden was launched at just the right moment
as people are talking about a direct presidential election and
the count down to the general election next year.

But this story was not written with its release date in mind,
in fact the idea for this short story in fact came to Gendut out
of the blue. Gendut came up with the idea because of a phone call
he made to musician Djaduk Ferianto's house and one of his
children picked up the phone. The boy said his dad was not home
and when Gendut asked for the boy's name, he was surprised when
the boy said that he was Presiden.

"I am President," Djaduk's son answered honestly. Gandut
remembers that the moment the boy mentioned his name he trembled
and felt something strange inside.

"For days and weeks I felt uneasy and restless. I didn't know
what to write but I had to pour something out of my head," he
said.

Unlike the other nine short stories, Sang Presiden was never
published in the media. It went directly to the 2002 Short
Stories Competition held by the literature community Lingkaran
Komunikasi in Batu, Malang, East Java, and won a prize.

Sang Presiden follows the life of Haryo Sungkono, known as
Haryo Timbil, who as a child develops a dream to become the
president of the Republic of Indonesia.

Haryo nurtures his impossible dream into old age even though
he never come close to realizing his goal. Despite the failure,
Haryo does not stop insisting that he wants to be the president,
and it is this blind persistence that is the major stumbling
block in Haryo's life.

One day, however, he manages to pass on his ideal to his
grandson whom he names President.

The short story highlights the futile situation of a human
being who is unable to escape his own fate despite his dedication
and hard work.

Some people have said that this short story has something to
do with politics, but while Gendut acknowledges that it deals
with politics he said that it is not political in nature.

Gendut, who admires authors Pramoedya Ananta Toer and Seno
Gumira Ajidarma, has a typical writing style which is very down-
to-earth and rich in Javanese nuances.

Gendut is very popular among young readers as he is a reporter
of Bobo children's magazine. He spends many of his days
interviewing child stars and writing reports for children.

Gendut, who has two daughters, admits that mingling with
children keeps him happy and feeling young.

In the future, Gendut plans to write a novel. He is looking
forward to writing a "serious" novel with non-fictional touches.

"What I want to create is something like Pramoedya's works.
I'm really impressed with that man. His works are so rich in data
and background. He's such a good archivist. He takes notes on
everything happening around him. He picks up things we sometimes
just ignore," Gendut said.

Strong research, in-depth knowledge and background can be used
to enrich a novel, he stressed.

To enrich his next project Gendut has started to compile
interesting news and notes on what the trends are and what's
happening around him.