Mudrika, the genie trader

Mudrika, the genie trader

By Johannes Simbolon

JAKARTA (JP): Remember Aladdin, the man who owns an all-
powerful genie in the ever-popular 1001 Nights from Arabia?
The chance to have a genie like him is now yours.

If you're interested, call Mudrika the genie entrepreneur who
has enjoyed lots of attention from the local media since late
last year.

However, don't expect a magic lamp from him, which, rubbed
like Aladdin's will discharge smoke which magically turns into a
giant genie who is ready to do anything you order.

Mudrika's genies are different from Aladdin's.

They are no giants, but look like normal human beings, except
for the feline ears, and the head which is rather swollen at the
top.

"The nose is like a Filipino's and the eyebrows are Japanese,"
Mudrika, 29, tells The Jakarta Post with conviction.

Like human beings, he adds, there are males and females.

"Believe it or not, we can have sex with the genie. Orgasms
are much better with genies than with real human beings. They
last longer. Of course, we're going to be exhausted afterwards,"
says this graduate of the economics school of a university in
Malang.

Aside from his earthly wife, Richo Sicillia, a Eurasian,
Mudrika claims to have a genie wife, named Ali, and even has
children with her.

"I already have genie children," he confirms, laughing.

Mudrika's genies do not live in a lamp like Aladdin's. Rather,
they live, walk, travel, and play like humans. They even follow
religions: Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, and others.

Buying a genie is like buying a slave. After the transaction,
the genie will do any job assigned to them by their owners.

What Mudrika does is sell the genies which have become his
slaves. Since genies are supernatural beings, their delivery to
the buyers is also conducted the "supernatural" way.

Mudrika, who comes from Semendo, an area between South Sumatra
and Lampung, showed the Post how to deliver a genie to a client.

He held the client's hand, concentrating what he calls his
inner power, and transferred the ownership of the genie to the
client. It took less than five minutes, but the work seemed to
use lots of energy since Mudrika looked very tired and sweaty
afterwards.

"Actually, the genie can also be transferred through the
phone. I concentrate my energy, then the genie goes to the client
through the phone cable," he says.

The clients can check if the genie has been delivered to them
by eating glass from a lamp. If the glass does not wound their
mouth, that means they have received the genie.

Mudrika, who is also chairman of the Golkar-affiliated Pemuda
Pancasila youth organization's branch in Kelapa Gading, says he
has sold around 50 genies with clients coming from the U.S.,
Canada, the Netherlands, Australia and Indonesia.

But, before going to Mudrika, you must first check your
wallet, because his genies are really rather expensive.

Mudrika, categorizes his genies into Super, Mega and Multi,
like the martabak (folded crepe) street traders do to their
merchandise.

The Super costs Rp 3 million, the Mega Rp 6 million, the Multi
between Rp 9 million to 12 million.

"The more powerful a genie is, the more expensive it will be,"
he says.

Before selling them, Mudrika programs his genies so that they
do jobs commensurate with their respective prices.

The Super does only one job on the owners command, the Mega
can do its job without waiting for orders, and the most expensive
genie, Multi, can do all kinds of jobs without orders. An added
bonus is that if necessary, it will call its friends for
assistance.

The jobs include protecting business, health, and suchlike.

"The program is protected so that the genie won't do anything
outside the program," Mudrika says.

The high price seems justifiable, because Mudrika brings his
genies from Aladdin's hometown of Baghdad, Iraq.

"There are genies in every country, including Indonesia. I
don't like the local genies because they are too lazy. The local
people always give them offerings, so they are not willing to
work unless they are given something," he says.

"The Baghdad genies, contrariwise, only feed on oxygen," he
adds.

To bring the genies over from Baghdad, Mudrika, who first
learned to "enslave" genies in childhood, employs a smart
consultant, also a genie, who has lots of connections among
Baghdad's genies.

We can't judge which genie is the real thing: Aladdin's
turbanned lamp-dwelling giant, or Mudrika's service-industry
humanoid. Perhaps we should ask some children, to see which type
makes for a better story.