Widow of famed poet lives in sheer poverty

By Simon Sudarman

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The woman is thin but healthy. She laughs softly, a demonstration of her resigned attitude. However, whenever the memory of her late husband returns, her eyes will slowly dim and her voice trembles.

"I believe it is good enough to live this kind of life. After my husband's death, I began to sell spices to survive," said Hartati, who is affectionately called Bu Tatik, the widow of noted poet Kirjomulyo, who died on Jan. 13, 2000.

Born in the Central Java town of Klaten on May 7, 1941, Bu Tatik describes her late husband as a patient, simple and quiet man who never succumbed to anger. It was these qualities, rather than the fact that he was then a famous poet, that attracted her to him in Jakarta in 1966.

They got married in 1966 and there was no change in her life. She continued working and refused to be dependent on other people. At first she worked in a private animal husbandry company but later she quit and became a vendor.

She had to do this because her husband's fame as a poet was no guarantee for the family income. As a poet, her husband earned hardly enough to make ends meet. When it comes to money, she has experienced more tears than laughter.

"Nevertheless, I learned from him that we must live this life as it is. Only in this way can I enjoy happiness amid our financial difficulties. So, it is no surprise at all to me to be leading the life that I am living now. I am used to being independent," said Bu Tatik, a grandmother of one.

She admits that she and her late husband lived in two different worlds and that each had their own way, never interfering in each other's affairs. Her husband knew very well that she did not like writing and therefore never asked her to enter into his world.

"Well, I became tired every time I thought about his work," she recalls, laughing as she imagined her husband locking himself in his room doing nothing but writing. He would write day and night and sleep little.

"Perhaps because he was always nervous and tense, he often complained of giddiness but never wanted to see a doctor. Instead he would take drugs like Bodrex, as many as 6 pills a day. He was also a chain smoker. He would smoke 3 packets a day, or perhaps more," she said, adding that she was proud that their five children have a better life than theirs.

Unfortunately, her husband's hard work was not commensurate with his earnings, something which would often upset her, and Kirjomulyo, too.

"But, then, he would just feel upset and nothing more. He would continue writing, keep his patience and, unlike me, seldom get angry. He would turn a deaf ear perhaps because he believed it was woman's nature to be sharp-tongued," she said, smiling.

A 'vagrant' life

After her husband died, she was overwhelmed by sorrow. While she still mourning her husband's death, she and her children were evicted from the house they had occupied since 1994.

She found herself a victim of an irresponsible housing agent. She bought the house for Rp 14 million and had all the necessary papers. However, the house was then in dispute; it turned out it had earlier been sold to another person at a much lower price.

The house, which is located near her kiosk, is humble. It has neither a door nor windows, letting the wind enter freely. Also, it has neither electricity nor floor tiles.

"Our neighbors call this a 'doorless' house," she says, smiling with bitterness, imagining how the house she used to love very much is being neglected.

Bu Tatik now lives with her third child, Nina Tarunawati, in a kiosk at the front part of Gabusan Market, Timbulharjo, Sewon Bantul, some 10 km south of Yogyakarta. She bought this 3m x 3m kiosk with plaited bamboo walls for Rp 850,000. It is both her dwelling place and the place where she earns a living.

"In fact my eldest son does not agree with my half-vagrant life and has asked me to move in with him or rent a more decent house. But I have refused this offer. What is a house for if eventually I cannot earn a living? It is better for me to continue living this way, earning a living in my own way to survive," she says.

She displays her wares - kitchen needs like salt, cooking oil, terasi (made from pounded and fermented shrimp or small fish), noodles, onions, chilies -- on a small wooden bench. All together these wares are worth not more than Rp 1 million.

Luckily, some of her husband's colleagues sometimes donate some money from donations raised from the performances of her husband's plays.

"After the performance of one of my husband's plays recently, I got Rp 250,000 from Putu Wijaya. He has always been kind to us but it is a pity I don't know his address," she says.

Of late she also got Rp 50,000 from a group of women visiting her "house" in return for Kirjomulyo's poems that school children have frequently chosen for their poetry reading.

Bu Tatik can only thank God as there are still some people who can show their appreciation for her husband's works.

An institution in the United States also sent her a donation worth Rp 500,000 through an institution in Yogyakarta, which wishes to remain anonymous. She spent the whole sum to buy another kiosk for her storehouse.

It is in this kiosk with plaited bamboo walls that she keeps her wares, just on the dirt floor, as well as her clothes and other daily necessities.

Despite the fame of her late husband as one of Indonesia's leading poets, Bu Tatik is leading a lamentable life in a society where most have yet to fully appreciate literary works.