pojok monicantik : my corner to be free

I was in a taxi on the way to Grand Indonesia to watch UKSU ITB’s performance in Galeri Indonesia Kaya on Saturday when one of my best friends from college, Elsa, who currently works in Malaysia as an employee at Schlumberger sent me a message via Whatsapp. She said she was still shaking because one of the passengers in the missing Malaysia Airlines (MH370) airplane was Firman Chandra Siregar, a friend I’ve known from my second year in college (2010). The message shocked me and I instantly broke into tears.

Bang Firman ini, isn’t just another kakak kelas or senior. Bang Firman itu senior 2 tahun di atas gue, dia jurusan Teknik Tenaga Listrik angkatan 2007 (atau sebutannya anak Power atau Aroes Koeat is how they also call it) sementara gue angkatan 2009. Kita sama-sama bergabung di unit kegiatan UKSU ITB, pas gue masuk sebagai anak baru, Bang Firman ini posisinya sebagai Swasta (istilah anak ITB yang artinya mahasiswa stres tingkat akhir). We share a mutual friend, Bang Rainhard, temen deket dan sejurusan dia yang udah gue kenal sebelumnya dari organisasi lain, ITB Student Orchestra. I knew Bang Firman from him. Bisa dibilang dari semua senior di UKSU, Bang Firman ini adalah salah satu yang paling dekat. Dari jaman-jaman osjur (ospek jurusan di tingkat 2 kuliah, tahun 2010), we exchanged messages almost on a daily basis. Honestly, I actually looked forward to exchanging messages with him because he had a weird way of responding to things. Meski seiring berjalannya waktu frekuensinya menurun dan sempat vakum pas gue tingkat akhir, it rekindled after I graduated although with less frequency. Nevertheless it felt good to be talking to him again because Bang Firman ini orangnya rada random, suka tiba-tiba out of nowhere nanya udah nonton film apa belom, atau ngasih link video cover lagu di Youtube. Nggak pernah nanya the classic dull question ‘lagi apa’. Our conversations were light, casual. He always brought up something weird: entah film, pertunjukan live seorang artis di Superbowl, cover lagu Boyce Avenue, video clip Marry Your Daughter, link video-video sedih, link artikel ‘Ayah Akhirnya Aku Menikah’, nyapa random, Rhoma Irama jadi presiden atau apalah, macem-macem. (He has a great movie taste. Knowing the unyu-unyu romantic comedy movie fan I am compared to his high-rated IMDB movie taste, he gave me a list of movies I should watch.) Despite the casual nature of the conversations, Bang Firman also had a tendency of adding a hint of wisdom here and there. For instance, pernah gue waktu itu curcol ke dia tentang how timing can be so annoying sometimes. Terus dia randomly out of nowhere nanya kapan gue mau nikah, dan gue sok-sokan jawab 2/3 tahun lagi (padahal pasangan aja kagak punya) dan akhirnya ngasi sedikit wejangan ala-ala Bang Firman gitu deh.

Waktu masa habis lulus gue sempet galau masa depan saat lagi proses persiapan aplikasi graduate school, dia mendukung dan malah suggest gue jadi dosen, malah pernah juga suatu hari dia cerita ke gue kalau dia pengen jadi dosen. Hah jadi dosen? Bang Firman ini udah pernah kerja di perusahaan oilfield services yang lain, dan sempat juga kerja di Abu Dhabi. That’s why gue sedikit kaget ketika tau dia satu batch dengan teman-teman gue yang juga kerja di Schlumberger dan ditempatin di luar negeri (sebutannya IM), ada yang ke Meksiko, Malaysia, dan ke Norway. Bang Firman ini dapetnya di Cina.

Jadi inget, waktu gue lagi proses CPNS, ngapal-ngapal pancasila, dia ngeledek-ledek pas gue lagi belajar dan nanya-nanya hasilnya.

Of all the conversations, di bawah ini cuplikan convo yang cukup bermakna buat gue, di mana Bang Firman berpesan gue berdoa dan suggested gue renungan harian setiap pagi.

This is the second time one of my friends have gone missing, setelah sebelumnya sahabat deket gue, Fanka, hilang 2 tahun lalu dan ironically di masa itu Bang Firman juga sempet ngehibur, dan sekarang kenapa malah Bang Firman yang hilang :”( . As simple as our conversations may seem, the weird friendship I had with Bang Firman is one I actually enjoyed and was a pretty significant part in my college life. His presence, his random hello’s, his random gestures of sending songs and videos, were things I’ve grown to get used to. Acknowledging the bitter reality that he is now a victim in perhaps one of the most saddening tragedies in aircraft history is truly heartbreaking. Pilu banget liat orang tua Bang Firman nangis-nangis tadi disiarin di TV. Bang Firman itu anak bungsu, I can’t imagine how deeply saddened his family must be.

Bang Firman, wherever you are right now, Tuhan besertamu, God be with you. My prayers are with you and your family. Semoga Roh Kudus menerangi jalan lo Bang, semoga segera ditemukan. Lights will guide you home.