Reading some of the obituaries of Kuntowijoyo I feel a sense of a great loss that I didn't know much about him. Having been abroad for my entire adult life, I lack the social, intellectual, and organizational experiences that come from, for instance, being in campus and active in its varieties of movements. I don't know (or know little) about a lot people I should know (more). This doesn't have to mean knowing them personally, but I'd like to know their histories, thoughts, influences, etc. So I'd need to know people who know them, and being in campus certainly would help.
However, being in the right place at the right time is not sufficient. The campus was rather polarized 10-15 years ago. I might be in one "side" without knowing much about the other side. At least that's what I've been observing from some of my friends. That's why it's very encouraging to see all sides are active in politics right now one way or another. This means there are interactions from all sides in the highest level, which should bode well for interactions in the lower levels. And those lower level interactions, which necessarily have been started 5-10 years ago, make the higher level ones possible.
di amerika
ReplyDelete