The Night with All The Anxiety

Dude, Where's My Keyboard?

I curse those government officials who enjoy such privilege while compromising so many other "ordinary" people's lives. Especially in this rain-induced traffic jam in Kuningan. I phoned my sister and she said she was stuck in the jam while the police blocked a nearest u-turn to give way to Mr President's car convoy.

Coming to Klub Rasuna all the way from Cyber Building - after a tedious day of collecting data and setting up a backend system for a client's sms quiz - under the rain, I found out that I had to perform without my own keyboard. While waiting for my sister bringing it along, I rushed to find out how this Technics KN2000 work.

A pianist can switch to play on any type of accoustic pianos, and so can a drummer with any type of drums. Given a different type of keyboard like this, I had troubles to play on it especially without a manual. But the show must go on. So with some trial and errors I managed to play some "safe" tunes like my favorite bossanovas "Corcovado", "Desafinado", "Garota do Ipanema", and "Vou Te Contar". Within half an hour, I could grasp the slightest idea of playing with this home keyboard and confidently played some sweet tunes to entertain this Halal bil Halal guests.

The Show Must Go On

The AFS-Bina Antar Budaya family gathered that past-mid Syawwal night, not only to celebrate Idul Fitri but also to meet and hang out with old friends. Many of them were literally old, they were cofounders of AFS Indonesia some 50 years ago. Among them was Taufiq Ismail, who was an exchange student to America in 1956. Memories of the days gone by was revived that night, filling the air and inspiring the young generation of AFS to keep the high spirit to build a peaceful world throughout cultural and student exchange programs.

A spontaneous trio - one of them is Kak Taufiq Ismail - performed "Sepanjang Jalan Kenangan", a standart evergreen tune, missing every other notes yet entertaining other guests with their confindence. A dozen of returnees who'd just arrived from 2003/2004 program brought melodious and religious "Dengan Menyebut Nama Allah", with accoustic accompaniment of flute and violin.

As a wrap up, the guests lined up to shake each other hands as sign of asking forgiveness with me playing "Selamat Hari Lebaran" as background music, this time with my own keyboard that had just arrived less than an hour before the show's over. Some guests took turns with the microphone and sang their own favorites, ranging from "Fallen" to "Karena Cinta". Despite all the anxiety and uneasiness of waiting for my keyboard, I finally got through the night well.

Comments

Popular Posts