Gat

Now here's a single word subject of a blog post that gets you puzzled, ain't it? Gat was a college friend and a fellow colleague of mine during my last year in STMIK. The two of us worked together as the computer lab assistant then. And back to the name, I did ask him recently about what it actually meant. To tell you the truth, I had this curiosity built up for years since the day I knew him until now, so I subconsciously expected a secret origin or something dramatic, but life had its way to tell me to suck it up and live with it. No, Gat's name had no hidden meaning. It was on the spur of the moment kind of thing and his parents just decided to name him like that.

But still it was a name to remember. Not only it is uniquely short, but it is also a name that resonates in the academics world. He's a lecturer since he graduated from college, teaching subjects such as programming, networking, IT security, operating systems, database and many more, but what impressed me the most was his keen interest in intellectual pursuit. He already completed his master's degree and is now doing his doctorate. This was the first time I heard of a friend studying the highest level of academic agree, so it was a nice surprise, really. Good for him.

Gat in the traditional Dayak attire. 

Talk about surprise, I really didn't see that coming. Based on what I saw from afar (from Facebook, to be precise), he was busy singing with his band. Then he told me that it was an old interest that got revived after he joined his students' band. His audition story was something like this: one day in 2007, he happened to be a bystander watching the band rehearsing for the upcoming show in campus. I guess it was a basic courtesy for students to get your lecturer to sing, but apparently it felt right, so Gat became a full time member. Since he was a lecturer with a rather well-known name, the band was eventually called Gat's Band, with Gat as the vocalist, Joko as the keyboardist and Nano as the drummer. The rhythm, lead and bass guitars section were handled by Andri, Kiki and Meldi respectively.

As a band, they performed in several occasions, from campus to a place as far as Singkawang. After performing cover versions for a while, Gat's Band realised that perhaps they could write their own song. That's when they came up with one called Cinta Terakhirku. Their effort was commendable. The song was properly recorded and it also had a music video! You can see it here!

When we were on the songwriting topic, I asked his opinion about the current situation in Indonesia. I told him that the freedom of speech was abused to the extent that one could easily condemn another as infidel just because we were different. Gat said the freedom to express oneself is alright, as long as it is positive and it doesn't harm other people. He had no comments about infidelity because he doesn't subscribe to such concept. What's more important is for us to realize the beauty of unity in diversity. 

But will he write a song about such topics? No, apparently not. The only time they ever did that, they wrote about love. Why? That's because love is beautiful and love brings peace. Well said, eh?

Gat's Band, live on stage.

Gat

Jadi, apakah judul artikel yang hanya berupa satu kata ini membuat anda bingung? Gat adalah nama teman kuliah dan juga rekan kerja saya di tahun terakhir saya di STMIK. Kita dulu berprofesi sebagai asisten laboratorium komputer. Kembali ke soal nama, akhirnya saya berkesempatan untuk bertanya, apa artinya. Terus-terang saja, saya sudah penasaran selama bertahun-tahun lamanya, jadi saya mengira ada rahasia besar atau kisah legendaris di balik nama tersebut. Akan tetapi hidup ini memiliki cara tersendiri untuk mengingatkan saya agar jangan terlalu sering berkhayal. Menurut Gat, mungkin nama itu spontan diberikan kepadanya. Hanya begitu saja.

Nama tersebut bukan saja unik, tetapi juga bergaung di dunia pendidikan. Gat menjadi dosen di STMIK sejak lulus kuliah dan dia mengajar programming, networking, IT security, operating systems, database dan masih banyak lagi. Akan tetapi, jika ada hal yang membuat saya paling terkesan adalah minatnya dalam mendalami ilmu. Gat sudah menyelesaikan S2 dan kini tengah merampungkan S3. Ini pertama kalinya saya mendengar tentang seorang teman yang belajar untuk meraih gelar doktor. Saya sungguh salut dan kagum.

Pembuatan video Cinta Terakhirku. 

Ini adalah sebuah kejutan yang menyenangkan dan tidak terduga oleh saya, sebab saya sepertinya melihat Gat sibuk bernyanyi bersama grupnya beberapa waktu yang lalu. Oh ya, Gat memiliki grup musik dan dia bercerita bahwa menyanyi adalah hobi lama yang akhirnya tersalurkan setelah dia bergabung dengan grup yang dibentuk oleh para mahasiswanya. Kisah audisinya kurang lebih seperti ini: di tahun 2007, Gat kebetulan menyaksikan latihan para anak muda berbakat musik ini, lalu diajak untuk turut bernyanyi. Suaranya cocok dan disukai, akhirnya Gat pun menjadi anggota grup. Karena nama Gat cukup tenar di lingkungan kampus, akhirnya mereka sepakat untuk mengunakan nama Gat's Band. Gat adalah vokalisnya, Joko dan Nano, dua mahasiswa STMIK, adalah pemain keyboard dan drum. Bagian gitar dan bas diisi oleh Andri, Kiki dan Meldi.

Sebagai grup musik, mereka tampil di beberapa kesempatan, mulai dari pentas musik kampus sampai suatu acara di Singkawang. Setelah memainkan lagu-lagu terkenal yang diciptakan oleh orang lain, mereka lantas berpikir bahwa mungkin mereka juga bisa menulis lagu sendiri. Berawal dari sinilah lagu Cinta Terakhirku tercipta. Upaya mereka patut diacungi jempol. Mereka bukan saja merekamnya secara profesional, tetapi juga membuat video musiknya! Anda bisa lihat karya mereka di bawah ini!

Ketika, kita membahas tentang topik menulis lagu, saya iseng bertanya tentang opininya mengenai situasi terkini di Indonesia. Saya katakan bahwa saya merasa sepertinya kebebasan berbicara di Indonesia itu sudah sampai pada tahap semena-mena sehingga seseorang bisa dengan gampangnya memanggil orang lain dengan sebutan kafir. Gat lantas berujar bahwa kebebasan berekspresi itu bagus, namun hendaknya bernilai positif dan tidak merugikan orang lain atau bahkan menimbulkan keributan. Yang penting adalah bagaimana kita menyadari indahnya kebersamaan dan keanekaragaman kita dalam berbangsa.  

Kalau begitu, apakah dia akan menulis lagu dengan tema di atas? Rasanya tidak. Sekali-kalinya mereka menulis lagu, mereka mengangkat tema cinta. Ini karena cinta itu indah dan cinta membawa rasa damai. Jawaban yang mantap, bukan?