I bear in mind an interesting quote from one of the renowned Sufis, Jalaluddin Rumi, in his famous rime: With life as short as a half-taken breath, don't plant anything but love.
I made a deal with a multitude of people who believe that "love" is a word without an antonym.
Due the feeling of love couldn't be defined solely by words. If it could be defined, then it ain't love, but rather a calculation.
The match feeling is well experienced by Amba Kinanti to Bhisma in the novel The Question of Red, which was in Bahasa with the title Amba: sebuah novel by Laksmi Pamuntjak.
Later on, Amba met a doctor named Bhisma Rasyad, she underwent a complete changeover. She became jealous and entirely different from her previous self, which was once independent and awfully intelligent.
Upon getting to know Bhisma, she started to feel small and insecure.
As a matter of fact, at the age of 18, Amba didn't think about marriage at all; instead, she was determined to continue her education to a higher level.
It is true that recognition may be attributed, in part, to the fact that Amba is the daughter of a teacher in a small town named Kadipura in Central Java, Indonesia.
In other ways, reading history could be tiresome for those who have no interest in it at all.
However, who could resist the allure of a historical story blended with a love tale?
Just like Bumi Manusia by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, which is so admired by numerous people, both in its book and film form. The same applies to the novel Amba by Laksmi Pamuntjak.
The difference is, that Tetralogy Pulau Buru employs romantic scenes to lead us to deeper issues and struggles that Pramoedya wants to campaign for, while the novel Amba wholly revolves around the love story plot.
Nevertheless, this novel couldn't be considered lightweight; in fact, Goenawan Mohamad, a literary figure, places the novel Amba one level below the Tetralogi Buru.
This is proven by, as a result, the novel Amba ain't only well-known in Indonesia but has also been translated into other languages.
The novel has been translated into German with the title Alle Farben Rot (Semua berwarna merah). In addition to German, Amba will also be translated into Dutch with the title Amba of de kleur van rood (Amba or the Color of Red).
It's no wonder that Laksmi Pamuntjak's novel Amba received the LiBeraturpreis 2016 literary award, initiated by Litprom, a literary institution based in Germany.
In this award, Laksmi is a candidate alongside Marguerite Abouet, a writer from Africa, Najet Adouani, a writer from Tunisia, Maria Sonia Cristoff, a writer from Argentina, Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, a writer from Israel, and Antjie Krog, also a writer from Africa.
All of them are influential female authors in their respective countries.
One of the main strengths of this novel is the presence of excerpts from the epic Mahabharata that appear at each transition of its "books".
The names of the characters are indeed taken from the traditional Javanese wayang stories, and the author begins each "book" with a quote from the original scripture.
As per reports, Laksmi conducted research for 10 years, visiting the locations firsthand and conducting interviews with sources as part of her material to write this novel.
Love has indeed transformed Amba's personality, and it has also torn apart the heart and feelings of Nurrahmawati, the discussion facilitator in the event titled Perjuangan dan Cinta dalam Novel "Amba" Karya Laksmi Pamuntjak that took place on Monday, July 24, 2023, at Kineta Coffee & Public Sphere.
Be that as it may, love and sexuality are two different things and couldn't be exchanged. Love is of a spiritual and soulful nature, whereas sexuality is a bodily need for living beings to reproduce.
I myself still challenge the term "making love," which, in my way, is merely a sexual activity, not based on love.
It is quite plausible to believe that Laksmi wrote this novel based on love, both love for women and their fight for their rights that have been continuously suppressed, as well as love for the nation and the Indonesian people who have been treated unfairly by the state.
This is demonstrated by Laksmi Pamuntjak's effort to reflect on the tragedy of 1965 by using it as the historical backdrop for her novel.
In accord with Antonius Hendrianto's analysis in his article Refleksi Tragedi 1965 dalam Novel Amba Karya Laksmi Pamuntjak (Reflection on the 1965 Tragedy in the Novel Amba by Laksmi Pamuntjak).
Laksmi uses characters from the Mahabharata story to voice the need for redemption for the past mistakes committed during the mass killings after the G30S (30th of September Movement) event and the exile of political prisoners to Buru Island.
Despite being a work of fiction, the novel in a worthwhile manner highlights another perspective of that historical event.
As the title suggests in the Bahasa edition, the main character is Amba, a forceful, intelligent, and independent woman.
Continuing the story, there is a character named Bhisma, who becomes Amba's only lover. They fall in love while Amba is working in Kediri.
Unfortunately, Bhisma is exiled to Pulau Buru as a political prisoner during the G30S event and never returns.
Another male character is Adalhard, a descendant of Germans who helps Amba when she is in confusion while searching for Bhisma. There is well Salwani Munir (Salwa) and Samuel as additional complements to the story.
In this book discussion, we also talked about why great literary works always have a touch of romance in them.
Because love couldn't be defined in a rigid manner, it could fit into any condition and even the writer's imagination, including Laksmi, who as well possesses a loving soul.
If we liken it to the body, love is the soul, while the head could be analogized to family, the hands to religion, and the feet to society. If any of them are missing, we will face difficulties in life, especially if the soul is absent.
That's why love is like the soul; it ain't visible, but it could be felt. It couldn't be touched, but it could be handled (guide) [mhg].