Title : Pasung Jiwa

Writer : Okky Madasari

Publisher : Gramedia

Published :  May, 2003

Page : 328 pages

Language : Indonesia

“My life is a trap. My body is my first trap” (Pasung Jiwa, p. 9)

It is stated by ‘I’ point of view. Just by reading the first sentence in this novel, my heart beats fast as this challenges me to ask myself ‘Am I trapped to by my own life as well? like I in this story’. I open the next pages and I meet two unique characters; Sasana and Jaka Wani.

“The world isn’t for me. The world doesn’t need me. I don’t like it all. I feel like I’m standing in the wrong place. Everything is always wrong.” (Pasung Jiwa, p. 14)

Sasana, the first ‘I’ character, states this to himself. He is trapped in the wrong world. His parents force him to do something that isn’t for him even when he was still in his mom’s womb. Before he was born, he heard the tuts of piano more than the voice of his parent. Mom and dad make him heard and play piano since young every day. Although he can play piano and becomes the winner of every piano competition, deep inside his heart playing piano never makes him feel comfortable. The applause that he gets for every performance never makes him feel proud of doing the right thing for his life. He does it for the sake of his parent, not for himself. 

Sasana never does what he loves which makes him stress about his life. His life is never fun and right.

He loves his younger sister, named Melati (means: Jasmine). Such a beautiful name, isn’t it? Whenever he depressed about his life he will play with Melati. He loves everything about her. She is cheerful, wears nice clothes along with cute pinkish accessories.

One day, his whole life changes. It was when he was just graduated from elementary school. He saw a kind of music festival with a crowd around it. The singer wore sparkling clothes and sings a song with unique composition he never knew. Soon he heard the song for the very first time, Sasana loves that type of song. He’s gone crazy by that song. He danced and sang along with the singer. The song was very simple yet attached in his heart forever. He felt so happy. That type of music is called Dangdut.

Because of that day, Sasana thinks that dangdut is his favorite music and becomes his identity. Unfortunately, his parents against him to listen or sing to dangdut. Sasana feels extremely sad about it as dangdut is the happiness of his life. 

As the time passes by, Sasana becomes a college student in Malang, he lives far away from his parents, then it makes him to meet Jaka Wani. He is a producer of dangdut street. Jaka makes the dangdut singer sings on the street and they gather the money from the street listeners. Meeting with Jaka makes Sasana realize something about his life. Sasana finds FREEDOM! Whenever he sings dangdut, he doesn’t care when he sings with girl’s voice when he sings dangdut on the street, he even wears girl’s clothes. He does it with Jaka every night and feels extremely happy as he thinks like ‘the world is for me when I sing dangdut’. 

“….., I find something that makes me happy. This is what I have been waiting for long time although I nearly forget about my passion of this kind of music and its dance moves. Now, I find music in my life, again. On my nap, I am singing and dancing on the beat of bro Jaka’s guitar” (Pasung Jiwa, p. 48)

Sasana and Jaka’s life becomes more and more challenging. They even run a small entertainment business with sasana as the singer and Jaka as the producer. Because of this business, Sasana gets his stage name; Sasa, the Malay singer. It sounds pretty cool for Sasana. Sasana becomes Sasa behind his parents back as they know their son is a student in a university in Malang not a dangdut singer.

Since then, he declares that Sasa is part of his freedom life. Sasa is his most favorite life story of Sasana.  Sasana’s life is full with trap and unseen jail, while Sasa is full of freedom and happiness. Sasana becomes Sasa when he is with Jaka, Sasana becomes Sasana when he is with his parents.

His meeting with Jaka is not forever, they are apart when they tried to find Marsini. Sasa, Jaka, and others who support them do demonstration just by the front tall fence-bars where Marsini works. They assume that Marsini lost because of her own company. Sasa sings a dangdut song that is made by him and Jaka. They are singing widely until the police comes and separates them. 

Because of this accident, Sasana goes back becomes Sasana. His parents pick him up home. He live in his trap again. He feels hopeless. His happiness is tore apart. 

The same as Sasana, ‘I’,  who struggles in finding freedom in his life, Jaka, who also ‘I’ character in this novel also struggles his life. Jaka Wani used to be a labor in Batam. His life was hard at that time. He found out that labors had a little chance to get their humanity right. The last case he found out before quitting his job as a labor, one of his friend suddenly lost. Before she lost, he knew she screamed and pointing her finger over their supervisor said that she was pregnant. It is not only the reason, the salary, he got, is extremely low. Jaka runs away from his company. His life continues as he meets Sasana. They become partner as well best friends. Unfortunately they are separated and Jaka can’t struggle their life, yet he runs away to save his life. 

But after passing through his life, Jaka still doesn’t think everything is correct. There is something wrong; why he always run away? Why he never success to struggle what he has started?

His next life continues in Jakarta. He meets with the group of people who mark themselves as God servants. Anyway, What is the meaning of ‘religion’? is it a word that only we found in our ID card and just fill it? Jaka asks these questions to himself. He meets with the people who asks him to join them, they say they will struggle to help people in the correct line according to our religion (the religion background that is used in this story is Islam).

“Their words are so wise. What is job I should do exactly? I think this job is very lodly and must be done. If the purpose is so noble, and I will never in hunger then why I am not trying to do what they say?” (Pasung Jiwa, p. 252)

Jaka Wani officially joins the group that day. Hence, he changes his name as Jaka Baru. They wipe out the places where they find alcohol, alcoholic and also prostitute in the rough way. But one day, his heart asks him again about his rough behavior when he tries to wipe out a dangdut orchestra with Sasa as the singer. Once again, Jaka feels doubt. 

But he decides to run away. Again. He holds Sasa’s wrist and take off his white clothes and run away from group. In the end, Jaka and Sasa feel the taste of life. They become street dangdut performer again and feel happy without life barrier.

I do really love how Okky, through her amazing story, attracts the readers (just what I feel) to ask themselves what is the meaning of freedom in our life? 

Our life is a trap. Life has a fetter that pushes us to break our fears to pass the trap. 

This novel proves that Okky creates a beautiful harmony to create drama within it and the most important is she puts the psychological atmosphere in the story in intrinsic way. What we should do to pursuit our happiness to gain freedom? 

I also love how she put dangdut in her masterpiece. I think this is a cunning way of Okky to make the reader see what is dangdut? Dangdut is fun. It is unique music. 

Although I don’t really like Sasa, because he dances, sings and wears girl’s stuff, Okky makes me fall in love with how she writes the first paragraph and how he elaborate the implicit meaning of freedom itself.

I do really appreciate Okky’s work that inspires me a lot and also all of her readers. That world is for us, like… forever!

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