Pandoraspace

My friend Danang

 

I no longer remember what I said or did that prompted Padma to tell me that she made many Muslim friends in Indonesia and that they are wonderful people.  I had no Muslim friends then and no way of knowing whether what she said was true. So, I did not give the matter much thought until now as I remember my friend, Danang Purnomo. 

Danang is my first Muslim friend.  He is more than a decade younger than me.  Danang is a college student who does part time work as a tourist guide in Jogjakarta, the place where he lived all his life.  As a favor to his friend who knew our hosts in Jakarta and without knowing who we were, Danang agreed to “babysit” LS and I in Jogjakarta.  I use the word “babysit” because I somehow got the impression that Danang thought he would be looking after very young tourists. Of course, LS is young.  I am past young and I would rather think of myself as a traveller rather than a tourist.  As soon as we got the age issue sorted out, I think Danang was momentarily relieved that he would not have to exert much effort in the babysitting department.  Of course, Danang’s relief lasted only until I decided to do some marathon Batik shopping.  But, this is a story for another post.      

Throughout our stay in Jogjakarta, Danang was a constant presence who provided us precious insight into the Javanese the way of life, and quite surprisingly, himself. Danang openly discussed with us his frustrations about finishing his final project that would allow him to graduate from his Mechanical Engineering course, his dream of becoming a journalist, his friends, his family and his love life. He also showed genuine concern for our well-being and safety while in Jogjakarta. Best of all, Danang took no offense when LS and I alternately fell asleep in the car while he was driving us around and did not mind being dragged around town just so we could take pictures. It was not, therefore, difficult for LS and I to open up about our own lives to Danang.  

Despite the disparity in age, religion, gender, cultural background and personal histories and despite the occasional misunderstandings on account of ideas being lost in translation, I realized that Danang and I are alike in that we believe in God, we respect our parents, we value honesty and loyalty, we look at the world with wonder and relish the ability to laugh.  

In as much I hate to admit it, before my trip to Jogjakarta, my ignorance of Islam and bad press about atrocities committed allegedly in the name of Islam have given me all sorts of fears about Muslims. My friendship with Danang has dispelled those fears, and thankfully, has validated what Padma had told me about them.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 25th, 2009 at 12:08 am and is filed under My Indonesian Experience, People. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.