Sejauh Apa Kamu Bermanfaat? | Reviu singkat dan kutipan favorit dari buku Three Cups of Tea oleh Greg Mortenson

Di antara ribuan bahkan jutaan manusia yang “terlambat” menemukan jalan hidup dan renjananya, Greg Mortenson dapat dibilang salah satunya. Sebelum memilih satu jalan yang ingin diperjuangkannya selamanya, Greg adalah banyak hal lain, seperti perawat dan pendaki. Gagal dalam pendakian ke puncak K2 mempertemukannya dengan sesuatu itu. Sesuatu yang ingin ia perjuangkan mati-matian: pendidikan bagi perempuan-perempuan dan anak-anak Pakistan, di tengah terorisme Taliban. Buku ini membawa misi kemanusiaan, seperti pendidikan hingga perdamaian.

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Saat berniat membersihkan fail-fail lama dalam laptop tuaku–laptop lungsuran dari ibuku yang kupakai sejak SMA dan membersamaiku hingga sekarang–kutemukan dokumen semasa kuliah. Semester 5, pada mata kuliah Extensive Reading: Novels and Periodicals yang seingat saya diampu oleh Ms. Nova Ariani, kami ditugasi menuliskan laporan tentang buku dan artikel yang kami baca sepanjang semester dengan jumlah dan format yang telah ditentukan. Namun, harus ada satu laporan harus ditulis dengan berbeda. Laporan satu ini bukan ditulis dengan format yang biasanya (yang berisi sinopsis yang disertai catatan-catatan lain), melainkan berupa kutipan- kutipan (quotes) dari buku itu, yang kemudian harus diberi keterangan untuk siapa kami mendedikasikan kutipan itu, beserta alasannya. Untuk satu laporan ini, pilihanku jatuh pada buku Three Cups of Tea karya Greg Mortenson.

Setelah laporan itu kubaca, rupanya cukup menarik utnuk dikenang dan diunggah di sini. Pertama, karena aku menyukai buku pilihanku itu. Kedua, karena aku ingin kalian juga membacanya. Ketiga, karena aku ingin membagikan sedikit sisi personal dariku, baik berupa pikiran maupun perasaanku, yang tersirat dalam laporan ini. Namun, mohon diingat bahwa tulisan itu ditulis pada zamannya, yang berarti dua hal. Pertama, bisa jadi pikiran dan perasaan yang tertuang di situ tidak mewakili pikiran dan perasaan yang ada sekarang. Kedua, jika ada kesalahan penulisan maupun kekurangan segala sesuatunya, mohon dimaklumi. Selain karena kekurangan yang murni dari saya, buku itu saya pinjam dari seorang teman. Dulu sepertinya e-book belum semarak sekarang. Jadi, jika ada salah tik atau sesuatu yang berbeda dari redaksi dari buku aslinya, saya tidak bisa mengecek ulang sekarang tanpa membeli buku itu dahulu.

Berikut ini salinan laporan yang saya tulis waktu itu, dengan sedikit perubahan dalam bentuk format (format asli dalam bentuk tabel). Oh ya, saya tidak akan mengubah apa-apa ya, termasuk bahasa yang saya gunakan, yaitu bahasa Inggris. Semoga bisa dinikmati. Selamat membaca kutipan-kutipan favorit dari buku Three Cups of Tea karya Greg Mortenson ini! :)

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1.   “I don’t know if I particularly want to be remembered for any­thing,” he heard Hillary say. “I have enjoyed great satisfaction from my climb of Everest. But my most worthwhile things have been the building of schools and medical clinics. That has given me more satis­faction than a footprint on a mountain.” (Page 130)

(I dedicate this quote to my mother)

This beautiful quote is definitely for a person whom I consider as the most sincere and genuine person in my life. I associated this quote to her since I know she had her degree and now being a teacher, but the best achievement she has ever had is being a mother. This quote was like telling me not to let her down. I also want her to know that it’s okay not to be remembered by the world, for at the very least she has me who will always remember her.

2.  It may seem absurd to believe that a “primitive” culture in the Himalaya has anything to teach our industrialized society. But our search for a future that works keeps spiraling back to an ancient connection between ourselves and the earth, an interconnectedness that ancient cultures have never abandoned. —Helena Norberg. (Page 136)

(I dedicate this quote to my father)

My father is a gardener, florist, as well as environment activist. Talking about nature reminds me of him. Just like the writer says, he also believes that humans are connected to the earth. If humans become savage, greedy, and uncontrollable, then we must wait for the time when the earth does the same towards us.

3.    Look what you have done for yourselves and how much more you can do. (Page 38)

(I dedicate this quote to my little sister)

I have a sister 9 years younger than me. She is actually intelligent, so much more than I am. The thing is that she is stuck in a “poor” school and I can see her feeling kind of inferior.

4.   No human, nor any living thing, survives long under the eternal sky. The most beautiful women, the most learned men, even Mohammed, who heard Allah’s own voice, all did wither and die. All is temporary. The sky outlives everything. Even suffering. —Bowa Johar, Balti poet, grandfather of Mouzafer Ali. (Page 198)

(I dedicate this quote to myself)

This quote just slapped me on the face, made me realize that nothing lasts forever. Triumph and pain, fame and famine, everything will end on its time. So I don’t think I need to worry too much about life. I wish, I really wish I can remember this quote for good.

5.     A smile should be more than a memory. (Page 154)

(I dedicate this quote to my late relatives)

This made me feel blue recalling my memories about people I loved, who have already died. My grandparents, my uncle, my brother, and some of my best friends. I won’t let your smiles just be a piece of memory in my head. I will write it in my diary of life so I can remember it, and of course I will pray for us all.

6.    Welcome to my life. (Page 133)

(I dedicate this quote to my best friends)

I want to thank and tell them how grateful I am for having the best friends in the world who stay beside me even when they know my scars, my weakness, and that I am a wretch. It almost feels like I don't deserve them at all.

7.   “Everything about their life was a struggle,” Mortenson says. “They reminded me of the way Christa had to fight for the simplest things. And also the way she had of just persevering, no matter what life threw at her.” (Page 31)

(I dedicate this quote to all strong people around the world)

This quote is for people who work harder than the others, but get much smaller than what they deserve. These people do not have lots of choices in their lives, but they still do their best day by day. So, I appreciate their effort by dedicating this quote for them.

8.   At night, bachelors like Twaha and Mortenson took advantage of the mild weather to sleep under the stars. (Page 120)

(I dedicate this quote to Mr. X)

I don’t really want to know or very curious about who my future significant other will be, but I just dream about having a late night conversation under the stars with him and sleep among the coarse grass and fireflies till dawn.

9.    You can’t tell mountains what to do. (Page 149)

(I dedicate this quote to the government officials)

No matter how sick you are of the government officials, presidents, or corruptors, you cannot just say what you want them to do, right? I want to tell them this quote so that they know that we cannot control them in any effective way, so would they PLEASE control and behave themselves according to the law as well as ethical norms?

10.  Our earth is wounded. Her oceans and lakes are sick; her rivers are like running sores; The air is filled with subtle poisons. And the oily smoke of countless hellish fires blackens the sun. Men and women, scattered from homeland, family, friends, wander desolate and uncertain, scorched by a toxic sun. (Page 314)

(I dedicate this quote to the Earth destroyers and law breakers)

I want to give this quote especially for people whom I have seen them littering in the river and roads, people who vandalize, people who destroy public possessions like table in the class, wall in the bathroom, riding motorcycle on the sidewalk, and also people who drive cars or motorcycles when they can actually commute on foot, by bicycle, or public transportation. The reason is simple, I want them to know that our Mother Earth is dying.

Pic source: First, Second.