It was about two years ago. I attended an Open House event held by Anand Ashram Foundation. A friend invited me,” Why don’t you come tomorrow for the Pesta Rakyat NIM“(The People‘s Celebration of National Integration Movement). “Okay, but I don‘t sure I can get up that early”, I replied. The next morning, I woke up quite early in the morning and went to Monas.
There I was, on the lane of the park of Monas, going to the site of event. In a distance, I heard several dozens of people gathering together, singing, dancing, and laughing together. There was no stage, even the music players were sitting on a mat. Everyone is free to join the celebration. At the end of the show, there was a brief role-play. It was simple but full of enlightening messages.
Laughing people flocking at the southern side of Monas area can be seen regularly every two weeks on Sunday morning at 6.00 am. What a cheerful activity it has been for so long. If one happens to be there for the first time, he or she may wonder about what is happening. Especially for Indonesians since this kind of event was rather unpopular in the country.
Some people may hesitate to laugh at the first time. But as they are enjoying the show, they will start to grin and do a little singing. For those who attend the event regularly, they will move their bodies happily in tune with the rhythm of the music.
This kind of scene, to my astonishment, does sometimes make me in tears. Thinking that every person in the committee of Pesta Rakyat NIM is not paid, they just do it out of love. Thanks to Mr. Anand Krishna, the founder of NIM, that has made us realize that our country, our nation, is at stake. For gaining its abundant natural resources, some foreign powers have been using religious sentiments to divide our nation. They have created the so-called radicals, fanatics, terrorists. Such are the modern big-business warfare.
The incident of June 1st on Monas bears witness to that. NIM members together with the AKKB finally got their “payment“. They were bloodily bludgeoned for the cause of celebrating the birthday of Pancasila (The essence of Indonesian culture). What an irony.
Having about 5000 regular participants in Jakarta, Pesta Rakyat NIM now is widely known. It is held routinely by NIM in Jakarta, Bali, and Joglosemar (Jogjakarta, Solo, and Semarang). It has somehow an immense affection to our society. When I watch today’s commercials, I notice that they are beginning to talk about national integration, indigenous culture, appreciation toward other faiths and religions, importance in buying local products, reducing the climate change and many other values that NIM has been campaigning for in Pesta Rakyat and it’s other activities. Now Batik has become so popular. I do believe that NIM has the major part of causing that.
I hope the media and press cover more stories about this activity for it can speed up the recovery of our nation. The whole country is in a dire need for such messages. Pesta Rakyat NIM is rather touching the heart than the mind of the people. And such touched heart cannot but be proud of his or her national identity….the pride of being an Indonesian…the nation that was envisioned by Soekarno to contribute towards the world’s advancement and peace.