Berita

In Loving Memory

20-10-2014 13:53:51 WIB

Christophorus Soebakdi Soemanto

(29 October 1941 – 11 October 2014)

 

     No expression of grief seems sufficient to measure our deep loss of Prof. Dr. C. Soebakdi Soemanto, S.U., whom we at the Graduate School of Sanata Dharma University warmly called “Pak Bakdi”. That Saturday morning of September 20, 2014, Pak Bakdi was remarkably cheerful, aliveand kicking, as he happily strode to pose for a group photo shoot under the famous Soekarno Banyan Tree.  He was as enthusiastic as ever to be present in the weekend to support the accreditation visit for the Graduate Program in English Language Studies (PM KBI). We were later delighted and proud as well to be with him again in the evening upon the conclusion of the visit. Little did we know that it would be our last dine with him.

     We know of Pak Bakdi more than him being a professor of literature, award winning theater Guru, author of several books, scholarly journal articles, collections of poems and short stories, and regular columnist for the local newspapers. We know of Pak Bakdi as a person with the mind to discover, the eyes to see, the ears to listen, and, more importantly, the heart to care for anyone who called for his help. He favored neither prospective students nor desperate (thesis) students – both came to Pak Bakdi at any time and at any place, since his cozy home near the campus was always open to all who came for consultation and counsel alike.  

     Although we no longer see Pak Bakdi with his often giggle and polite warm smile, our memory of him and his good works remain forever, as if he said to us from above, quoting his much loved playwright Samuel Beckett in his Endgame, “The end is in the beginning and yet you go on.”

     Vaya con Dios, Pak Bakdi. Do enjoy the extraordinary “dahsyat” experience of your long awaiting reunion with the Lord, hence what we finally presume now as your Beckettian interpretation of Godot. 


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