The Forgotten Dream

Written by:Fiona Yasmina. Translated by: Fiona Yasmina, Dianti Arudi

Sudarwati  – her child name – is a daughter of Tugeno Puspowidjojo and Siti Mariam. The fourth of  twelve siblings was a physically unhealthy child.  From ague fever to typhoid.  Because her of disease, she was a loner and shy girl. Her brothers and sisters never want to play with her. Sometimes, she’s alone, cry for herself. Titiek often moved from one village to another. Her father career was a mantra (nurse)  for a hospital. This condition made her wife to make a warungan (small stall) business. Titiek and her sister always helping her mother, and go to many railway stations and barracks for selling some wedang, a traditional Javanese drink and rempeyek, spicy nut cracker. “Wedang den, wedang…,” she said. From her habit for selling a wedang, she has a bright sound like now. A young Titiek always fond of  singing. For her, the sound of a locomotive is a music rhythm. Her experience with locomotive sound was what then train Titiek to compose  great songs.

After she graduated from her junior high school, she wanted to realize her dream. She went to Kindergarten Teacher School (Sekolah Guru Taman Kanak-Kanak). She was dreaming to be a Kindergarten teacher. It was suitable for her experience, because she took care of her youngest brothers and sisters. She chose for being a Kindergarten teacher.  However she never forgot her talent in music. She always sang in front of her students. For her, those children need an entertainment.  Titiek even guessed that they never get any single attention from their parents. There is a famous saying among Indonesian that “the more children you have, the more money will come to you.” More often she sang, more confident she got. The same feeling she felt when she got good grade during her education at teacher school. Titiek then stopped her singing activities when she got married to a former student soldier, Sukasno. She continued her study at a Teacher School in Yogyakarta, but her dream to be a Kindergarten teacher was never come true. As time passed by,  Titiek wanted her voice can be heard among a wider society. But, it was not easy for her at all. For her parents, being a singer was a bad and embarrassing profession. Sumarno, her elder brother, came to help her and he negotiated with their father asking for permission and blessings.

Titiek could not be stopped. For the sake of family name and her singing career, she once again changed her name. She previously had changed her name as there is a belief in Javanese family that when you got sick often, it is your name that does not match with you. The new name was Titiek Puspa, after her father’s name, Puspowidjojo.  1953 was a new beginning for Titiek Puspa in her music career.  She joined in various singing competition and now we know her as Titiek Puspa, the singer, composer, actress, and entertainer.

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