Toast to the Glorious

There is much to be desired from this great, quaint, city of ours.

Clearly a city in the third world country while simultaneously being nearly a pariah of the modern global world. Paul Graham says that great cities attract ambitious people. "You can sense it when you walk around one. In a hundred subtle ways, the city sends you a message: 'you could do more; you should try harder.'" he says. This is something true for Indonesians who travel and migrate to the center of the nation for a better life, for a change, to be a part of something greater. But does it stay true when you've heard what the other cities say?

The Supper Book-Cult is an interesting space in this ex-capital of ours. It oozes discernment and whispers quality in ways that other spaces rarely do, especially primarily social ones. It is not uncommon for a space to be squabbled and bogged down by personal interest, interpersonal strife, or cargo culting of a desired quality that they cannot comprehend. Open to public book clubs, in their unclear borders of varied expectations, are prone to these issues. Either the social aspect overwrites and it turns into a space for just one friend group, or they turn so formal that life barely flows through them. And yet Tazki has somehow managed to find the right balance between community and frame setting to create a space where both life and discussion flourish.

I crave for spaces like this. Jakarta as a city whispers too quietly for my taste, and I am eternally pleased by not just the existence, but the continued on going of TSBC with its many offsprings and offshoots. The mix of consistent regularity, an eye for quality in the design of posters and information, documentation and publication, and a huge dollop of discernment on the vibe of the event have created a space rarely seen in this city. A toast to the glorious organizers for hitting this grand slam from a fellow organizer. It is surprising both how easy and how hard it is to create spaces like this, and if no one else come to appreciate the things that come into play, let me be the person who is always in your corner, for building a community like this is no small feat.

Of course, a question begs to be asked. What next? Are you going to continue carrying this torch forward? Will you let others come forward and succeed you in shouldering the vision? In what ways will this space evolve in the future? I beseech you, dear reader, to ponder your existence in this space. Not to ask and pull you into the world of hosting, though that would be lovely, but to ask you to be aware of the things you can do to make this city of ours that much better to be in. The quality and discernment that the organizers in this club of ours have shown are not limited to just book clubs. This has been proven both from the breadth of event types for mainline TSBC, to the Dead Poet Society, to the Playbook Board Game Club, to some of my very own happenings. After all, you do contribute to the space you exist in, including this one. I call upon you to sit and question, in which way can you practice quality and discernment?

May a hundred more space blossoms like this one. A thousand more communities moved to creation from this crystal clear spring. Ten thousand more individuals practicing the discernment and whispers of quality in their actions.