Lembang, 1975

    My four-year period of quiet and seemingly peaceful stay in Lembang, West Java, has also left me with some unforgotten memories to remember. I was then a faculty instructor — or directing staff officer as it was usually referred to — at the Indonesian Air Force Command and Staff College (Seskoau) with its campus located on a hilly terrain, facing north to Mount Tangkubanprahu, a "dead" volcano that had become one of the prominent objects of tourism within the province of West Java. As far as I know, I was still the youngest faculty instructor during that period, because all the other officers were my seniors, either in terms of rank or age.

    One day I was assigned as instructor-in-charge — together with another fellow instructor — during a classroom session at the college. The lecture was presented by one of our senior faculty instructors, who was known to us for his extreme attitude, especially towards something that didn't suit to his liking. At times, he could also become a sort of high-tempered and antagonistic person. But facing such kind of a character was sometimes amusing.

    Normally, a glass of water was served on the table while a guestspeaker was presenting his lecture. But due to some unknown reasons — most probably because the said lecturer was not a guestspeaker — the glass of water was not served on time by the classroom keeper. Unfortunately, my friend and I hadn't really noticed that so far.

    While his presentation had started for some time, the lecturer began to mumble and finally a cynical comment was released from his mouth, seemingly to allude me and my friend about something that he could hardly accept:

    "Well, my mouth has become so sticky and my throat so dry, but there's nothing being served for me. Perhaps I was considered like a camel in the desert...."

    While he seemed to be lurking at us who were sitting in the back row of the classroom, the students responded to his comment only with a smile.

    Since my friend happened to be sitting right next to the entrance door, he immediately jumped out from his chair and went outside to take the required glass of water. But, when he reappeared and walked leisurely to the front of the classroom, everybody seemed to be watching at him, because instead of only a glass of water to be served, he apparently have brought with him ... two glasses at once. Imagine, what could be our "eccentric" lecturer's reaction. A surprising one again?

    Absolutely right, because the following was unexpectedly his next "irritating" statement:

    "Well, thanks fellows, but... Gosh! You must have considered me like a rainbow able to suck so much water, huh?"

    And the whole class certainly responded with a big, big smile.

Notes:
    Those comments given by the lecturer were actually spoken in the native Javanese language, which were certainly more original and quite amusing. The Javanese word for "camel" is "unta" (pronounced "oon-taw"), while "rainbow" is "kluwung" (pronounced "clue-wong").