Rajapatni.com: Surabaya (30/9/24) – A cross-border cooperation is initiated again by the community in ꧌ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ꧍ Surabaya. Namely cooperation in the field of culture, especially related to script between Java and India. ꧌ꦥꦹꦫꦶꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦫꦴꦗꦥꦠ꧀ꦤꦷ꧍ Pūri Aksara Rājapatnī, a community engaged in promoting Javanese script in ꧍ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ꧍ Surabaya, has built a partnership with the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of India for East Jawa and Central Java.
The initiation of this collaboration began when ꧍ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ꧍the Surabaya City Government together with Gen Z held the Ludruk Gen Z Performance in celebration of International Literacy Day 2024 in the Kota Lama (old town) area of Surabaya on September 20, 2024. Present at the performance entitled “(ꦄꦗꦶꦱꦏꦱꦸꦫꦥꦫꦶꦁꦒ꧈ꦒꦺꦒꦺꦫꦅꦁꦨꦸꦩꦶꦏꦉꦩ꧀ꦧꦔꦤ꧀꧍ Aji Saka Surapringga, Geger ing Bhumi Karembangan” was the Honorary Consul General of India in ꧍ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ꧍ Surabaya, Manoj Bhat.
Manoj, who was sitting side by side with the mayor of ꧍ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ꧍ Surabaya, Eri Cahyadi, at that time, was amazed by the performing arts event (Ludruk – Traditional javanese Play) in an effort to introduce and campaign for ꧌ꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦗꦮ꧍ Javanese script. Moreover, in the sequel to the show, a fragment of a tourist and his guide was shown enjoying the Old City of Surabaya. There is a tourist who is able to write Javanese script and a guide who is able to explain the history of the city in English pretty well. In the show, the Guide was played by ꧌ꦅꦠꦯꦸꦫꦗꦪ꧍ Ita Surojoyo (founder of Rājapatnī) and the tourist was played by John Pierce (an American expatriate who studied Javanese script in Rājapatnī). After the performance, the Honorary Consul of India, Manoj Bhat invited the Puri Aksara Rājapatnī Team to a meeting the following day.
During the meeting, after learning about Ita Surojoyo’s abilities, Manoj offered an invitation to ꧌ꦅꦠꦯꦸꦫꦗꦪ꧍ Ita Surojoyo in the “Proficiency Cum Professional Development Course for Teachers Iteration – II” program, in the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) scheme, offered by the Indian government, to deepen English proficiency. In daily life, Ita works as an English teacher in overseas education consultant office based in Surabaya.
Even though in everyday life, ꧌ꦅꦠꦯꦸꦫꦗꦪ꧍ Ita Surojoyo is involved in the world of English education and has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in English, Ita also has the skills to write and read Javanese script. Ita Surojoyo’s skills in writing and reading Javanese script grew naturally and were self-taught since she was a child.
Her love for ꧌ꦊꦭꦸꦲꦸꦂ꧍ Javanese ancestors is not only manifested in literacy, but also in clothing. Ita loves wearing Javanese clothes such as Kebaya and Jarik . It’s not surprising that in her activities, wearing a kebaya has become a habit. When teaching Javanese script held by ꧌ꦥꦸꦫꦶꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦫꦴꦗꦥꦠ꧀ꦤꦷ꧍ Puri Aksara Rājapatnī, Ita usually wear ꧌ꦏꦼꦧꦪ꧍ kebaya. Even when she works as an English teacher in her office, she wears kebaya as well.
Furthermore, when traveling abroad, ꧌ꦅꦠꦯꦸꦫꦗꦪ꧍ Ita Surojoyo also wears a kebaya. Ita shared her experience that when she was in the city of Amsterdam, local residents greeted her, “Are you Javanese?” Ita was surprised that the clothes she wore gave national identity.
Therefore, apart from deepening her English language skills in the “Proficiency Cum Professional Development Course for Teachers Iteration – II program in India, Ita will have the opportunity to gain cultural insight and comparative study of Indian culture, especially ꧌ꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦝꦺꦮꦤꦒꦫꦶ꧍Devanagari script . in the hope that this opportunity will support a sense of understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity.
For Ita, introducing Javanese culture abroad is her goal, especially Javanese script. Not surprisingly, the Javanese teaching materials she designed uses English as the instructional language. Several times Ita taught Javanese script classes with groups of learners from abroad. For example, a student group from ꧌ꦅꦔ꧀ꦒꦿꦶꦱ꧀꧍ the United Kingdom.
꧌ꦅꦠꦯꦸꦫꦗꦪ꧍ Ita Surojoyo, at the beginning of the city of Surabaya using Javanese script to write the names of offices within the Surabaya City government, was one of the Javanese Script Writing Team, which at that time was called the ꧌ꦏ꧀ꦭꦶꦤꦶꦏꦏ꧀ꦱꦫ꧍”Literacy Clinic”. After one year from September 2023, the city of Surabaya is filled with Javanese script. Marking one year of writing Javanese script and also celebrating International Literacy Day 2024, Ita and the Puri Aksara Rājapatnī Team are spreading their wings by starting to build cultural cooperation between countries, starting with Surabaya and India.
For this reason, Ita Surojoyo is the right person when she has the opportunity to deepen her English skills in India in an international class entitled “Proficiency Cum Professional Development Course for Teachers Iteration”. On this occasion, in accordance with the educational program there, Ita will visit cultural places. This will broaden Ita’s insight into Indian culture, which includes Indian literacy such as ꧌ꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦝꦺꦮꦤꦒꦫꦶ꧍ Devanagari script. The Devanagari script is the forerunner of the Javanese script and other Indonesian scripts.
Hopefully, Ita Surojoyo’s actions will be the golden gate for the opening of Cultural and Educational cooperation between ꧌ꦯꦸꦫꦨꦪ꧍ Surabaya (East Java) and India. (PAR/nng)