_{Source: Pexels, modified}

Maxim The Saxophonist invited me to try busking in the Wittgenstein Street, where he used to busk. According to him, there were only a few guitar players in the area. "I think your guitar playing can attract a lot of pedestrians here. It's also busier here," he said.

The offer was tempting. The intersection at the City Garden where I used to busk had, for some reason, gotten quiet recently. I could not possibly stay here. I guessed I could play on Wittgenstein Street during the day and tried Open Mic at The Sun Also Rise Pub at night.

The problem was Wittgenstein Street was in the east of town, some distance from my house. I had to take the Metro train to get there. Trying the streets around Wittgenstein Street seemed unmissable.

That day I took a different path. I didn't take the bus to City Garden but walked a little south to reach the Metro station near Kant Intersection. Usually the train was full of employees leaving for work every morning. That morning the train was only half filled. I thought most workers prefered to work from home rather than went to office.

I chose to sit in the middle. From here I could see some advertisements on the wall above the window. "Saturday Headline is Waiting!" reads one of the Rising Star posters. I smiled. Wait for me there, I muttered.

_{Source: Rachel Claire from Pexels}

While looking at some of the other posters, my eyes were fixed on a girl sitting in the corner of the car. She wore a black pullover hoodie jacket and black bucket hat. It was a stark contrast on this white-dominated train. What really interested me was the violin case leaning against her leg. White leg with black high heels.

The girl seemed indifferent to her surroundings. His eyes continued to scan the window, perhaps seeing the buildings scurrying outside.

My journey was not long. Only about 15 minutes. I got off at Russell Station and walked a few minutes to St Augustine Street. Maxim The Saxophonist was waiting for me by the newspaper stall. He took me to nearby Wittgenstein Street. I saw a clothing shop on the side of the road that seemed very suitable for busking. I pointed to the corner near the shop. "Yes, you can use it. But, be careful. Bernard comes that way a lot, especially after lunch time," he said. Bernard was the patrol officer in the area. He was actually kind-hearted but sometimes pretended to show off chasing buskers with clubs to make him look busy.

I put my hat on the floor and started playing. Today I wanted to play some Graham Thorpe aka Gribbles (Hive account@gribbles) songs, "a British electronic synth wizard" as a his bio said. Rising Star Radio often played his songs and today I tried playing several, such as Leucine, Bookish, DNFTT, Night Tricks, Zeitgeist, A Different World, and Ask Ken.

The songs were not easy. Ambient and reflective music. Luckily I had R15 Retro Groovebox, an old-fashioned digital music instrument but tolerable for trying to play some Gribbles electronic compositions.

The fresh weather seemed to match the atmosphere built up by the music. Several pedestrians passed by and threw coins in my hat. Some even paused for a moment. Maybe they were surprised that a busker played such a song on the side of the road, not the pop songs that were often played on youth radio stations. Actually, they shouldn't be surprised. Aren't there many buskers playing traditional Indian songs, for example, which were also ambient. Modern music was actually a variety of various music that has grown and every musician would want to open up new possibilities in music.

I was still enjoying Zeitgeist when the girl with the black bucket hat passed by. She glanced briefly at me and continued her steps. Who was she? Where was she going? Was she a musician too? Where did he play music? My eyes followed his steps away from Wittgenstein Street. I was sure one day fate would bring us together.

I saw the sky getting dark. It would be raining soon. I hurriedly fixed my musical equipment.

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Mimpi Menjadi Bintang (Bagian 5): Gadis di Kereta

_{Source: Ruslan Zzaebok from Pexels}

Maxim The Saxophonist mengundangku untuk menjajal jalanan di kawasan Wittgenstein Street, tempat dia biasa mengamen. Menurutnya, hanya sedikit pemain gitar di daerah itu. "Kukira permainan gitarmu dapat menarik banyak pejalan kaki di sini. Keadaan di sini juga lebih ramai," katanya.

Tawarannya memang menggoda. Persimpangan jalan di City Garden tempat aku biasa mengamen, entah mengapa, mulai sepi belakangan ini. Aku tak mungkin terus bertahan di sini. Aku kira aku dapat bermain di Wittgenstein Street di siang hari dan menjajal Open Mic di The Sun Also Rise Pub pada malam hari.

Masalahnya, Wittgenstein Street ada di timur kota, agak jauh dari rumahku. Aku harus naik kereta Metro untuk mencapainya. Mencoba jalanan di sekitar Wittgenstein Street tampaknya tak bisa dilewatkan begitu saja.

Hari itu aku aku menempuh jalur yang berbeda. Aku tidak menumpang bus ke City Garden tapi berjalan sedikit ke selatan untuk mencapai stasiun Metro di dekat Simpang Empat Kant. Biasanya kereta penuh dengan pegawai yang berangkat kerja di pagi seperti ini. Pagi itu kereta hanya terisi separuh. Aku kira sebagian besar pekerja lebih memilih untuk work from home daripada ke kantor.

Aku memilih duduk di bagian tengah. Dari sini bisa kulihat beberapa iklan di dinding atas jendela. "Saturday Headline is Waiting!" begitu bunyi salah satu poster Rising Star. Aku tersenyum. Tungggu aku di sana, gumamku.

Ketika sedang melihat beberapa poster lain, mataku tertambat pada seorang gadis yang duduk di pojok gerbong. Di mengenakan pullover hoodie jacket hitam dan bucket hat hitam. Sangat kontras di kereta yang didominasi warna putih ini. Yang membuatku tertarik adalah violin case yang tersandar di kakinya. Kaki yang putih dengan sepatu hitam berhak tinggi.

Gadis itu tampak tak perduli pada keadaan sekitar. Matanya terus mengamati jendela, mungkin melihat gedung-gedung yang berlarian di luar sana.

Perjalananku tak lama. Hanya sekitar 15 menit. Aku turun di Stasiun Russel dan berjalan beberapa menit ke St Augustine Street. Maxim The Saxophonist sudah menungguku di dekat lapak koran. Dia mengajakku ke Wittgenstein Street yang tak jauh dari sana. Aku melihat sebuah toko pakaian di tepi jalan itu yang tampaknya sangat cocok untuk mengamen. Aku menunjuk tikungan di dekat toko itu. "Ya, kau bisa menggunakannya. Tapi, hati-hati. Bernard sering lewat jalan itu, terutama setelah waktu makan siang," katanya. Bernard adalah petugas patroli di kawasan itu. Dia sebenarnya baik hati tapi kadang sering sok pamer mengejar-ngejar para pengamen dengan pentungan biar terlihat sibuk.

Aku meletakkan topi di lantai dan mulai bermain. Hari ini aku mau memainkan beberapa lagu Graham Thorpe aka Gribbles (Hive account@gribbles), "a British electronic synth wizard". Rising Star Radio sering memainkan lagu-lagunya dan hari ini aku mencpba memainkan beberapa, seperti Leucine, Bookish, DNFTT, Night Tricks, Zeitgeist, A Different World, dan Ask Ken.

Lagunya tidak mudah. Musik yang ambient dan reflektif. Untungnya aku punya R15 Retro Groovebox, instumen musik digital kuno tapi lumayanlah untuk mencoba memainkan beberapa komposisi elektronik Gribbles.

Cuaca yang segar tampaknya cocok dengan suasana yang dibangun oleh musik itu. Beberapa pejalan kaki lewat dan melemparkan koin ke topiku. Beberapa bahkan sempat berhenti sejenak. Mungkin mereka heran ada pengamen memainkan lagu semacam itu di tepi jalan, bukan lagu-lagu pop yang sering diputar di stasiun radio anak muda. Sebenarnya mereka tak perlu heran. Bukankah banyak pengamen memainkan lagu-lagu tradisional Indian, misalnya, yang juga ambient. Musik modern sebenarnya variasi dari berbagai musik yang telah tumbuh dan setiap musisi pasti ingin membuka kemungkinan-kemungkinan baru dalam bermusik.

Aku masih menikmati Zeitgeist ketika gadis dengan bucket hat hitam itu lewat. Dia melirik sebentar padaku dan meneruskan langkahnya. Siapakah dia? Mau ke mana dia? Apakah dia juga musisi? Dia bermain musik di mana? Mataku mengikuti langkahnya yang menjauh dari Wittgenstein Street. Aku yakin suatu hari takdir akan mempertemukanku dengannya. Aku melihat langit yang mulai kelam. Sebentar lagi hujan. Aku buru-buru membenahi peralatan musikku.

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