Sunday, May 3, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
PAPA BACAKAN KUAT2 YA (utk korang baca sblm korang jd papa)
Malam itu saya benar-benar sibuk. Selepas solat Isyak Dan menikmati
Hidangan, saya terus ke meja tulis, mahu menyiapkan kertas kerja yang
Akan
Saya bentangkan pada mesyuarat tiga Hari akan datang.
Baru nak mula, anak tunggal saya Serena 6, tiba-tiba datang menghampiri.
Dan membawa sebuah buku. Saya kerling nampak dia tersengih-sengih manja.
Begitulah dia, kalau Ada sesuatu yang dimahukannya, dia akan bersikap
Terlalu manja.
"Papa? Bacakan buku cerita in. Bagus tau! Cerita pari-pari, Ina nak
Dengar,"
Kata Serena menghulurkan buku bergambar itu pada saya. "Buku baru ya?"
Saya
Bertanya berbasa basi tanpa menoleh, sekadar melayan.
Serena mengangguk lantas memberitahu buku itu dibelinya pagi tadi.
"Papa sibuk, lain kali boleh tak?" saya memujuk. Serena memuncung,
Memperjelaskan rasa kecewanya, tapi saya benar-benar sibuk. "Bolehlah
Papa?..sekejap saja. Ceritanya sedap?." Rengek Serena enggan mengalah.
" Kan papa kata sibuk! Suruh mama baca?.." "Mama basuh pinggan. Alaaa?
Bacalah, papa!" Serena merengek sambil menghentak-hentak kakinya ke
Lantai.
Nyata dia tidak mahu mengalah.
"BUDAK INI?..!!!" Tak reti bahasa ke. Pergi sana !!!!" saya jerkah
Permata
Hati saya itu. Serena panik. Dia terperanjat sungguh kerana tidak
Menyangka
Saya bertindak sejauh itu. Nampak jelas matanya sedikit berkaca, lalu
Dia
Beredar sayu.
Dalam nada sebak, dengan muka yang sebek, Serena beredar sambil menoleh
Ke
Arah saya. Dalam suara tersekat-sekat dia bersuara, "Nanti papa bacakan
Kuat-kuat cerita ini kat Ina, ya papa!"
Saya hanya memandang tajam ke arahnya. Sebaik tiba di pintu bilik dia
Menjeling saya, kali ini saya mengangguk. Masa terus berlalu, seminggu,
Dua
Minggu namun kesibukan saya semakin bertambah. Setiap kali pulang,
Serena
Tidak merengek minta dibaca cerita pari-pari itu, namun tangannya tak
Lepas
Memegang buku itu. Mungkin juga dia faham saya terlalu sibuk.
Pada minggu berikutnya sedang saya, isteri Dan Serena menikmati sarapan
Bersama, saya perhatikan buku itu masih dipegangnya.
"Mama dah baca, seronok papa," kata Serena. Saya mengangguk sambil
Tersenyum. "Bila papa nak bacakan?" tiba-tiba Serena bertanya. "Mama dah
Bacakan, okeylah TU!" Nampak wajahnya terkuncam.. Saya terus menyuap
Makanan.
"Mama baca perlahan. Nanti papa bacakan kuat-kuat ya! Katanya.
Saya mengangguk.
Selesai makan saya mencapai akhbar. Lembar demi lembar saya tatapi.
Tidak terfikir untuk menunaikan impian Serena. Tiba-tiba terdengar bunyi
Suatu dentuman yang cukup kuat di luar. Konsentrasi saya cuma terganggu
Seketika, sebelum kembali memusatkan perhatian ke dada akhbar.
Tiba-tiba pintu pagar rumah digegar, saya segera menjenguk. Jiran-jiran
Mengatakan Serena dilanggar kereta. Saya panik, sempat berfikir, bila
Pulak
Dia keluar? Tadi Ada kat dapur. Saya memekik memanggil isteri sebelum
Meluru
Ke lokasi kemalangan. Sungguh kabar itu benar, Serena terkulai diribaan
Seorang jiran yang sedang memberi bantuan. Saya terus pangku anak saya,
Masuk ke kereta jiran yang sedia memecut ke hospital.
Darah membasahi pakaian Serena. Nafasnya sesak. Isteri meraung sekuat
Hatinya.
"Ina?! Ina?..! Inaaaaaaa!!! " saya memanggil-manggil perlahan namanya
Dipangkal telinga Serena yang berada dalam pangkuan. Tatkala itu
Nafasnya
Tersekat-sekat. "Papa? Mama..Ina takut. Ina sayang papa, Ina sayang
Mama,
Ina tak nak mati!" bersuara Serena antara dengar Dan tidak sambil
Membuka
Matanya yang dipenuhi darah, saya kesat darah itu dengan tisu. Namun
Sekadar
Cuma. Darah kembali memenuhi wajahnya. Tangisan kuat isteri saya
Membuatkan
Jiran yang memandu terus memecut. Di hospital, Serena di tempatkan di
Bilik
ICU ekoran keparahan kecederaannya.
Masuk Hari kedua, keadaan Serena tak berubah. Dia masih tidak sedarkan
Diri
Dan terpaksa bernafas menggunakan respirator.
Itulah saatnya saya merasa cukup bersalah. Lalu petang itu, saya bacakan
Cerita pari-pari dalam suara yang kuat tetapi tersekat-sekat di sisi
Katil
Serena. Semakin kuat saya membaca, semakin merumbai air Mata.
Kekesalan berlabuh, tapi segalanya telah musnah. Mungkin Serena tidak
Dapat
Mendengar jalan cerita yang sangat diminatinya itu. Keesokan harinya,
Saya
Bacakan sekali lagi, masih dalam nada suara yang kuat.
Kemudian setiap Hari saya bacakan cerita itu ditelinga Serena, sementara
Isteri saya tak henti-henti menangis. Dia mungkin terlalu marah Dan
Kesal
Dengan tindakan saya terhadap Serena sejak seminggu yang lalu.
Masuk Hari ketujuh, sebaik saya mula membaca, Serena tiba-tiba membuka
Matanya perlahan-lahan. Saya nampak terlalu sukar untuk dia melakukan.
Bacaan saya terhenti, Air Mata merembes Dan saya usap-usap kepalanya.
Beberapa ketika kemudian, Serena memejamkan semula matanya, pejam untuk
selama-lamanya. Saya seperti terdengar suara Serena mengucapkan terima
kasih
kerana membacakan cerita itu padanya.
"Papa?? nanti bacakan cerita ini kuat-kuat pada Ina ya?" kata-kata
Serena
masih terngiang-ngiang di telinga saya sehingga ke hari ini, walau
setahun
berlalu.
Hingga kini saya tertanya-tanya, apakah sedikit perhatian yang
diperlukan
oleh seorang anak terlalu mahal untuk diberikan oleh seorang lelaki yang
bergelar ayah? Saya tidak dapat menjawap, selain air mata yang tumpah.
Hidangan, saya terus ke meja tulis, mahu menyiapkan kertas kerja yang
Akan
Saya bentangkan pada mesyuarat tiga Hari akan datang.
Baru nak mula, anak tunggal saya Serena 6, tiba-tiba datang menghampiri.
Dan membawa sebuah buku. Saya kerling nampak dia tersengih-sengih manja.
Begitulah dia, kalau Ada sesuatu yang dimahukannya, dia akan bersikap
Terlalu manja.
"Papa? Bacakan buku cerita in. Bagus tau! Cerita pari-pari, Ina nak
Dengar,"
Kata Serena menghulurkan buku bergambar itu pada saya. "Buku baru ya?"
Saya
Bertanya berbasa basi tanpa menoleh, sekadar melayan.
Serena mengangguk lantas memberitahu buku itu dibelinya pagi tadi.
"Papa sibuk, lain kali boleh tak?" saya memujuk. Serena memuncung,
Memperjelaskan rasa kecewanya, tapi saya benar-benar sibuk. "Bolehlah
Papa?..sekejap saja. Ceritanya sedap?." Rengek Serena enggan mengalah.
" Kan papa kata sibuk! Suruh mama baca?.." "Mama basuh pinggan. Alaaa?
Bacalah, papa!" Serena merengek sambil menghentak-hentak kakinya ke
Lantai.
Nyata dia tidak mahu mengalah.
"BUDAK INI?..!!!" Tak reti bahasa ke. Pergi sana !!!!" saya jerkah
Permata
Hati saya itu. Serena panik. Dia terperanjat sungguh kerana tidak
Menyangka
Saya bertindak sejauh itu. Nampak jelas matanya sedikit berkaca, lalu
Dia
Beredar sayu.
Dalam nada sebak, dengan muka yang sebek, Serena beredar sambil menoleh
Ke
Arah saya. Dalam suara tersekat-sekat dia bersuara, "Nanti papa bacakan
Kuat-kuat cerita ini kat Ina, ya papa!"
Saya hanya memandang tajam ke arahnya. Sebaik tiba di pintu bilik dia
Menjeling saya, kali ini saya mengangguk. Masa terus berlalu, seminggu,
Dua
Minggu namun kesibukan saya semakin bertambah. Setiap kali pulang,
Serena
Tidak merengek minta dibaca cerita pari-pari itu, namun tangannya tak
Lepas
Memegang buku itu. Mungkin juga dia faham saya terlalu sibuk.
Pada minggu berikutnya sedang saya, isteri Dan Serena menikmati sarapan
Bersama, saya perhatikan buku itu masih dipegangnya.
"Mama dah baca, seronok papa," kata Serena. Saya mengangguk sambil
Tersenyum. "Bila papa nak bacakan?" tiba-tiba Serena bertanya. "Mama dah
Bacakan, okeylah TU!" Nampak wajahnya terkuncam.. Saya terus menyuap
Makanan.
"Mama baca perlahan. Nanti papa bacakan kuat-kuat ya! Katanya.
Saya mengangguk.
Selesai makan saya mencapai akhbar. Lembar demi lembar saya tatapi.
Tidak terfikir untuk menunaikan impian Serena. Tiba-tiba terdengar bunyi
Suatu dentuman yang cukup kuat di luar. Konsentrasi saya cuma terganggu
Seketika, sebelum kembali memusatkan perhatian ke dada akhbar.
Tiba-tiba pintu pagar rumah digegar, saya segera menjenguk. Jiran-jiran
Mengatakan Serena dilanggar kereta. Saya panik, sempat berfikir, bila
Pulak
Dia keluar? Tadi Ada kat dapur. Saya memekik memanggil isteri sebelum
Meluru
Ke lokasi kemalangan. Sungguh kabar itu benar, Serena terkulai diribaan
Seorang jiran yang sedang memberi bantuan. Saya terus pangku anak saya,
Masuk ke kereta jiran yang sedia memecut ke hospital.
Darah membasahi pakaian Serena. Nafasnya sesak. Isteri meraung sekuat
Hatinya.
"Ina?! Ina?..! Inaaaaaaa!!! " saya memanggil-manggil perlahan namanya
Dipangkal telinga Serena yang berada dalam pangkuan. Tatkala itu
Nafasnya
Tersekat-sekat. "Papa? Mama..Ina takut. Ina sayang papa, Ina sayang
Mama,
Ina tak nak mati!" bersuara Serena antara dengar Dan tidak sambil
Membuka
Matanya yang dipenuhi darah, saya kesat darah itu dengan tisu. Namun
Sekadar
Cuma. Darah kembali memenuhi wajahnya. Tangisan kuat isteri saya
Membuatkan
Jiran yang memandu terus memecut. Di hospital, Serena di tempatkan di
Bilik
ICU ekoran keparahan kecederaannya.
Masuk Hari kedua, keadaan Serena tak berubah. Dia masih tidak sedarkan
Diri
Dan terpaksa bernafas menggunakan respirator.
Itulah saatnya saya merasa cukup bersalah. Lalu petang itu, saya bacakan
Cerita pari-pari dalam suara yang kuat tetapi tersekat-sekat di sisi
Katil
Serena. Semakin kuat saya membaca, semakin merumbai air Mata.
Kekesalan berlabuh, tapi segalanya telah musnah. Mungkin Serena tidak
Dapat
Mendengar jalan cerita yang sangat diminatinya itu. Keesokan harinya,
Saya
Bacakan sekali lagi, masih dalam nada suara yang kuat.
Kemudian setiap Hari saya bacakan cerita itu ditelinga Serena, sementara
Isteri saya tak henti-henti menangis. Dia mungkin terlalu marah Dan
Kesal
Dengan tindakan saya terhadap Serena sejak seminggu yang lalu.
Masuk Hari ketujuh, sebaik saya mula membaca, Serena tiba-tiba membuka
Matanya perlahan-lahan. Saya nampak terlalu sukar untuk dia melakukan.
Bacaan saya terhenti, Air Mata merembes Dan saya usap-usap kepalanya.
Beberapa ketika kemudian, Serena memejamkan semula matanya, pejam untuk
selama-lamanya. Saya seperti terdengar suara Serena mengucapkan terima
kasih
kerana membacakan cerita itu padanya.
"Papa?? nanti bacakan cerita ini kuat-kuat pada Ina ya?" kata-kata
Serena
masih terngiang-ngiang di telinga saya sehingga ke hari ini, walau
setahun
berlalu.
Hingga kini saya tertanya-tanya, apakah sedikit perhatian yang
diperlukan
oleh seorang anak terlalu mahal untuk diberikan oleh seorang lelaki yang
bergelar ayah? Saya tidak dapat menjawap, selain air mata yang tumpah.
Friday, May 1, 2009
THE BEST PICTURES OF EARTH: Reader Picks of NASA Shots
Twin Blue Marbles (October 9, 2007) 
As beautifully simple as they may appear, the above images of Earth took an armada of NASA instruments and artists to compile.
Factoring in readings of polar sea ice, city lights, radar-based topography, and the light reflected off the planet's myriad surfaces, the above "Blue Marble" images show Earth from both sides in all its colorful glory.
STEREO's First View of the Sun (January 3, 2007)
Loops of highly charged particles shoot out from the sun's roiling surface, as seen in ultraviolet by the twin STEREO spacecraft.
The sun's surface regularly pumps out these coronal mass ejections--explosions caused by magnetic stress in the sun's atmosphere, which is shown above at roughly a million Kelvin (1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit). Solar flares surge into space with each eruption, causing auroras on Earth and disrupting communications and radio systems.
The active region at the base of each blast can be seen from Earth as sunspots, but the ultraviolet loops can only be observed from space.
Earth's City Lights (October 23, 2000)
Twinkle, twinkle, little cities. A spacecraft originally designed to look at clouds by moonlight was employed to make this view of Earth's artificial lighting.
Showing urbanization rather than population, this light data has been used by NASA scientists to analyze urban sprawl and the technological advancement of the world's cities.
The United States interstate highway system can be seen as a fine lattice, while the Nile River is a bright thread, thanks to the cities on its shores.
The image also reveals Western Europe "out-glowing" China, the Trans-Siberian Railroad stretching across Asia, and the bright arc of Japan hovering above a mostly dark Australia.
Agricultural Patterns (May 30, 2006)
Like patchwork quilts, satellite views of farming patterns around the world form the above montage of images taken by the Terra satellite.
At top-left, a regular grid pattern suggests that agriculture was shaped by 19th-century surveying in Minnesota. Meanwhile, center-pivot irrigation in Kansas is responsible for the circles visible in the second image. A well in the middle of each field serves as a pivot point for wheeled, spraying watering machines.
In the top-right image of northwest Germany, small and disorganized fields can be traced back to the less-planned farming of the Middle Ages.
Curious pie-shaped fields in the lower-left image are the result of a planned settlement near Santa Cruz, Bolivia. At the center of each field is a village, while a buffer of rain forest separates each community.
In Thailand, at bottom-center, rice paddies just outside Bangkok form skinny slices. The purple fields are flooded, a normal part of rice's life cycle.
At bottom-right, Brazil's woodland-savanna cerrado contains massive farms, a by-product of the flat land's inexpensive price.
Sunspots at Solar Maximum and Minimum (March 20, 2009)
It's been quiet lately on the sun, as seen in the two right-hand images. The normally stormy star is in a period of solar minimum, with fewer sunspots in 2008 than have been observed since 1957. But nine years ago the sun was vomiting intense magnetic activity and solar flares, as seen in the left-hand solar maximum images.
The top row of images depicts the sun as observed in visible light by the SOHO spacecraft, while the bottom row uses the same craft's Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope to capture solar flares.
Severe space weather, such as that shown in the left-hand images, poses a threat to humans' high-tech infrastructure, damaging electronic and electrical equipment.
Earth, as Seen From Saturn (January 16, 2007)
April 28, 2009--They're the best of Earth, as judged by Earthlings. NASA's Earth Observatory today announced the ten most popular pictures of our home planet from its Image of the Day catalog, the culmination of a user-voted contest marking the tenth anniversary of the observatory's Web site.
Providing many a computer wallpaper for space-savvy Internet users, the daily-updated site showcases images from NASA missions that collect information about Earth.
The most popular image was captured by instruments aboard the Cassini spacecraft and digitally composited by NASA illustrators to show Saturn and its rings--and a tiny, dot-size Earth, seen from almost a billion miles (more than a billion kilometers) away.
At the precise moment shown, Saturn was positioned between Cassini and the sun, so that the probe's cameras didn't have to contend with the star's intense glare. In addition to revealing Earth in the distance, being in Saturn's shadow helped the satellite spy previously unseen faint rings around the gas giant.
Ocean Sand, Bahamas (September 13, 2002)
Though viewers would be forgiven for thinking the above picture a work of abstract art, the image is actually a photograph captured by the Earth-orbiting Landsat 7 satellite.
Ocean currents in the Bahamas made the sand-and-seaweed sculpture in much the same way that winds create sand dunes in the Sahara.
Atafu Atoll, Tokelau, Southern Pacific Ocean (April 6, 2009)
A tiny atoll, part of a New Zealand territory, is seen as photographed from the International Space Station by an astronaut.
The Atafu Atoll is one of four atolls and islands that are part of the Tokelau Islands. Geology suggests that a volcanic island created the atoll. Coral reefs likely formed around the volcano, which then eroded beneath the water, leaving a ring of sand and reefs.
Atafu's main village can be seen to the left as a collection of small grey dots. Around 500 people responded to a 2006 census of the atoll
The Southern Lights (January 25, 2006)
The aurora australis, or southern lights, glimmer green over Antarctica in the picture above.
Four days after a massive solar flare, NASA researchers obtained readings from the now-defunct IMAGE satellite, which monitored Earth's magnetic field.
Overlaying the data onto a "Blue Marble" satellite photograph of Earth resulted in both the image above and an animation of the solar storm's effects on Earth's atmosphere.
As beautifully simple as they may appear, the above images of Earth took an armada of NASA instruments and artists to compile.Factoring in readings of polar sea ice, city lights, radar-based topography, and the light reflected off the planet's myriad surfaces, the above "Blue Marble" images show Earth from both sides in all its colorful glory.
STEREO's First View of the Sun (January 3, 2007)
Loops of highly charged particles shoot out from the sun's roiling surface, as seen in ultraviolet by the twin STEREO spacecraft.The sun's surface regularly pumps out these coronal mass ejections--explosions caused by magnetic stress in the sun's atmosphere, which is shown above at roughly a million Kelvin (1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit). Solar flares surge into space with each eruption, causing auroras on Earth and disrupting communications and radio systems.
The active region at the base of each blast can be seen from Earth as sunspots, but the ultraviolet loops can only be observed from space.
Earth's City Lights (October 23, 2000)
Twinkle, twinkle, little cities. A spacecraft originally designed to look at clouds by moonlight was employed to make this view of Earth's artificial lighting.Showing urbanization rather than population, this light data has been used by NASA scientists to analyze urban sprawl and the technological advancement of the world's cities.
The United States interstate highway system can be seen as a fine lattice, while the Nile River is a bright thread, thanks to the cities on its shores.
The image also reveals Western Europe "out-glowing" China, the Trans-Siberian Railroad stretching across Asia, and the bright arc of Japan hovering above a mostly dark Australia.
Agricultural Patterns (May 30, 2006)
Like patchwork quilts, satellite views of farming patterns around the world form the above montage of images taken by the Terra satellite.At top-left, a regular grid pattern suggests that agriculture was shaped by 19th-century surveying in Minnesota. Meanwhile, center-pivot irrigation in Kansas is responsible for the circles visible in the second image. A well in the middle of each field serves as a pivot point for wheeled, spraying watering machines.
In the top-right image of northwest Germany, small and disorganized fields can be traced back to the less-planned farming of the Middle Ages.
Curious pie-shaped fields in the lower-left image are the result of a planned settlement near Santa Cruz, Bolivia. At the center of each field is a village, while a buffer of rain forest separates each community.
In Thailand, at bottom-center, rice paddies just outside Bangkok form skinny slices. The purple fields are flooded, a normal part of rice's life cycle.
At bottom-right, Brazil's woodland-savanna cerrado contains massive farms, a by-product of the flat land's inexpensive price.
Sunspots at Solar Maximum and Minimum (March 20, 2009)
It's been quiet lately on the sun, as seen in the two right-hand images. The normally stormy star is in a period of solar minimum, with fewer sunspots in 2008 than have been observed since 1957. But nine years ago the sun was vomiting intense magnetic activity and solar flares, as seen in the left-hand solar maximum images.
The top row of images depicts the sun as observed in visible light by the SOHO spacecraft, while the bottom row uses the same craft's Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope to capture solar flares.
Severe space weather, such as that shown in the left-hand images, poses a threat to humans' high-tech infrastructure, damaging electronic and electrical equipment.
Earth, as Seen From Saturn (January 16, 2007)
April 28, 2009--They're the best of Earth, as judged by Earthlings. NASA's Earth Observatory today announced the ten most popular pictures of our home planet from its Image of the Day catalog, the culmination of a user-voted contest marking the tenth anniversary of the observatory's Web site.Providing many a computer wallpaper for space-savvy Internet users, the daily-updated site showcases images from NASA missions that collect information about Earth.
The most popular image was captured by instruments aboard the Cassini spacecraft and digitally composited by NASA illustrators to show Saturn and its rings--and a tiny, dot-size Earth, seen from almost a billion miles (more than a billion kilometers) away.
At the precise moment shown, Saturn was positioned between Cassini and the sun, so that the probe's cameras didn't have to contend with the star's intense glare. In addition to revealing Earth in the distance, being in Saturn's shadow helped the satellite spy previously unseen faint rings around the gas giant.
Ocean Sand, Bahamas (September 13, 2002)
Though viewers would be forgiven for thinking the above picture a work of abstract art, the image is actually a photograph captured by the Earth-orbiting Landsat 7 satellite.
Ocean currents in the Bahamas made the sand-and-seaweed sculpture in much the same way that winds create sand dunes in the Sahara.
Atafu Atoll, Tokelau, Southern Pacific Ocean (April 6, 2009)
A tiny atoll, part of a New Zealand territory, is seen as photographed from the International Space Station by an astronaut.The Atafu Atoll is one of four atolls and islands that are part of the Tokelau Islands. Geology suggests that a volcanic island created the atoll. Coral reefs likely formed around the volcano, which then eroded beneath the water, leaving a ring of sand and reefs.
Atafu's main village can be seen to the left as a collection of small grey dots. Around 500 people responded to a 2006 census of the atoll
The Southern Lights (January 25, 2006)
The aurora australis, or southern lights, glimmer green over Antarctica in the picture above.
Four days after a massive solar flare, NASA researchers obtained readings from the now-defunct IMAGE satellite, which monitored Earth's magnetic field.
Overlaying the data onto a "Blue Marble" satellite photograph of Earth resulted in both the image above and an animation of the solar storm's effects on Earth's atmosphere.
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