Brilio.net - It's called the Inspiration canteen , a stall that is quite popular among students at the State Islamic University (UIN) Sunan Kalijaga Jogja. This building is only approximately 3x10 meters with an elongated shape. This canteen room is attached to an old school two-story house whose shape is not too grand, let alone luxurious.
One interesting thing about this canteen is that its location is right in the middle of the UIN Jogja campus building. It's not just about its existence that can stand out amidst the splendor of the UIN campus, but also its early history is interesting to learn about.
"Initially, I was a bookseller. I rented this place (canteen) to be a bookstore. Well, this house has been there since the 1950s. Before the campus was built here, this house already existed," said Mahfud, some time ago .
Mahfud explained that the house previously belonged to an Indonesian Air Force officer. Apart from that, around the house are rice fields and land for raising cows.
"Previously, this was a rice field and grassy field where people grazed cows, that's why we know the village behind the campus as Sapen, taken from the word sapian, which means a place to graze cows," he explained.
photo: brilio.net/Ikhlas Alfaridzi
The existence of this stall is also related to the move to the UIN Jogja campus. 1960, was the period when UIN Jogja moved its campus from Jalan Simanjuntak to Jalan Marsda Adisucipto. Well, part of the house which became Mahfud's canteen has been around since that time.
The beginning of a home canteen in the middle of campus
When asked the reason why he was not "evicted", Mahfud claimed that UIN and the homeowner had never reached an agreement on land acquisition. As a result, this house became the only resident's house that remained standing, trapped by the hustle and bustle of campus life.
"From what I heard, the first possibility is that the owner will allow the campus to buy, as long as the price is right. Meanwhile, from UIN, maybe the budget is not enough," said Mahfud.
Mahfud, who knew the owner of the house well, had the opportunity to rent one of the rooms to the west of this house. What was originally a bookstore, since 2007 Mahfud transformed it into a canteen that sells various heavy foods, snacks, drinks and retail cigarettes.
photo: brilio.net/Ikhlas Alfaridzi
For dozens of years selling, Mahfud survived in the canteen. Mahfud said that he opened a canteen stall not just to sell and make a profit. Instead, he likes to create a place where UIN students can have discussions, read books, while enjoying the dishes he sells.
"UIN students have always been famous for their discussion culture. In the past, on the side of the road on campus, there were lots of students sitting on the floor, reading books, discussing and debating. It was really exciting," said Mahfud, who is also a UIN alumni from the Sharia Faculty.
photo: brilio.net/Ikhlas Alfaridzi
Inspiration canteen where UIN students get ideas
Mahfud hopes that this canteen will create history and memories for students when they are studying. He claimed that several students actually got good ideas while hanging out in his canteen.
"My canteen is like a place for students to chat and complain. The food and drinks they eat from me will hopefully become memories and history for them while studying here (UIN). I've even seen students who are initially lethargic, maybe because they're busy. "We were having difficulty thinking about the lecture material, suddenly I got an idea while chatting with a friend here (canteen)," said Mr Mahfud enthusiastically.
Even so, Mahfud also conveyed bad stories. For dozens of years his canteen has been selling, the pandemic period is the period that he thinks is the most difficult. The reason is that Mahfud said, apart from the drastic reduction in income, the empty campus due to the online lecture policy also made him feel lonely.
"After a dozen years of opening a shop, during the pandemic the situation seemed to have really changed. It wasn't just the problem of snacks being empty. But the campus was empty and there were no students, online lectures," he said.
photo: brilio.net/Ikhlas Alfaridzi
After the pandemic, Mahfud was again active in opening his canteen. He felt happy because things were getting better. Even though he said his turnover was not as much as before the pandemic, he still enjoyed selling and serving students in a friendly manner.
"It's okay, fortunately there aren't as many as before. The important thing is that you can meet lots of students again. Please visit, eat and have snacks here, but remember don't lie, hahaha," said Mahfud while giving a warning to students who often lie to him when eating in the canteen. .