Surabaya, late afternoon.
The sky was beginning to change color when Soekarno walked toward a house that wasn't very large. From the outside, it looked perfectly ordinary. But to the young activists of the nationalist movement, the place held far greater meaning.
The house belonged to H.O.S. Tjokroaminoto.
Soekarno stood in front of the door for a moment.
He took a breath, then knocked.
"Come in!"
The voice from inside was firm.
Soekarno stepped inside.
Several young people were sitting and talking inside the house. They were discussing the various problems unfolding in the country.
Soekarno chose to sit and listen.
"A great nation must not remain a nation that only obeys," Tjokroaminoto declared.
Soekarno raised his head.
He paid attention to every word.
Tjokroaminoto wasn't merely talking about politics. He was talking about courage, education, unity, and the people's dignity.
To Soekarno, it all felt like an answer to the questions that had occupied his mind for so long.
The night grew late.
But the discussion did not stop.
Soekarno began to venture his own opinions.
"If the people aren't given the chance to determine their own destiny, how can this nation move forward?"
Tjokroaminoto looked at him.
"That's a good question," he replied. "But remember, son. Leading isn't just about having the courage to speak. A leader must understand his people."
Soekarno nodded.
He stored those words deep inside himself.
From that moment on, Tjokroaminoto's house became one of the places that shaped his political thought.
There, Soekarno also met various young people with different ideas. They didn't always agree with one another.
Some believed change had to be achieved through an organization.
Others placed greater importance on education.
Still others wanted change through the political struggle.
Those differences only made Soekarno learn more.
He began reading books about history, politics, and the political thought of world leaders.
Every page gave him a new question.
Every discussion opened his mind further.
One night, Soekarno sat alone in the house's courtyard.
He gazed at Surabaya's dark sky.
In his mind, he pictured a different country.
A country where the people could determine their own lives.
A country no longer ruled by another nation.
Yet he realized that the journey toward that aspiration would not be easy.
"If I want to change the situation," he murmured, "I have to prepare myself."
From that night on, Soekarno no longer wanted merely to understand why his nation was oppressed.
He began thinking about how that situation could be changed.
Without realizing it, a young man was growing into a leader.
And in that simple house, the fire of the struggle, which had previously been no more than an ember, began to burn brighter.
Far away in Sumatra, Mohammad Hatta continued to study and broaden his horizons.
He did not yet know Soekarno well.
But history was slowly guiding them both toward a single meeting point.
Two young men.
Two visions.
One aspiration.
An independent Indonesia.