footprints of life

dedicated to someone who received a "gatotkaca" bookmark from me sometime ago…

kamu ingat aku bilang apa waktu kuberikan barang itu padamu?  aku bilang, "mungkin ini barang kecil saja, mungkin tidak ada artinya…tapi aku ingin kamu tahu, bahwa kamu membuatku ingin terbang….dan kamu membuatku percaya bahwa aku memang bisa terbang…"

dan ada air mata di matamu, waktu kamu bilang, "thank you."

you know what, "thank YOU".  thank you for believing that i can do more than i think i could do.  thank you for showing me that you believe in me. thank you for being the presence in my heart which i can always turn to for inspiration and energy, even when you are not there.  thank you…

thank you for being my alter ego…waktu aku ragu-ragu dan merasa takut, aku bertanya pada diriku sendiri,"kalau aku tanya dia, dia akan bilang apa ya…?"  dan aku yakin kamu akan bilang,"TERUSSS!!!"

mungkin aku ada di sini hari ini, juga karena kamu.  karena kamu menulariku dengan virus-virus nekad, dan aku cuma bisa bilang, "thank you."

maybe soon, and i hope, soon, i will have even zillions of more reasons to say "thank you…" for the courage, the guts, and the friendship….

to my dearest Flying Friend, Gatotkacaku….terima kasih banyak.

Cool name, ha?  That is one of the terms that found its new meaning for me while I am here.

Maybe the most common meaning that this terms refers to is the kind of person who has lots of guts, speeding, zig-zaging on the street, turning suddenly without signing…well, maybe thousands of other similar  things.  The cool (?) thing is that the fact that here, it is not that rare to find.  The inspiration to write on this has dawned on me several time, especially during driving, but well…the time to sit down and write about it doesn’t seem to exist so easily.

The first weeks living in BA, I always freaked out when I had to go out in cars (well, you know, company pays, and I should have been quite grateful, but hey…I was afraid, okay?), especially when I don’t have a person from Aceh or Medan to drive me.  So there I was, being the clown in the car because of all the “funny” faces I made, especially when we came closer to traffic lights.  These are really the people who dare to die, or maybe the ones who really dare to live…  Once I had a friend in Jogja who claimed that he was able to calculate the difference in seconds between the moment the light turned red on one lane and turned green on the other.  Well, sorry Bro’, but you are in no way a match for these people.  They see red lights, they just go through, as long as there are vehicles still moving from their lane, as long as there is no visible traffic jam on the crossroads, hit it, Man!  Fuih…  Turning on the sign light when you want to turn?  That will be quite a rare thing to find.  As a result, you have to become a profound and sensitive mind reader.  In case you are driving on the street, and you see a vehicle going between the two lanes, you know, kind of undecided which lane to take…And you see that there is a T-junction coming.  That vehicle keep reducing the speed, and you can clearly see that the handlebar was kind of shaky.  Well, what do you think will happen next?  A.  S/he will turn left.  B.  S/he will turn right.  C.  S/he will make a U turn.  D.  S/he is looking for an address.  E.  It is running out of fuel.  F.  S/he is typing an SMS.  See…nothing, simply, nothing is impossible, or improbable…

One of my dearest friends here has formulated a golden rule for him as he is driving the daily madness of BA traffic, “DO NOT look at your rear view mirror as you are driving, never.  Even when you are trying to overtake, or make a turn, or change the lane”.  And you know what, that rule is really golden, because it WORKS!

But besides these guys and gals driving, there are other kings and queens who are not less magical than the people (you know what, this land is really blessed…)  Even as I was arriving here, I got a crash briefing by one of the office drivers, “Mbak, Mbak, only in Aceh (if you don’t want to count India in, ed.)  where you can drive around, or stroll and find everywhere….COWS.”  These very sexy, nude creatures can take their leasure stroll, sometimes even sitting so relaxed seeping the air of BA before sunset.

Around two weeks ago I joined a friend of mine on the first journey on his new motorbike going up and down the hills in the area called Krueng Raya, from the city you go up the hill and come out at the beach.  In Javanese we have a saying “jlajah desa, milang kori”, which literally means “roving the village, counting the doors”, but to be honest, you wouldn’t go far with “counting the doors” since there are no so many houses around.  During this trip we should really admit the power of the kings and queens of the street, the COWS.  Whoever has the experience of taking a mountain road would be able to imagine the sight, in which you see small roads with lots of bents, and sometimes you cannot really see what is behind the next bent.  This is the bad side of our trip, since there can be anything just right after the bent, we could see a bunch of cows and goats trying to cross the street as we are coming round the bent.  Plus the bush growing on the sides of the road, which did not make it easier for both of us and the animals to spot each other.  Don’t try to test how sturdy your motorbike is by bumping it into a cow, no…no…you could never win.  You will risk having to pay the damage of the cow to its owner, and you would definitely risk paying the damage to your own well-being.  So we end up taking the road very carefully, not because other drivers, but for the sake of the four legged road users.

 One thing that could be such a beautiful experience driving in the area, especially in town, is that it gives you an opportunity to reflect on what regulation personally means to you.  And also the chance to be more perceptive and sensitive to whatever is happening around you.  This is a precious experience, to observe all the other street users, and trying to figure out what is going on in their mind, where people like to go, in which lane people usually have the sudden urge to accelerate or to turn unexpectedly (well, if you are reading mind, then of course you begin to expect it…).  And all of a sudden you will feel that you senses are getting sharper, the eyes, the ears and the reflexes becoming more trained.  And a valuable opportunity it is to be able to ask yourself whenever you see the yellow light turning red right on your face, “Should I stop?”  Should I stop when I know that there are lots of drivers right behind me who would immediately commit sin by swearing at this car?  Should we break the red light because there are lots of other people doing it?  Will I stop even when I am alone and become the odd one?  Will you continue driving through the red light, when you know that it is actually “safe” to do so?

A precious answer.  And often, we did indeed, became the odd one.  And whispering to ourselves, “Aren’t changes coming from ourselves?”  Instead of joining the bunches of people surprised and swearing when they are stuck on the crossroads even when it is actually their turn to go,  we figure out that maybe…just maybe…we are the one who should start the trend.   So why not be the first ones who stop at the red light, even when you are actually only following your conscience which is already used to interpret red as stop.  But you know, it only takes the first one to do it, because we begin to notice that whenever a vehicle stop (not only us, by the way…), other vehicles become not so brave in breaking the red light, and we see people actually stop next to us, and wait.  See?  Want some change?  Why don’t you start?

Unfortunately, this does not apply to the cows…  But hopefully, in the end, they are the ones who are left as the only true kings and queens of the street.

Regards,  from the cherry green lights…

Malahayati Port

Keren kan?  Itu satu istilah yang menemukan makna baru waktu aku di sini.

Mungkin arti yang paling umum ya pengguna jalan yang bernyali besar, kebut-kebutan, zig-zag di jalan, asal belok tanpa kasih tanda…yah, seribu macam definisi deh.  Dan yang keren (?) abis adalah kenyataan bahwa di sini, semua itu bukan barang langka.  Sebenarnya udah sering banget terinspirasi soal sikap pemakai jalan terhadap lampu merah, misalnya, sayangnya belum ada waktu yang pas. 

Minggu-minggu pertama tinggal di BA, isinya cuma ngeri kalau harus naik mobil, terutama kalau yang nyetirin bukan orang Aceh atau Medan, wah, bisa sport jantung.  Aku jadi sering jadi bahan tertawaan karena mukaku yang ngeri kalau udah sampai lampu merah.  Inilah orang-orang yang benar-benar berani mati, atau berani hidup ya…Aku pernah punya teman di Jogja yang nyombong bahwa dia bisa ngapalin berapa detik jeda antara lampu mulai merah di satu ruas jalan dengan hijaunya lampu di ruas lain, tapi sori Bro’, kamu nggak ada apa-apanya deh sama orang sini.  Mau udah jelas-jelas merah sekalipun, selama mobil di depannya masih jalan, selama tu perempatan belum jelas-jelas macet, terus Bang!!  Wuih….  Nyalain reting kalau mau belok? Wah, langka…  Walhasil, jadilah pembaca pikiran yang baik dan tanggap.  Kalau kamu nyetir di jalan, dan ngeliat nih ada motor jalan di tengah-tengah, antara dua jalur.  Di depan ada pertigaan.  Tu motor makin lama makin pelan, setirnya goyang-goyang.  Nah, kira-kira apakah yang akan terjadi selanjutnya?  A.  dia akan belok ke kiri.  B.  Dia akan belok ke kanan.  C.  dia akan bikin U turn.  D. dia lagi nyari alamat. D. motornya habis bensin. E. lagi nge SMS.  Nah lho, tak ada yang tak mungkin. 
Dan temen deketku disini sudah merumuskan sebuah golden rule buat dia, “jangan pernah ngelirik spion kalau nyetir mobil, meskipun kalau mau nyalip atau belok, atau ganti jalur”.  Dan tahu nggak sih, terbukti ampuh. Fuih….

Tapi selain mereka, ada lagi raja dan ratu jalanan yang tak kalah saktinya.  (wah, tanah ini tanah sakti…..)  Waktu pertama datang juga, aku udah langsung dibriefing sama salah satu sopir kantor, “Mbak, Mbak, cuma di Aceh (selain India kali ya…red.), yang Mbak bisa jalan-jalan dan ketemu sama….LEMBU di mana-mana.”  Catatan redaksi, di sini sapi lebih sering disebut lembu ya…dan sebenarnya mereka manggil aku mbak hanya karena tahu aku orang Jawa.  Tu sapi-sapi nan seksi bisa melenggang kangkung seenaknya sendiri, kadang-kadang leyeh-leyeh di pinggir jalan menikmati BA di rembang petang. 

Kira-kira seminggu yang lalu aku diajak ngrayen motor, naik turun bukit, di daerah namanya Krueng Raya, dari kota naik bukit, tembus di pantai.  Jajah desa milang kori deh (tapi ndak dapet banyak kori, wong jarang ada rumah, korine sapa arep diitung…).  Dan dalam perjalanan inilah bener-bener harus mengakui kehebatan sang raja dan ratu jalanan yang berjudul SAPI ini…  Yang pernah jalan di area pegunungan pasti kebayang kan jalan gunung, berkelok-kelok dan kadang nggak kelihatan apa yang ada di balik tikungan berikutnya.  Inilah yang gawat dari perjalanan kami, karena bisa saja yang ada di balik tikungan berikutnya adalah serombongan sapi atau kambing atau sapi jalan-jalan bareng kambing yang lagi siap-siap nyebrang jalan.  Padahal tepi jalan dipenuhi semak-semak.  Lak nek mendadak, mak bedunduk, muncul si sapi di pinggi jalan, apa nggak kaget.  Jangan coba-coba lawan sapi sama motor deh, meskipun dalam kerajaan hewan motornya menang, (ya to, mosok macan kalah sama sapi…).  Selain nanti jangan-jangan disuruh ganti rugi tu sapi, dijamin sama-sama bunyaknya.  Akhirnya kami jalan dengan super hati-hati, bukan karena pemakai jalan lain beroda dua atau empat, tapi yang berkaki empatlah yang lebih diwaspadai.

Satu hal yang kemudian menjadi pengalaman indah adalah bagaimana kamu mendefinisikan “peraturan” secara pribadi.  Dan kesempatan untuk lebih perseptif dan sensitif terhadap apa yang terjadi di sekitar kamu.  Ini pengalaman berharga, di mana setiap menit di jalanan kamu harus memperhatikan orang-orang lain di jalan dan mencoba memahami apa yang terjadi di pikiran mereka, kemana kira-kira orang mau pergi, di jalan mana saja bisanya orang merasakan kebutuhan utnuk tiba-tiba menambah kecepatan atau belok.  Dan tiba-tiba saja, mata dan telinga dan refleks menjadi sangat terlatih.  Dan menjadi kesempatan yang berharga untuk memandangi lampu lalu lintas yang berubah dari kuning menjadi merah persis pada saat kamu sampai di depannya, dan bertanya pada diri sendiri, “haruskah aku berhenti?”  Haruskah aku berhenti ketika aku tahu sederetan sopir kendaraan lain di belakangku akan segera berbuat dosa karena menyumpah-nyumpahi mobil yang disopiri temanku ini?  Haruskah mobil kami melanggar lampu merah karena masih banyak temannya?  Akankah kamu berhenti meskipun sendirian, dan menjadi orang aneh?  Apakah kamu akan tetap jalan dengan keyakinan bahwa keselamatanmu terjamin?

Jawaban yang sangat berharga.  Dan sering kali, kami memang menjadi orang aneh.  Dan berkata dalam hati, “Bukankah perubahan itu datangnya harus dari diri sendiri?”  Daripada ikutan kaget dan menyumpah-nyumpah kalau pada akhirnya kena macet di persimpangan, meskipun sebenarnya giliran kita untuk dapat lampu hijau, akhirnya kami memutuskan bahwa mungkin kami yang harus mulai.  Maka, jadilah yang pertama berhenti di lampu merah, sebenarnya hanya mengikuti kata hati yang sudah terlanjur terbiasa dengan merah berarti berhenti.  Tapi ternyata, hanya perlu ada yang pertama, karena kemudian, selalu saja ada yang ikutan berhenti, dan akhirnya kami sama-sama menunggu lampu hijau kembali.  See?  Mau perubahan? Kenapa nggak kamu mulai aja?

Sayangnya, ini ndak berlaku buat para sapi….  Semoga saja, hanya mereka juga yang menjadi raja dan ratu jalanan sejati.

Salam, dari the cherry-green-light (lampu sehijau ceri merah…nah lho…)

(yang punya motor…)

30 FINALIS
BLOG COMPETITION 2006
" BE A BLOG MASTER !! "

Contact : webmaster@telkomsemarang.net

asyik…masuk deh 30 finalis lomba blog-nya telkom Semarang….he….he….

tapi sayangnya, aku nan jauh di mata, ndak bisa deh ikutan dinner, hiks….hiks….

Webmaster yang terhormat, bisa nggak diwakilkan? aku punya koneksi yang masuk juga 30 besar finalis, biar mereka dapat jatah tambahan untuk dinnernya, he…he…

congratz ya buat sesy en uare yang udah masuk juga, jatah maemku embat aja ya…kudoakan kalian bisa berngkat ke Bali atawa segeralah bisa menelepon aku lama-lama pake CDMA hadiahnya…

good luck…and thanx Telkom. lain kali bikin lomba lagi ya….that was fun!

with love from Banda Aceh