Aldo is Caught Between Two Choices
Writer: Fredy Suni
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| Ilustration Aldo is Caught Between Two Choices | |
Childhood
Tafenpah.com - “Humans live in two dimensions, namely the light dimension and the dark dimension. Dimensions of birth and dimensions of death. The man never chooses the family, place, and country where he is born. The most important thing for humans is to appreciate the meaning and meaning of life.” (Fredy Suni)
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The bright twilight sky on the edge of the cliff, Aldo was stunned with the beauty of the elements of the universe, the hills of the savanna of village Haumeni. Whole the components of the universe have hypnotized him. Aldo was bewitched as if helpless.
Because he couldn't accelerate with his family's blank sheet of paper. Aldo is unable to contain his anger, hatred, resentment, and frustration over his family's economy.
The Aldo family's economy has plunged him into two choices. Aldo is caught between two choices. In Greek Mythology, Achilles appears as the leader of the Greeks to invade the city of Troy in a war created by the god Zeus. In the expanse of the savanna, Aldo appears as a fighter for his family's economic squalor.
Even though Indonesia has been independent for 74 years, Aldo has never experienced inner freedom. Aldo is increasingly tormented and constrained by his family life. Moreover, Aldo who is shy, afraid to speak in front of people, introverted, and likes to be alone adds to the burden of his life.
Aldo always corners his parents, especially his father because, for Aldo, his father is an incompetent figure in his eyes. Aldo hates his father because Aldo does not accept being born from his poverty gene. If Aldo could choose then he would be born to a well-to-do father. Birth to Aldo was just suffering. Aldo wants to live in another dimension because that is where he will not be difficult.
No crying no life. No problems no life. So, Aldo wants to enjoy the game of the universe in his life. Among the hills of the savanna of Kampung Haumeni, instead of the rows of former "Okay Bos Trans7" hosts, Raffi Ahmad and Vicky Prasetyo, Aldo was born. Haumeni is one of the villages in the District North Bikomi, North Central Timor Regency, NTT. Aldo was born on October 18, 1994, to Jon and Merry.
Although both of his parents have not received legal recognition from the Christian faith. However, according to Timorese cultural tradition, his parents have obtained approval from the family, both the family of the father and the family of the mother, because Timorese cultural marriages begin with traditional marriages, then continue with marriages according to Christian beliefs.
Jon and Merry were very happy to welcome Aldo's birth. They were so happy, the savanna of Haumeni Village also rejoiced. While enjoying the atmosphere of Aldo's birth, the village head of Haumeni came to visit Aldo's family hut. The hut made of reeds with bamboo walls is the most valuable treasure for the Aldo family.
Jon and Merry are a very simple couple. Jon is a tailor at a private Catholic institution, the Nenuk SVD Novitiate in Atambua.
He is humorous, sociable, forgiving, loves education, and is a drunkard. Although he only graduated from elementary school, for him education is the key to unlocking the world's locks.
Meanwhile, Merry is a village girl whose daily life is just between the kitchen and the garden. The kitchen and garden are his worlds. He is very good at calculating glasses and plates, as well as other kitchen utensils because he loves the world of culinary arts/arts. Time goes on, and Aldo's dimples are getting bigger adorable to everyone around him. So excited, Jon and Merry aspire to bring the full moon to Aldo. That is the biggest dream of these two couples because they believe and believe that Aldo will grow up to be a genius, like Galileo Galilei. He was an Italian astronomer, philosopher, and physicist who had a major role in the scientific revolution.
Every night, Jon and Merry always sing the song "Nina Bobo" to Aldo while releasing the departure of the moon who has told a million dreams in the hearts of the little family. Jon and Merry always hang their dreams as high as the stars in the sky because they believe that one day the universe will walk with them in the ocean of life.
The day went by so fast. Without them knowing it, it's time for the baby to be bathed in the Christian tradition. Precisely, on June 11, 1995, by Pastor Anton Frey, SVD who is a Swiss national. He named the child by the name "Cornelis".
However, after a few days, Jon felt uncomfortable with the name Cornelis because the name reminded Jon of a Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman who found a shipping route from Europe to Indonesia and successfully started the spice trade for the Dutch. The results of Indonesian spices were taken forcibly by his government. Jon couldn't take the anxiety anymore. Therefore, one day, Jon came to Pastor Anton Frey, SVD to express his discomfort on that behalf.
"Good morning, Pastor," said Jon.
"Good morning too, Jon," replied the Pastor.
"How about it, Jon? Why are you here so early? Even though you didn't attend the morning mass, did you?"
With a shy smile, Jon could only rub his head, looking around at his surroundings. He was embarrassed by the sound of choking behind the kitchen door. The parish secretary overheard their conversation.
“By the way, Pastor, the purpose of my coming here is to talk about the name Cornelis that Pastor gave to my son. I don't agree with the name! Why? Because the name doesn't suit my son, Pastor. The proof is that my child cries all day long.”
"Hmm, . . . well, Mr. Jon," said the Pastor. "Tomorrow we will bathe your son again."
“Then, thank you, Pastor. I leave home. Oh, yes, before going home, please enjoy the drinks that the Secretary has provided on the table.”
“Thank you, Pastor, for the offer. I went straight home. Good morning, Pastor.
"Good morning and have a good day, Mr. Jon," answered the priest.
The next morning, before going to church, Jon and Merry prepared their minds while accompanied by Ebiet G. Ade's song entitled “For a Name”. Strange, yes, this couple, instead of listening to spiritual songs, hmmm, ... even nostalgia songs.
When the sun is at the equator, the bathing event for the second time in Jon's family history. Cornelis's name was changed to Friedrich Aldo's name. Since then, the lovebirds have accepted the name, although, in Jon's heart, there are still thousands of questions about the meaning of the name.
Time keeps changing. Aldo grew up to be a person who always had a curiosity about everything like the Greek philosophers who always had a curiosity about the existence of the world, even though Aldo was only 6 years old.
However, Aldo's imagination transcends the boundaries of space and time. Aldo has transformed into a little philosopher who is the pride of the Haumeni people. Everything around him is always asked by his parents. Jon and Merry were overwhelmed with Aldo's questions. It is true what people say that the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.
Yes, that's Jon's character in Aldo. Apparently, after going through the process of experimental tourist destinations in the style of a smile between Jon and Aldo, they found similarities, namely they both have dimples on their cheeks. So, the genes in Aldo are dominated by Jon's genes. Therefore, it is proper that Aldo is not much different from his father.
One evening on the edge of a cliff, between the hills of the Haumeni savanna, an idea came into Aldo's head that shook the entire Haumeni universe. The sun, moon, and stars danced with Aldo and his family because there was no wind, no rain, suddenly lightning came from Aldo's head which said something to his father and mother on the edge of the cliff. Aldo said that time is just a river that flows from our past.
"Father and Mother, I don't want to miss the beauty on the edge of the hills of this savanna with only the three of us humans," said Aldo. "I want to have a dialogue with the cosmos here, Mom and Dad."
Mom and Dad are getting confused by Aldo's words just now. However, Jon doesn't want to block his son's imagination because he realizes that imagination is the key to everything hidden in this universe.
"Hmm, ... okay, Aldo, enjoy your imagination tour," said Jon in amazement.
Time has taken Aldo on a cosmological tour. Aldo felt his soul maneuver to and fro while crossing thousands of hidden beauties behind the hills of the Haumeni savanna. Oh, yes, Haumeni is one of the villages directly adjacent to Timor Leste.
Aldo is proud to be a village boy because in the village there is no need to bother to see the beauty of the universe. When he wants to look at the beauty of the other country, he just has to walk through the hills of Haumeni because the location of Haumeni which is surrounded by the beauty of the savanna has enchanted Aldo's soul to see the beauty of the universe above the hills.
One of Aldo's favorite destinations is the Sebuy savanna (Sebuy is a word that comes from the Dawan language. Dawan is one of the ethnic groups who inhabit the island of Timor). The savanna has brought Aldo's soul to wander to other cosmic realms. While his soul is adventuring in the Sebuy savanna, Aldo is not strong enough to tell his family life because Aldo unable to accelerate with the sensation of his family's suffering.
Aldo was born into one of the poorest families in Haumeni Village. His family's poverty has reached stage four. Never mind having luxury items, such as cupboards, TV, refrigerator, etc., just eat a plate of three. Even more sadistically, his house is unfit for habitation because Aldo's house is made of reeds and has bamboo walls. Aldo's house is like a family pet palace.
Honestly, Aldo is ashamed of his family life. Every day, Aldo always cries because Aldo does not accept the fate of his family. Aldo's little heart always rebelled with his family's circumstances. Why is my family not like my uncles?
Time goes on. We are constantly changing in it. This phrase tells how the suffering of Aldo's family is getting worse with the presence of his younger sister in 1995. As an older brother, Aldo is jealous of his younger brother's presence because his parents' love has been divided. Aldo does not want love and attention to be divided. The love and care of his parents must be absolute. In his heart, Aldo always cursed his parents because it was too early to add children, even though his economic life was hanging by like a refugee who had no place to live. Aldo's jealousy grew even more with the presence of his second younger sister in 2004. All the love and care, now only a small spark is felt by Aldo.
When Aldo's second sister was born, he really did not accept it. Moreover, his presence is getting increase the economic burden on the family. Aldo is jealous and hurt. The presence of his two younger sisters has canceled Aldo's desire to ask his father for ice cream. Because the desire to eat ice cream has entered his heart, Aldo's heart is possessed, not by Tik Tok, "I don't know what possessed you until you betrayed me" which is trending on YouTube, but his heart is sliced because he doesn't eat ice cream. So jealous, Aldo saw his friends eating ice cream at the village hall, the place where he spent his days playing.
As time goes on, Aldo gets more and more tormented by the presence of his younger siblings. As a form of protest, he spends his days after school in the Sebuy savanna because in the middle of the expanse of the savanna he feels the extraordinary love of the universe. It was in the savanna that Aldo felt inner and outer freedom. However, at dusk, he had to return home. Aldo doesn't want to be disobedient to his parents, even though he has to bear the burden of his jealousy, which is increasingly gripping his childhood.
Aldo's father is a very annoying person because Aldo doesn't like the way he educates him. Aldo loves his mother more. You know, if he is closer to his mother because a boy must be close to his mother. On the other hand, a daughter is bound to be closer to her father because of sexuality. For Aldo, the mother figure is an angel. Aldo's mother always defended him whenever he was punished by his father.
However, when he was at school, he was always taught by the teacher's father and mother to be devoted to his parents because of his parents is the most valuable treasure. At first Aldo felt that the phrase was just a mere wind. Their names are children, all their thoughts must be playing because playing is the freedom of children, especially playing in the savanna in Haumeni Village. Each Haumeni savanna has saved a million beauties for him. Aldo doesn't know, have your friends ever played in the middle of the savanna or not?
When Aldo was in the middle of the Haumeni savanna, his eyes became weak because in the middle of the savanna, he saw and witnessed the domesticated cows of the Haumeni residents wandering here and there while enjoying the green grass that began to grow during the rainy season. The whole universe also rejoiced to see the residents of Haumeni starting to spend their days in the middle of the savanna. It was there that Aldo and his friends released their worries over the inconvenience of being at home. Honestly, Aldo's childhood was not as happy as his friends.
Aldo is jealous and angry with his parents. Especially he was angry with his father because Aldo's father did not fulfill all his requests. Try friends imagine right now, have you ever felt hunger? How does it feel when that hunger grips your life for months, even years? If you have been in Aldo's position at that time, surely you know and feel the events of his family's famine. For months, all Aldo's family could eat was cassava. Aldo could only smell the aroma of rice from his neighbor's pots. One day, Aldo very angry and came to his father while saying something that hurt his father's feelings.
“Dad, I'm tired of eating cassava for months? I want to eat rice."
"Aldo, why are you talking like that?" his father asked. "I am not a good father to you, your siblings, and your mother."
"But why, Father? We are not like our neighbors who eat rice?”
“Aldo, hey! Don't compare me to other people!"
Aldo is getting scared.
"You ungrateful child!" While yelling at Aldo, his father was in tears. His father cried hysterically as he bowed to the universe.
Not long after, he was shocked because he didn't realize, his father had hugged him from behind. Aldo and his father began to cry hysterically, lamenting the fate of their family.
“Aldo, I'm sorry, yes. I promise, this afternoon we will eat rice, "said his father. Hearing the word 'rice', Aldo stopped crying while looking at his father's face which was slowly wiping his tears with his wet clothes.
"Promise, yes, Father!"
"Yes, I promise, Aldo."
Aldo doesn't know how the story goes, his father can get rice for his family's lunch, even though Aldo knows the price of a kilo of rice is not worth the money his mother saves, which is only 4,000, even though to get a kilo of rice he has to pay 8,000. Aaah, never mind! Most importantly now he must go to the savanna to enjoy the beauty of the universe. Because of the beautiful expanse of the Sebuy savanna, he fell asleep.
Aldo's soul was bewitched by the beautiful auras of cosmic creatures in the savanna. To the extent that he fell asleep in the middle of the savanna accompanied by the domesticated cows of the Haumeni residents. Aldo also forgot to go home until dusk. He was even more amazed by the beauty of the universe because the sun had returned to the lap of its creator.
Aldo rushed home to eat rice. Unfortunately, when he got home, his sister had already finished her share. Aldo cried hysterically. So upset, he soaked in the well. This situation made her mother panicked. His mother thought that Aldo didn't know how to swim, especially since it was already night.
Aldo's mother screamed for help. Not long after, local residents arrived. One of them asked his mother, "What the hell is going on, Mother?"
Aldo's mother replied, "Please save my son!"
"Where is your son?" asked a resident. "Is Mom okay?"
"Yes, ... Aldo had plunged into the well," said Aldo's mother. Without delay, Mr. Rio plunged into the well to find Aldo. About five minutes, Aldo had emerged to the surface of the well in a state of unconsciousness. Her mother crying hysterically. Local residents took Aldo to the Puskesmas. For about ten minutes Aldo lay surrounded by local residents, he smiled happily while releasing laughter that invited anger from local residents, especially Aldo's mother who had been crying hysterically.
"Aaaa, ... you son of lawlessness!" said Mr. Rio. "How dare you deceive us all. Do you think we are all kids? Remember! Next time, don't panic your mother!" "Yes, Sir. I'm sorry," Aldo replied.
Residents rushed back to their homes disappointed and angry at Aldo. Like the residents' anger over village fund programs that have no clear direction for the development of Haumeni Village. The doctor's mother was disappointed with Aldo's behavior. Aldo and mother immediately returned home. At home, Aldo's father has his fangs out. Although Aldo has never seen elephant tusks in person, his father's tusks have presented the tusks of Thai elephants because they have disturbed local residents.
“Aldo, ... here you are! What were you doing earlier?” his father asked.
“Put yourself in the well, Dad. Why? Because my food was eaten by my sister."
"You... just because of rice, how could you embarrass me in front of so many people."
Hearing the tone of his father's voice like a top artist's concert to entertain his fans because it has been a long absence, Aldo ran to Sebuy field. It doesn't matter the time night, the most important thing he could calm down there. Because at the top of the savanna he looked at the moon and stars as if listening to the screams of a small child who was longing for a plate of rice, Aldo fell asleep under the mahogany tree in the middle of the savanna until morning.
When the sun returned to illuminate the universe, he was awakened by the chirping of sparrows. Aldo ran back to the house. Aldo runs across thousands of cosmic realms that have accompanied his night sleep in the middle of the Sebuy savanna. While running, he also questions his existence. What was I born for? While questioning his existence, Aldo ran back to the middle of the expanse of savanna, precisely under the mahogany tree. Aldo began to be curious about the meaning of his birth? With a gentle breeze that morning, he listened to the voice of his heart.
“When I was born, I never chose to be poor or to be rich. I also never chose to be born in Timor, Flores, Bali, Sumatra, Kalimantan, or Java. However, as time went on, I realized that I was born and raised in a very poor family and grew up in Timor.”
When it was at this point, Aldo began to experience mental and psychological shocks. If in the world of psychology it is said that people who experience problems like this will find it difficult to develop, it is true what is said in the world of psychology because Aldo has become one with that suffering. Aldo's suffering is like two sides of a coin that are never separated.
Aldo is a child who has been destined by the Creator to share how hard and cruel life is in this world. Life is not the right choice for Aldo. Why? Because life for Aldo is an oppression and torture of injustice in social life. People live based on the shadow of social status that has long inhabited the subconscious in each person.
Although still small, Aldo has felt the dignity of his family which is always trampled by injustice in social life. The dignity of the Aldo family represents thousands, if not millions of people who have experienced the same thing in this beloved country.
People who live based on divisions because of social status. The division of society into social classes has alienated or alienated humans from themselves and their environment, as said by Karl Marx.
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