LOVE SONGS OF LOLOBATA

THE FOUR-EYE DIALOGUE

I eat by following my grandmother's way, which is to eat regularly from the side closest to me. Not mixing food. Eat quietly until there is no sound of the clinking of the spoon and fork against anything. Nor does it make a sound of sophistication that makes others disgusted.

Bray watched my eating. We looked at each other a few times and threw smiles at each other. I don't care if it's weird to continue eating quietly and enjoy the delights of God on the plate in front of me.

"Are you comfortable with how you eat?"

I'm nodding. Then continue eating until the contents of my plate run out. After that I cupped the spoon and fork on the plate.

"You dessert?"

"No. It's full." I answered while wiping my lips with tisue.

"Where did you learn the ethics of eating?"

"When to eat? I don't know the ethics of eating. Mas Bray knows I'm a jungle girl far from civilization. I'm just interested in how to eat Grandma. Looks elegant and classy. Is that what we call the ethics of eating?"

Bray smiled with satisfaction, "Kukira while in Makassar you deliberately took a special class on eating ethics."

"There is such an education?"

"There's."

"Should you pay dearly?"

"Yes." Yeah."

"Kok learn so you have to pay, what does it do?"

"Make a rich man's noose."

I glared as I raised my hand, "I'm not like that. The vow! I just follow Grandma's habits. Just following the instincts of a grandchild who wants his grandmother to be happy. Grandma looks happy that her offspring are obedient and follow her habits."

Bray smiles a smile at my slightly nondescript answer. Cobalt. His words contained accusations as if I had deliberately ensnared him. I don't know what an ethics of eating is. Honest from the bottom of my heart there is no intention in my heart except to please my grandmother and myself. I am indeed interested in following the habits of grandmothers who are considered to be conservative. Maybe because my thinking tends to be conservative.

"You didn't update the information. In big cities there are personality course classes that teach eating ethics, speaking ethics, dress ethics, walking ethics, and various other ethics. A lot of people go to that class to get along with the upper class."

Um, what is it? Maybe the people of Jakarta have mostly money to be willing to pay dearly for such courses. But not with me who was born with the concept of education should be free so that it can be reached by all people. Rich or poor deserve knowledge and knowledge. Learning can be for anyone and does not have to be paid.

"That's why I don't like living in big cities. Ribet. I also never thought of hanging out with upper class people. To me, all humans are the same."

Bray showed off his smile again and again. I love her adoring look even though my face is not perfect.

Green ice chirping as dessert has been served on the table. He sipped it slowly and deeply. The fresh taste flowed down my throat even though I didn't taste the traditional dessert.

"Have you ever had green lizard?" ask before again sipping the lizard with a large straw the size of a 1/4 inch pipe.

"Earlier. In the past, there was a school teacher who brought a flower and we practiced making their own cloves. Mocked until the water is a deep green and then left overnight to thicken." I am proud to tell you about the practice of making lipstick that was once taught by the teacher of the jungle school.

Bray looks so stunned. I think he can just enjoy. Never knew how to make it.

"Son's a great jungle teacher."

"Yes. They know a lot of things that can be practiced in everyday life. But it's a shame they can't stay with us. As long as there is a jungle school program, keep changing his teaching brother. There are often empty periods without teachers."

Thats difficult. Good programs learn directly from nature that inland children like us need to falter due to lack of funders.

"Since there is a public school, the brothers of education volunteers were seconded so that teachers do not remain in school. There is no more jungle school activity in our mosque." I said in a declining tone of voice. Disappointment begins to re-inflate the heart.

"So, the jungle school was held in the mosque next to the walnut tree?"

Apparently Bray remembered the death of my parrot. The little Mushola was indeed close to the walnut tree that witnessed our dispute about the death of my best friend.

"Yes. Mushola used to be the center of everything, Bray. That's why I keep it even if I live alone. Baba taught children to teach, write, read and share about anything in the mosque for years. Mushola was quiet since baba died and people to the village split away from our village. Precisely since PT XY acquired our land."

My memories of baba and my anger at the mining company that took over our land re-emerge. My view changed instantly. I see Bray not as a butterfly, but as a criminal who has ruined the happiness of my life.

Bray almost choked. My mood changes are beginning to be read by him. I face each other like an army ready for battle. That memory reopened an old wound that tore my heart.

"Have we not built a bigger mosque in a new village? It should have served as a substitute for the mushola."

Bray clearly wants to defend PT XY led by him with that statement. He wanted to show himself as a hero by saying he had built a bigger mosque. He has always echoed no human rights violations in his company's operations. He said the presence of the company actually encourages people inland to live more decent by building road facilities, houses, providing replacement gardens and various public facilities such as schools, football fields and houses of worship.

"The function of a building is not judged by its large, small or magnificent. The place that makes people comfortable when they are in it is not just because of physical. But because of the influence of the spirit and spirit of those who nourish it. An invisible movement by the eyes. But we can see the impact it has. Bray, look for yourself. The mosque built in the new village was deserted. Not as lively as our mushola."

Bray's water turned grim. Refute to not having evidence.

The mosque is not a place for socializing. Just a place of worship. After congregational prayer activities that were only attended by a handful of people the mosque was again deserted. School children in a separate building. People are now also starting to be reluctant to share stories with others because every question can be asked more easily and quickly on Google.

I think it's time Bray found out who I am and what's making me miserable.

"People who move to new villages are mostly opportunists, not religious or naturalists. Did Bray know some of our villagers went back into the forest? Somehow his fate is now. Whether they make a new village in the Lolobata forest or rejoin the Lili people who live in the forest area."

Bray shakes. He watched every movement of my lips carefully. Not trying to block my opinion with what the company has done for the community that it considers as an achievement.

"I don't know if they're religious or not. Whether their children can be educated or left to live away from the touch of the surrounding community."

"So you think it's my fault?" Bray asked with a lethargic face.

It seems Bray is starting to feel guilty. Perhaps de yure he did not violate human rights because he held the right of concession and has tried to replace the property rights of citizens who entered the territory of his concession properly. But the fact is there are some people whose lives have been disturbed since the company he led opened the mine.

A smile flows from my lips. I'm glad my dialogue was considered. Bray seemed to think hard and feel guilty. He's not a hard-hearted man like my trump. He just doesn't know what I've been feeling since the company came to bring new life to our villagers

"I don't know whose fault it is. I want to meet those who are left out by the circumstances and invite them to be religious and educated. Maybe it could be the company's next CSR program." I finally found a reassuring answer for both of us. Not to corner Bray who has worked hard to advance the village and my anxiety has been revealed.

Bray smiled broadly. "I'm always worried about you, Fifa. My future wife is really a smart and characterful woman. Of course I agree with your idea."

What makes our lives difficult is prejudice. With better communication, we can find solutions. Not by silence and mourning fate.