Kang Giman
\nBy Ngatini Rasdi<\/p>\n
Kang Giman - Kang is the Javanese way of addressing an elder
\nbrother - returned from his rice field with a frightened face
\nand immediately threw his hoe and his bamboo-made broad conical-
\nshaped head covering to one corner of the kitchen. Then he
\nhurried into his bedroom and lay himself on his small bed.<\/p>\n
It was still early in the morning and Marti, his wife, was yet to
\nleave for the market. Their children had just left for school.<\/p>\n
\"What's up, Kang?\" Marti, worried, asked. She also came into the
\nbedroom and saw the pale face of her husband. \"When you left, you
\nsaid you would return only late in the afternoon, Kang. Why have
\nyou returned home now?\"<\/p>\n
\"I'm scared!\" he replied. His body was shivering.<\/p>\n
\"Of whom?\"
\n\"The police\"<\/p>\n
Marti thought for a while. What has really happened to Kang
\nGiman? she wondered. Kang Giman had a small rice field and would
\nwork there all day long. He had never got involved in any
\npolitical or social affairs in their village. He also took part
\nin the village's cleaning program. He was law-abiding and would
\nalways pay taxes. She wondered again whether her husband had ever
\nviolated the law. Why has he suddenly felt afraid of the police?<\/p>\n
\"I saw many policemen in the rice field. They are sure to take
\npossession of our rice field,\" he said with a trembling voice.<\/p>\n
Marti began to understand why her husband had got scared. Lately,
\nsome policemen were seen in the rice fields in their village. She
\nhad heard people say that a big factory would soon be built on
\nthese rice fields.<\/p>\n
They did not say what factory it would be but if the plan was
\nimplemented, the owner would first have to force the villagers to
\ngive up their rice fields. He would ask the help of local police
\nto come to these rice fields, apparently to force the villagers
\nto sell their rice fields to this rich man at prices that he set
\nhimself. In the neighboring villages, this rich man successfully
\ngot hold of the villagers' rice fields with the help of some
\npolicemen. He bought their rice fields at very low prices.<\/p>\n
\"Don't be afraid of these policemen, Kang. They will not arrest
\nyou because you are not a criminal. They may just want to find
\nout what the rice fields look like. Who knows they just want to
\nget acquainted with people like you, Kang,\" Marti said, calming
\ndown her husband.<\/p>\n
\"But one of them talked rudely to me. He shouted at me!\" Kang
\nGiman said.<\/p>\n
Marti chuckled. \"It was just what you thought, Kang. Perhaps this
\npoliceman only wanted to command respect. Don't you think that a
\npoliceman must be firm in his attitude?\"<\/p>\n
Kang Giman pouted his mouth.<\/p>\n
\"Come on. You are not a criminal nor a fugitive. What must you be
\nafraid?\" she said. Then she left for the market.<\/p>\n
At home, Kang Giman could not dispel his fear. He thought it
\nwould be better to confine himself in his bedroom. He shut the
\ndoor and all the windows. \"Nobody will think that I'm inside,\" he
\nthought.<\/p>\n
An hour passed but Kang Giman could not sleep. His fear was
\nmounting. He imagined himself being arrested, detained and beaten
\nup. This imagination tortured him. He remembered telling his
\nfellow villagers, a long time ago before the plan about the new
\nfactory came to their village, to unite and defend their rice
\nfields to the last drop of blood. \"Isn't it possible that these
\npolicemen were here because someone had told them something about
\nme?\" he said to himself.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
On her way to the market, Marti saw some policemen in the rice
\nfield. They were together with several smartly-dressed gentlemen.<\/p>\n
Strangely, there was no farmer around. \"Are all the farmers
\nafraid of these policemen?\" she wondered.<\/p>\n
Marti walked faster. She wanted to finish her business at the
\nmarket as soon as possible and then returned to her home. She was
\nafraid her husband was still under the attack of his excessive
\nfear. Several months ago, Pak Marto, a neighbor, committed
\nsuicide because of his excessive fear when several policemen came
\nto his house along with the businessman that was eyeing his rice
\nfield.<\/p>\n
When she finally arrived at the market, she realized that she was
\nsome people were strangely staring at her.<\/p>\n
\"Please, is there anything unusual about me?\" she asked one of
\nher neighbors there.<\/p>\n
\"Is your husband still in his rice field?\" this woman asked back.<\/p>\n
\"What did my husband do there?\" Marti asked.<\/p>\n
\"I saw a policeman shout at your husband and point his gun at
\nhim,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"Why?\"<\/p>\n
\"People said your husband dared to look at the policeman in the
\nface.\"<\/p>\n
\"Just that?\"<\/p>\n
\"it was also said your husband once said to defend the rice field
\nto the last drop of blood.\"<\/p>\n
Marti snorted. Many of the villagers had been talking about Kang
\nGiman's determination to defend his rice field. It would be like
\na mental terror for him.<\/p>\n
\"You'd better advise your husband not to fight. Little people
\nwill never win.\"<\/p>\n
Marti snorted again and then hurried home. She felt increasingly
\nworried about Kang Giman, alone at home.<\/p>\n
She became very worried when she found the door and the windows
\nclosed.<\/p>\n
\"Kang Giman!\" she shouted.<\/p>\n
There was no answer.<\/p>\n
\"Get up, Kang. Open the door!\"<\/p>\n
Quiet still.<\/p>\n
Marti became greatly worried. Her heart beat fast. \"Has he
\ncommitted suicide?\"<\/p>\n
She wildly knocked at the door and shouted her husband's name.
\nAfter some time, she decided the break the door open. She did but
\npanic overcame her when she found the door of the bedroom locked.<\/p>\n
\"Get up, Kang! Get up! Open the door!\" she shouted, crying.<\/p>\n
Still there was no answer.<\/p>\n
She gathered up her strength and, once again, broke the bedroom
\ndoor open.<\/p>\n
There, on their small bed, her husband, pale and shivering, was
\ntucked up.<\/p>\n
\"Come on, Kang, don't be afraid of the police. Come to yourself,
\nKang!\" She cried and hugged him closely. Still, Kang Giman said
\nnothing.<\/p>\n
****<\/p>\n
Kang Giman refused to leave his bedroom. Days changed into weeks
\nand weeks into months. Marti asked several psychics to help her
\nhusband but to no avail.<\/p>\n
After three years had elapsed, Kang Giman began to leave his
\nbedroom and sit in the veranda. Sometimes, he walked a short
\ndistance. Local kids would tease him, saying :\"Police are coming.
\nPolice are coming\". Hearing this, Kang Giman would run helter
\nskelter to his house and hid himself in his bedroom.<\/p>\n
That morning, Kang Giman was ready to leave the house. He was
\ncarrying his hoe and wearing his usual head covering.<\/p>\n
\"Where are you going, Kang?\"<\/p>\n
\"Where else? To the rice field, of course.\"<\/p>\n
Marti could not hold her tears. Kang Giman looked normal again
\nand would again work in his rice field. Every morning he would
\ncarry his hoe and wear his bamboo-made broad conical-shaped head
\ncovering. Unfortunately, all the rice fields had been converted
\ninto a factory site. The construction of the factory itself was
\nneglected because of the protracted economic crisis.<\/p>\n
\"Don't go, Kang. There are policemen in the rice field!\" Marti
\nsaid. She would say this every day to her husband, who would
\nreturn to his bedroom, frightened and pale.<\/p>\n
Grobogan, February 10, 2004<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bkang-gimanb-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }