A rose for 'Mbok' Bodro

A rose for 'Mbok' Bodro

JAKARTA (JP): Departing the house early has been one way for
me to avoid traffic jams. The only trouble is, I always arrive at
the office before the gate is opened. Therefore, I decided I
needed to find somewhere to stop to wait. Hence my acquaintance
with Mbok Bodro, a scavenger living in a cardboard shelter on a
sidewalk one kilometer from my office.

When I stopped near her shelter for the first time, she looked
at me suspiciously, thinking that I was one of the Kamtib
(municipal security personnel) who intended to demolish her home.
But then, upon realizing I was harmless, her attitude changed.
She came across as a humorous woman with a throaty laugh. And
easy going too. When I gave a name to the old cat she had been
looking after, she laughed her head off. "You rich people are
unbelievable! A cat is a cat, an animal that would never know its
name. Why bother to give it one?"

Chatting with Mbok Bodro, who was better off when her husband
was still alive, was a routine activity that I got to enjoy. She
helped me kill the boring time waiting for the gate to open, with
her jokes and her simple points of view. She often came up with
funny stories about her experience as a scavenger.

One day, I brought her some fried rice for breakfast. "Wow!
High-class food!" she joked in her usual loudness. "Tole will
love this. He hasn't had a decent meal for ages."

"Who is Tole?" I asked uncomfortably. I brought the food for
her, not for anybody else.

"He is our boy," she answered happily.

"Our boy" turned out to be a 15-year-old orphan whose parents
died in a flood two years ago. Mbok Bodro found the skinny,
homeless boy roaming the streets of Jakarta, earning his bread
and butter by singing at intersections. She took him home with
her and built him a small shelter adjacent to hers. Her fellow
scavengers then pitched in to foster Tole and send him to school.

"He is such a smart boy. He is always number one in his class.
Some day he will be an engineer or a doctor. He is our sweetheart
and we are proud of him," bragged Mbok Bodro lovingly as though
she was talking about her own son.

I was amazed at how Mbok Bodro saw things in life. Poor as she
was, she still had room for good deeds; something I never thought
of trying. Her simple philosophy in helping others should be
adopted by those who have abundant. "Keeping more than you need
is a burden. Why not share it with those in need?"

Frankly speaking, I myself find it hard to adopt her way of
life, what with so many obligations I am saddled with in this
demanding era of modernity. I have never thought of fostering an
orphan, let alone erecting a home (whatever the condition) for
one.

The idea of taking Tole home and giving him a better life did
cross my mind. It wouldn't be a problem because I could afford
it. But then I realized that taking him away would just rob Mbok
Bodro and her fellow scavengers of all the pride and the joy they
get from sharing his upbringing.

It is not relevant to do things Mbok Bodro's way. We can do
good deeds in our own way, our own capacity. The trouble is, we
frequently do it improperly.

A friend of mine, a journalist, was once invited to accompany
a rich celebrity on her trip to hand out donations to the victims
of a natural disaster. He almost quit the trip. First of all, he
loathed the sight of the woman who didn't show a trace of
sensitivity on the situation. "Clad in an outfit of the latest
trend, she looked like a walking advertisement for Emanuel
Ungaro, Gucci, Cartier or Bulgari. And the smell made me feel
like I was sitting with Madonna, Naomi Campbell and Liz Taylor in
a stretch limousine with all the windows closed," my friend
ranted.

"She came with a helping hand all right! But why should she
flaunt such luxury in front of those in misery? And to think that
she took along an army of journalists to cover her activity!"

Recently, the Jakarta municipality also did a good deed; it
cleaned up the sidewalks to make the city look neat and clean so
that people can better enjoy the city. Unfortunately the good
deed removed Mbok Bodro from sight because her home was swept
away.

I was shocked to find Mbok Bodro was no longer there. The
people nearby said she was hauled onto a truck and her home was
burned down along with all of her miserable belongings. Nobody
had any idea where the poor scavengers were taken.

Now I have a boring time waiting for my office gate to open.
Gone is the friend who made my day with her jokes and her simple
words of wisdom. It makes me sick every time I think of what may
have happened to her and her fellow scavengers, especially Tole,
the future engineer.

But life goes on. I can't possibly take control of what may
happen. As Mbok Bodro once said, everybody is born with his or
her fate predetermined. However, should you see her around this
Valentine's Day, please give her a rose for me. She might laugh
her head off, because she has no idea what a rose means on this
day. But give it to her anyway. She deserves it.

-- Carl Chairul