He was born there.
Descendant of a prominent Minang writer.
Lived his childhood until graduated high school in the capital of West Sumatra.
When I met him, there were already many tags attached.
“He was the school legend because he never studied yet he always got the highest grade,” a friend whispered;
“He could enter the most prestigious department in this institute, but he chooses the one he likes instead,” someone remarked;
“His national test was among the top in the country,” others testified
“Why do you choose to be a writer instead of a scientist? With your GPA, you can live well like your friends abroad,” I once asked,
He replied, “Science is always developing. If I work as a scientist, by the time I get old, my knowledge will be out of date. But if I’m a writer, the older I get, more life experience I obtain,”
I never ask of his life choices again since.
He loves Exupery’s Little Prince so much, and I think he is the Little Prince in the real life.
"Good morning," said the little prince. "That is a queer hat you are wearing."
"It is a hat for salutes," the conceited man replied. "It is to raise in salute when people acclaim me. Unfortunately, nobody at all ever passes this way."
"Yes?" said the little prince, who did not understand what the conceited man was talking about.
"Clap your hands, one against the other," the conceited man now directed him.
The little prince clapped his hands. The conceited man raised his hat in a modest salute.
"This is more entertaining than the visit to the king," the little prince said to himself. And he began again to clap his hands, one against the other. The conceited man again raised his hat in salute.
After five minutes of this exercise the little prince grew tired of the game's monotony.
"And what should one do to make the hat come down?" he asked.
But the conceited man did not hear him.
Conceited people never hear anything but praise.
"Do you really admire me very much?" he demanded of the little prince.
"What does that mean-- 'admire'?"
"To admire means that you regard me as the handsomest, the best-dressed, the richest, and the most intelligent man on this planet."
"But you are the only man on your planet!"
"Do me this kindness. Admire me just the same."
"I admire you," said the little prince, shrugging his shoulders slightly,
"but what is there in that to interest you so much?"
And the little prince went away.
"The grown-ups are certainly very odd," he said to himself, as he continued on his journey.
He is not an ordinary Minang boy.
Not those who want to astound people with loads of possessions
Dimana-mana saya jumpai orang Minang perantau dengan stereotip yang sama. Betapapun kere-nya seorang lelaki Minang di rantau, ia senantiasa berusaha tampil keren.
Kalau perlu arlojinya disepuh emas, meski ia hanya seorang pelayan rumah makan atau pedagang kaki lima. Yang paling khas adalah ketrampilannya menghota atau bercerita, lebih-lebih terhadap orang kampungnya yang baru datang seperti saya. Isi ceritanya 90 persen berisi tentang kehebatan dan keberhasilannya hidup di rantau, meski yang sebenarnya terjadi sebaliknya.
Gaya “Si Padang”, begitulah orang luar Minang memanggilnya, rata-rata berperangai sama, mulai dari yang paling kere sampai konglomerat, tetap tampil keren. Semua itu mencerminkan sikap hidup hemat yang dalam bahasa lainnya pelit, “galir” yang dalam bahasa lainnya licik dan materialistis. Semua itu terungkap dalam penelitian untuk disertasi Soewarsih Warnaen (1981) tentang stereotip orang Minang di rantau yang sempat menghebohkan pemuka-pemuka masyarakat Minang yang merasa kebakaran jenggot.
My boy doesn’t have much money in his pockets, nor wants to impress anyone of having one,
His wealth lies on his vast knowledge; richness that can not be taken by power or financial crisis.
He is part of my heart I’ve been looking for all of these years
My best companion ever.
Never thought he has natural talent as a gossip partner and bitchy-talk mate
I was so happy to stroll around the city with him
So bloodily happy until I uttered a word he frightened the most
He gasped and got angry. He took a thousand steps walk.
I never saw him since.
I guess it was frightening indeed.
He believed that he would never want to return. But on this last morning all these familiar tasks seemed very precious to him. And when he watered the flower for the last time, and prepared to place her under the shelter of her glass globe, he realized that he was very close to tears.
"Goodbye," he said to the flower.
But she made no answer.
"Goodbye," he said again.
The flower coughed. But it was not because she had a cold.
"I have been silly," she said to him, at last. "I ask your forgiveness. Try to be happy..."
He was surprised by this absence of reproaches. He stood there all bewildered, the glass globe held arrested in mid-air. He did not understand this quiet sweetness.
"Of course I love you," the flower said to him. "It is my fault that you have not known it all the while. That is of no importance. But you-- you have been just as foolish as I. Try to be happy... let the glass globe be. I don't want it any more."
"But the wind--"
"My cold is not so bad as all that... the cool night air will do me good. I am a flower."
"But the animals--"
"Well, I must endure the presence of two or three caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies. It seems that they are very beautiful. And if not the butterflies-- and the caterpillars-- who will call upon me? You will be far away... as for the large animals-- I am not at all afraid of any of them. I have my claws."
And, naïvely, she showed her four thorns. Then she added:
"Don't linger like this. You have decided to go away. Now go!"
For she did not want him to see her crying. She was such a proud flower...
I always know that he is the real Little Prince
I just wish that I was the rose in his planet
Because he is not an ordinary boy
He is my Minang boy
*The English quotes were taken from “The Little Prince” by Anthoine de Saint-Exupery; The Indonesian quotes were taken from Harris Effendi Thahar short stories collection, “Si Padang”; the pictures were taken from “The Little Prince” e-book.
