We called it mancing bebe’an, fishing for fake fish. When I was little, my friends and I didn't need real fishing rods or real fish to play. We made our own out of banana trees. We would search the village for a banana tree that had already been cut down, stripping away the outer layers to find the soft fronds inside. Then, we would cut and shape them until they looked just like fish.
We would tie our banana-frond fish to a piece of string, and the game began. We would run down to the small creek near our homes and throw them into the water. Sometimes, we would turn it into a battle: we let the current pull them, fighting to see whose fish would stay attached the longest. Whoever’s fish broke free from the string was the loser. That was how we spent our days, always coming up with new ideas that kept us from ever feeling bored. One minute we were running through the gardens looking for banana fronds, the next we were creating our fish, and then we were splashing in the creek with so much excitement.
We didn't know the time back then, and none of us wore watches. Our only afternoon alarm was the sounds around us: the shifting call of the birds, the hum of the insects in the trees, or the long belly-cry of the cattle. The moment those sounds changed, we knew the afternoon was fading and the dark was coming soon. We would gather our things and walk home together, our heads full of stories, ready to share every single detail with our parents at home.
It is beautiful to think about, how even the children back then knew how to read nature, how to read the hours from ibu pertiwi, mother earth, herself.
Today, all of that is gone. Kids don't play in the creek anymore. There are no more bebe’an fish, and no more natural alarms from the wild.
But just by remembering it today, I can still feel that exact same excitement coming back to me.
Dalam Bahasa Indonesia
Kami menyebutnya mancing bebe’an, memancing ikan-ikanan. Saat aku kecil, aku dan teman-temanku tidak butuh alat pancing asli atau ikan beneran untuk bermain. Kami membuat ikan kami sendiri dari pohon pisang. Kami akan mencari pohon pisang yang sudah ditebang di sekitar desa, lalu mencari pelepah pohonnya untuk dipotong dan dibentuk menjadi ikan.
Kami akan mengikat ikan pelepah pisang itu di seutas tali, dan permainan pun dimulai. Kami berlari ke sungai kecil dekat rumah dan melemparkan ikan-ikan itu ke air. Kadang-kadang, kami membuat pertarungan ikan: kami membiarkan arus membawanya, mengadu siapa yang ikannya bisa bertahan paling lama. Siapa yang ikannya terlepas dari tali, dia yang kalah. Begitulah cara kami menghabiskan waktu, selalu punya ide-ide baru yang membuat kami tidak pernah bosan bermain. Sesaat kami lari ke kebun mencari pelepah pisang, saat berikutnya kami sibuk berkreasi membuat ikan, dan tahu-tahu kami sudah begitu bersemangat bermain di sungai.
Kami tidak tahu jam dan tidak mengenal jam tangan saat itu. Penanda sore untuk kami hanyalah suara-suara di sekitar: perubahan suara kicau burung, dengungan serangga di pepohonan, atau suara sapi yang melenguh. Begitu suara-suara itu berubah, kami tahu waktu sudah menunjukkan sore hari dan malam akan segera gelap. Kami pun akan berjalan pulang bersama-sama, dengan kepala penuh cerita yang siap kami bagikan kepada orang tua di rumah.
Sangat menarik bagaimana dulu bahkan anak-anak tahu cara membaca alam, membaca waktu dari alam itu sendiri.
Hari ini tidak ada lagi semua hal itu. Anak-anak tidak lagi bermain di sungai, tidak ada lagi bebe'an, tidak ada lagi alarm alami dari alam.
Hanya dengan mengenangnya hari ini, aku kembali merasakan semangat yang sama.