My Ancestral House

I'd like to tell you about my house. I live with my extended family in a house that I inherited from my ancestors. It is an old house, built hundreds of years ago. It is so old that I don't know for sure when it was built. People said that it was built sometime during the colonial era. Like other noble houses that were built in those days, it is very very big. Its compound is very large. The border is never clear that I don't know for sure where the exact line is. I don't know if there are parties who took other party's right and I don't know how much they took. But most probably it is my party who did it because members of my family are unjust people. For hundreds of years nobody dare to take it seriously because everybody was afraid of my relatives due to their great number - there are hundreds of millions - and their misbehavior. Most of them are ferocious, they are ready to kick people at anytime and anywhere. Their victims are countless.
The building is very spacious. Its style is mixed. Some parts of it are European style while some other parts are in Javanese style. But the latter is more dominant. The front part is an open hall for meeting and social gathering. It is clearly a miniature of a hall in royal Javanese palaces. There are eight main pillars in it. They are tall, big and look solid. The material is first class teak wood. Those pillars are decorated with gold and wood carving that look nice and complicated.
There are so many rooms that I don't know the number for sure. Inside those spacious rooms my relative live with their families. Some of them are rich but most of them are not. Those needy people live in poor condition. They are dirty, dull and sensitive. Their number is not clear but I think more than two hundred million.
We have numerous chambers that function as storage place for food. The size is very big, but it is not clear to me because it is always dark and gloomy. It gives the impressions of scary to me so I never get inside it. Once I took a look from a distant. It was full of stuff. I saw wooden boxes, cylinders, barrels and many other things. My relative said that everything is inside, just name it. There are Javanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Western and Japanese food. Members of my exended family take their food from this place.

Unfortunately, the door is very old and there are many loops on it. Consequently mice are very happy to take whatever they want. They steal too much stuff that the storage chamber often run out of food stuff.

The soil of my vast compound is so fertile that anything will grow well here. Many kinds of fruits are always available in abundance all year long. Lovely flowers are never absent to show their beauty in every season. But again and again, it is others who enjoy them. My neighbors are the happy ones.

The location of my house is excellent. It is not far from city center. In front of it there is the only main street to city center so people from the east have to pass it to go to the west or city center. Similarly, people from the west have to pass it to go to the eastern part of the city. No wonder many people are very eager to have my house.

All activities of the family are centered in the house. Everybody works and studies here. Very few of them work in the neighborhood. Some of them become rich by working at our neighbors but some of them received very bad treatment from our neighbors. Some are blackmailed, tortured, raped and even murdered. People said that our neighbors cooperate with members of my relative in a conspiracy to exploit them.

Actually the big house still shows its beauty. But unfortunately, maybe because of the rat and age, there are so many damage. The compound that used to be lovely and elegant now looks dirty. Plants are scarce, and it makes the atmosphere hot and very uncomfortable. There are too many leaks on the roof. They are found even in every room. The pipes are relatively new but they also leak everywhere, consequently our bathroom always short of water. We have wells at the backyard. Now they are almost dry, only very few dirty water left.

The paint looks old and gloomy. Moss grow well and black spots are everywhere. At some places the walls flake off so we can see the bricks. The main gate and the big doors look very old and vulnerable. No wonder everybody thinks that it might be very easy to break in.

My extended family lately makes me feel embarrassed when our neighbors complained of their misbehavior. They trespassed our neighbors' houses and farms and they took some fruits, flowers, and anything they found there. There is no doubt that their misbehavior is caused by poverty but still it is not a right excuse. The food warehouse in my ancestral house is not safe, too many mice stole from there so it is often empty. Some of my relative, however, have good behavior. They tried to look for a job in my neighborhood legally. many of them work as driver, house maid, bricklayer, factory worker, nanny, or any other worker. Nevertheless, as i told you earlier, majority of them never knocked the door when they came and never said good bye when they left. They just don't care about manner, courtesy and rules. The other day there was an incident when they took my neighbor's food and drink. My neighbors warned them, but they got angry. Soon fight broke out between them. My neighbors were outnumbered so they lose the fight. Today they do not like us. Some of them especially the wealthy ones have built high walls to protect their houses.

But the most serious problem in my house is because too many mice that steal our food and destroy our house. They found their heaven here. They built their bunkers everywhere. They are so greedy that they take anything. Not only food and drink but also any household appliances become their prey. The marble that once look elegant and beautiful now look old, dirty and gloomy. The walls that once was shiny now look dirty. The pillars that once showed grandeur now look saddening.

Actually there was an effort to solve the problem. About ten years ago my relative agreed to renovate it. We hired some workers and bought some building materials from Europe and America. Renovation was done at several parts of it and minor change is obvious. The walls look better. The paint is new. The walls and the garden look tidy. The greatest change is in the meeting hall in front of the house. It is clean and tidy. The wall was painted white. The floor was clean and shiny. The furniture was new.

But unfortunately the change is only minor, only in its appearance. Many people praised our house because they saw the front part only. Nobody knows the condition of the interior. The bathroom and the pipes still leak. So do the roof. There is no thorough renovation.

My relative told me that actually the chief of the worker that we hired was a smart person. He can do a good job but he could not resist the problem of mice. He told me that the building materials was stolen. Even stone, sand, paint and wood were gone.

As the damage is getting worse and worse my family agree to discuss it in a family gathering.

One night the whole extended family gathered at the spacious meeting hall. Most of adult members were present in this gathering. I was assigned to chair the meeting. After greeting and some small talk I presented to them the most severe problem that we faced regarding our ancestral house. Soon many people raised their hands to give their proposal, comment, or criticism. Most of them just wanted to paint with the best white paint. The did not care about the cost.
"If our house looks good, said a big brother, people will trust us. They will believe that we are rich and smart. The good reputation of our family will be back, our fortune will return."
One of my relative, his name is Siswo, asked,
"How about the leak ? I think we'd better repair the leaks first so they won't get worse and destroy everything. If there is no more leaks, the walls will be nice and clean. We don't have to spend money on painting it."
Siswo is a smart and brave student at Gadjah Mungkur University.
"Foolish!", the big brother got mad. His name is Suman, but we are used to call him Haryo Suman, a tricky character in Mahabarata epic, an ancient Indian story. Beside similarity in nae, his facial expressions give us impressions that he is tricky and corrupt. His manner is gentle and polite, but he cannot hide his attitude that create bad impressions. He often underestimates people. He wants people to pay extra respect to him. His style is like government official during Suharto era who speak in broken Indonesian language.
"That is just minor problem. You must not exaggerate it. You are not nationalist! May be you are a communist !"
I asked myself what the correlation between nationalism and leak is.

Another relative, his name is Sarjono, said that the most severe damage is the destruction caused by mice.
'Therefore, first priority is fighting them.'
He got many support and soon the discussion moved toward the method.

"Among the various ways applied by our neighbors, the most effective one is by destroying the building. We are forced to do this because there are too many hole as hiding place for them. They are inside the pillars, inside the pipes, inside the bathrooms and everywhere."

Sarjono went on that due to the excessive damage that is beyond repair, this house must be rebuild. The old house must be destroyed and we must rebuild on a new design.

I think this is a crazy proposal.

"How about the cost ? Who will finance it ?" I asked him.
"All of us !"
"It is not fair". I got mad this time. "And it is easier said than done"
"It is not us who destroyed this house, then suddenly you ask me and the others should pay for the renovations? For something we did not do ? Is is fair ?"
"I know, but who else will finance it ? Is it possible for us to ask those mice to be responsible ? Can you catch them ? Then how can we talk to them ? what if they pretend to be sick? Can we interrogate them ? In addition, he went on, the mice have heard about our meeting so beside s pretending to be sick some of them have fled to our neighbors. Everybody knows that in our neighborhood there are several families who earn their living by doing mouse business. They earn a lot of money from mice."

Another big brother, his name id Mr Pidel proposed,
"Actually we don't have to destroy then to rebuild, because we need a lot of money to do that while we are not wealthy family. Besides, there old structures that we can use. So, what we need is just partial renovation. We need to renovate or replace the main pillars, the walls, the gate, the pipe, the bathroom, the food warehouse and the kitchen. It is urgent that we renovate these parts."

This time, another relative whose name is Karto Marmo had a unique proposal.
"We all know that it is the mice who destroyed our house, therefore we should find a mouse tamer! Ask him to control the mice."

The other quickly replied,"Although he is a mouse tamer, he has to feed his mice. How can he feed the mice ? The burden is still on us!"

The night was getting late and the debate was getting warmer and warmer, but there was no solution that we found. Meanwhile condition of our house was getting worse and worse. Our financial and physical security was threatened under such circumstances. The big house might collapse at anytime because the pillars, the walls, the roof, were getting weaker and weaker while the burden was getting heavier and heavier. Who is responsible then ? I feel my headache was greater than ever. The problem of running a big ancestral house really make me mad and frustrated. Sometimes I wonder should I stay or should I leave ? Some of my relatives who can't stand living here anymore have moved overseas. They live a happy life there. I have the same idea if I have to.
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