2008-04-09 - 1:14 p.m.
Last Sunday evening at McDonald's in Sarinah Building, Thamrin, Central Jakarta, I witnessed something really amazing most of us would usually take no notice or even miss. (What a shame.) I'm glad I've seen such rarirt these days.
In the playground area, I saw these four random kids play together. Obviously, they didn't know each other but seemed to get along very well. There was a Turkish little boy (I sort of guessed that because I've seen his parents sitting nearby, watching him as they talked in foreign language I couldn't understand), probably about six or seven from his posture. He was a handsome and friendly brunet. He smiled a lot. He seemed to be enjoying himself there, playing with the three little girls. There was a cute Indian girl, a sweet-looking Chinese girl, and a tiny Indonesian infant. The boy obviously enjoyed their attention on him too, because he then decided to take their tiny hands in his in turns as they climbed the plastic steps together. The Chinese girl happened to be the shy one, because at first --- she only looked at him until he extended his pale hand with a smile. What a little gentleman.
When it was finally time for the young Turkish prince to go home, the Chinese princess only watched him in silence as the boy's parents took him away. From there, I could tell that there was a feeling of loss. Aww.
It's just rare kind of innocence I got to notice once in a while these days. Seeing the children play together that night has somehow made me feel reminded of what I've silently been missing so much, especially with the complexities of adulthood. I mean, how often do we really look at each other and just get along without certain prejudice of skin colour, race, religion, or even gender?
I hope we all can look at these pure souls and learn from their childlike tranquility and strength to face life as it is. I hope we all get to realize what we've already lost and forgotten. May we be able to re-learn and embrace what we often take for granted.
The Author
