There’s this famous javanese saying:
“Mangan ora Mangan sing penting ngumpul”
- which roughly translates to “Whether we eat or not, the point is we stick together”.
Although it seems a bit stupid it you think about it logically – I mean if we don’t eat something it’s most likely that we’ll start devouring each other. But here I am, trying to link things together and I can’t help but think about the importance of a community in a traditional Javanese setting. Although now in Indonesia, especially in the city, people tend to be more individualist than their parents, there is a fact that still stands, and that we as humans, no matter how introverted or look like a loner, we are indeed social beings.
We’re not talking about how the human race depends on each other for survival. I mean I think all creatures are like that and it’s the basic foundation of a human being. One can only survive if its individual members survive and they need one another to reproduce. We need each other to reproduce new members of our species and to add diversity to the gene pool which determines our survival rates as a species.
But as much as I’d love talking about anthropology, I’ll just skip that part for another entry.
Anyway, all of the sudden what came up in my mind was how my boss in Bali used to tell me his experience when a female lion who got out of its enclosure in an Australian zoo, and as a keeper who knew his animals, he didn’t have to resort to agression to actually get the lion to get in. Lions are the only cats that live in a group, and when they are alone, they feel very uncomfortable and scared, maybe even more scared than we are scared of them. And here we’re talking about a female lion, who by nature will probably live in a pride its whole life. You can find the news release about him here.
Be it a pride of lions, a pack of wolves or a herd of zebras. We, humans are very much like them.
At the basic foundation of living things, we need one another for reproduction and to reproduce other humans.
But what makes us as humans different than animals is that as we grow older, we become more aware of ourselves as individuals and our own individual place among other humans, and then discover that we are part of a unit of other humans.
Who you are comes not only from your own senses and memories, but also from the groups you belong to.
“Mangan ora mangan sing penting ngumpul”
They say that human beings need 2 things to survive: Food and shelter.
But maybe it’s not just that. We need a sense of fulfillment, and to actually feel that we are contributing something. Assurance. Confirmation of own worthiness to be a human being.
To be an individual as a part of a Group.
Speaking of which, yes, Indonesians, Javanese people especially are group people. They find it weird to be somewhat independent and exploring ‘alone’, such as a person like me.
Sometimes I wonder if I’m weird because I’m not typically a person who often goes in groups, and I’ve thought of myself as a solitary animal sometimes. But I guess it’s just a phase. I don’t love the idea of being alone all the time, but sometimes I find it hard to find people who are actually interested in doing some of the things I would like to do…
And lets face it, I come from a big family… I mean a REALLY BIG family when you include my aunts, uncles, nephews, cusins, etc… So sometimes I need that ‘me’ time for me. Sometimes for me being alone is actually a breath of fresh air! Anyway, here’s a picture of not even HALF of my family, so you can just imagine… +_+
But now matter what, I am still a human being. I am still a social creature. So even though my friends find me a bit weird, spontaneous and don’t know what to expect from me and don’t know where I will go next, I will always go back and try to find them. 
Anyway, I would also like to take the time to thank my boyfriend for always being there for me when I need him and so I can pick up the phone and say “I need you to meet me NOW at ……….!” (not much of a girlfriend am I?) ;p
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