The trees swayed, not only because of the wind, but also because
Ibu swayed with her son in her arms. She was trying to put him to sleep, but he looked around with eyes wide open instead of being sleep-induced.
"Sleep,
Putra. Why are you being so stubborn today?"
Ibu did not get an answer to her question. Not that she expected one from her child. She knew his eyes searched for his father.
"
Bapak will be here soon. He will not like it to find you awake. Do you want him to feel bad for keeping you awake for no fault of his…?"
Putra hugged her tighter than before.
Ibu smiled. Like every child, her son too preferred sleeping in his mother's arms. But unlike other children, he needed his father to be around to fall asleep. That sense of security helped her child sleep better.
Ibu could imagine her son's eyes shut tight like his hug. They swayed amidst the greenery that appeared lush against the clear blue sky.
"
Bapak is late… Where is he,
Ibu…?"
"He is right under our tree with our relatives. He will be back up here soon."
Putra did not ask any more questions. It was more than enough for him that his father was nearby. He now tried to sleep as his mother wanted him to.
A distant buzz put everyone on alert. All the children were fast asleep, but the adults worried about the sound. The buzz not only travelled through the air into their ears but also through the trees, via the earth, and into their bodies. The buzz became louder and soon they heard the twigs and dried leaves breaking. It was now loud enough to wake up the sleeping children. The source of the sound made itself visible to everyone as it moved closer to them. It was a tall yellow thing with weird teeth in two mouths; one at the front and one at the back. The adults knew what it was as they had seen it before when it had come to their old neighbourhood. They hated it. They snarled at it. As it engrossed them in their display of hatred, the trees vibrated. In no time, many trees fell. Panicking at the mayhem's repetition, the adults shouted at each other to run for safety. Parents picked their infants and ran. But they had nowhere to go. So, they huddled on a huge tree at the end of the forest patch. As they witnessed the horror,
Putra remembered something.
"
Ibu, my toy is still there," he said, and before his mother could respond, he jumped out of her arms and ran to the tree on which they were before the trees fell.
Bapak, who was sure that his son was hiding with his mother, saw his wife running after their son running towards the fallen tree. He too ran after them but the logs that fell around him deterred his pace. He wished he wasn't seeing what he saw happening in front of him.
Putra climbed the fallen tree and grabbed his toy. There was a voice in an unknown language somewhere near him.
Ibu ran and grabbed and hugged him. She too heard the same unknown language in another voice. Neither understood it. Had they understood, they would have jumped off the fallen tree and run for their lives. Because one man had told another that the orange pest was back on the tree. The second man told the first to throw that pest away and pick the logs.
What
Bapak saw next was his wife and son being flung off the fallen tree. He heard
Putra's screams but not
Ibu's. When he reached them,
Putra was crying and shaking
Ibu who was sprawled on the ground with no movement.
Seeing his father,
Putra cried even more. "
Bapak,
Ibu is not talking. Please ask her to talk to me… I am scared. Please tell her I will not run away from her again. I promise,
Bapak. Please ask her to talk to me…"
Bapak too tried to wake
Ibu, but his efforts were in vain. He cried too, but seeing his distraught son, he controlled himself. He could still hear the yellow thing moving the logs. Screaming his lungs out and beating his chest with his fists,
Bapak ran to the yellow thing to ward it off. He tried to punch its weird teeth but hurt his fists instead. The two men again spoke in the same unknown language. Immediately the yellow thing flung
Bapak near
Ibu.
Putra came running to his father's side.
Bapak was not hurt. "
Bapak…
Ibu…"
"I never knew we are worthless when compared to them… I never knew,
Putra…"
Bapak said pointing at the two men speaking in the unknown language.
The entire world saw, on their laptops and phones, what happened with
Bapak,
Ibu, and
Putra. Someone with the two timber men had recorded the whole incident. For them, it was just work. The world did not know the three orangutans by their names, or that they were a family. For them, they were just orangutans that the bulldozer hurt while logging of their habitat in Indonesia. But thanks to the video and whoever shot it, people finally noticed and discussed why the orangutans' natural habitat was torn down.
"Why are they doing this?" Lakshmi asked watching the viral fight-for-survival video again.
"Do what?" Arun asked her while packing his bag for a business trip.
"Why are people destroying natural habitats of animals? It is not only bad for the animals, but this deforestation is also bad for humans. We humans are bringing doom upon ourselves."
"Oh, that orangutan video… Well, darling, they are cutting those trees to grow palm trees. What is wrong with that? With palm trees, you are not actually losing on greenery and you are harvesting palm oil too. Win-win situation, isn"t it?"
"Win-win for whom? For humans. Not for the rightful dwellers of the rainforests. If you think about it, this is not a win-win for humans as well. These are peatlands they are destroying. Do you get it? These lands are carbon-rich, and deforestation here means soil erosion and the release of carbon into the atmosphere. Global warming. Climate change. We are destroying everything for everyone."
Arun turned to her. He cupped her face in his palms. "I know. But what is it that we can do about…? Your heart is at the right place, Lakshmi… If something affects you, you will do something about it. Me? I am just going to work now, if that harms no one or nothing. For now, I cannot discuss this with you as I am late. Okay?"
Lakshmi nodded, but her face was grim. Arun knew she was silent, but her mind was not. She had to let him go to work. He had to let her be herself. It was her idea of a win-win situation in their marriage.
Before stepping out of the house, Arun turned to his wife and said, "Don't be engrossed in these issues so much that you forget about Uttam's tenth birthday. As it is, I am not here for his big day. You too should not disappoint him." He pecked on her cheek and walked away.
The more Lakshmi searched, the more articles about the deforestation surfaced. Along with the peatlands being a habitat for orangutans, they were the habitat for the Sumatran tigers too. There were articles of how even local people were helping the multinational companies with deforestation and growing palm trees, to trade with each other. The natives were of no help, uninterested as they were in saving their heritage and land because they only thought about making money enough for their necessities. There were videos of orangutans crawling back into palm plantations, trying to make it their new home. But they were killed too, thought of nothing more than pests in their new home. If not killed, they were caught and sold as pets. Activists rehabilitated orphaned baby orangutans along with adults in separate shelters. Lakshmi also read about the different types of orangutans and came to know they were all on the brink of extinction. And on the grave of this species, the natives were becoming millionaires and their countries, the largest exporters of palm oil.
Along with the search results about mass destruction of forests and the creatures it harboured, Lakshmi found a link that directed her to a group of activists. She found their contact number and called them.
"Hello. This is Awareness Against Palm Oil. I am Anushree. How may I help you?"
"Hello. I am Lakshmi. I came across your group while doing a small research."
"Okay."
"I must say your work is commendable and I believe in your mission. I was wondering if I could be part of your group in creating this awareness. I stay nearby."
"People who believe in us are welcome to join us. We need more volunteers to help us achieve our goal of spreading the word against palm oil and its ill effects on humans and nature. What you can do is drop into our office between nine in the morning and five in the evening from Monday to Friday to register as a volunteer with us. We have a rally organized on the coming Saturday. So, it would be great if you can register with us before the rally and participate in the same."
"Sure. I will do that. Thank you," said Lakshmi and disconnected the call.
Hundreds of people turned up to support the Awareness Against Palm Oil movement. The media gave it a good coverage too. It was a great success for the group of activists, but an even more elating experience for Lakshmi. She was supporting a good cause and trying to make a difference in the world. When Lakshmi got time to check her phone, there was a message from Arun reminding her to shop for Uttam's birthday. She sighed and walked towards the nearest supermarket. The shopping list was ready--cooking oil, ice cream, cookies, crackers, cake mix, biscuits, toothpaste, shampoo and bathing soap. She only had to fill the cart. She first picked the toiletries and then went into the food section. She picked a pack of Uttam's favourite biscuits and turned it to check the expiry date. Her eyes went to the ingredients list and she was shocked at what she saw. Palm oil. She checked the ingredients list of almost all food products. Each one had palm oil in different forms. Apprehensively, she checked the ingredients list on the toiletries. Palm oil was there too. At that moment, all the people in the rally, her son, and the orangutans flashed in front of her eyes. A single drop of helplessness trickled down her cheek that she wiped soon.
"Here you go, Uttam. This is your own badge. You are our youngest volunteer. Welcome aboard and happy birthday!" Anushree chimed.
Uttam looked at the badge Anushree pinned to his new shirt and looked up at his mother's anxious face. "I like my gift, mom. And I will remember everything this good lady here told me. I will try my best to save the planet." Saying this, he smiled at his mother and hugged her.
Lakshmi knew she was doing her best too.
Note: In Javanese, and other Indonesian languages, a. Bapak means father, b. Ibu means mother, and c. Putra means son. To retain a connection with the native language of the place where half of the story takes place, the Indonesian words are used as names of the characters.
