The True Power of Batak
Tauhid Nur Azhar
After enjoying a very inspiring Friday sermon, I decided to walk to the Cinema XXI nearby. I had been looking forward to watching a national film, “Catatan Harian Menantu Sinting”. The main actors, Ariel Tatum and Raditya Dika, are a great combination that drew me to watch the movie.
The story revolves around a young Batak couple, Sahat Purba and Minar Hasibuan, who have just gotten married. Raditya Dika plays the role of Sahat, a middle-class executive from a leading national oil company, while Ariel Tatum plays the role of Minar, a translator and novelist.
However, the true center of the conflict in this drama-filled story with a strong Batak nuance is Simatua, or Inang, also known as Simatua boru, the mother-in-law, or the mother of Sahat Purba.
The values and moral messages in the film are very relevant. The story is presented in a simple and straightforward way, with dialogue that is easy to understand and tackles issues that we often encounter in our daily lives. The humor and absurdity that arise in the story can evoke feelings of warmth, sadness, and longing for the presence of loved ones.
The family members in the story can make us laugh and cry at the same time, as Minar says. They can make us roll on the ground laughing at their antics, but also make us cry because we miss their presence.
The story is simple, but it’s Batak-style. It’s a cross-cultural issue that proves that some stereotypes about this ethnic group are true, in a good way, of course.
Lina Marpaung’s portrayal of Simatua, who is sassy, curious, and never wants to lose to her children, is a great example of a character who can bring warmth to a busy household. However, aside from that, the Batak culture and family values that are strong, united, and have a strong sense of solidarity and respect for the marga and family are something that I think is one of the Indonesian Prides, just like how Americans are proud of their pioneering spirit and competitive nature.
Dewi Lestari, a well-known singer and writer who is a Batak herself, has written a novel about the origins of the Batak people, which began from Pusuk Buhit.
Where is the mountain that one? I asked, when I had the opportunity to visit Lake Toba and was invited to speak by the management team of the largest mobile phone technology company in the country. At that time, our hotel was in a strategic location where from the balcony of our room, we could see the range of mountains surrounding Lake Toba.
I think young Indonesians should also read Dewi Lestari’s novel “Supernova” so that Indonesians can also know the genealogy of Si Raja Batak, Raja Isumbaon, Tuan Sorimangaraja, and so on, until the formation of the Batak ethnic group, Toba, Karo, Simalungun, Angkola, Mandailing, and Pakpak.
This is the prelude to the origins of the Batak people, which comes from the mountain Pusuk Buhit.
Following this story, just like many other legends that mark the birth of human civilization in various habitats, there is a very famous legend in Batak folklore, namely the marriage of Siboru Pareme with Tuan Saribu Raja, who are still related (incest).
In Batak mythology, it is believed that there are two children of Si Raja Batak, namely Guru Tatea Bulan and Raja Sumba (Isumbaon).
Guru Tatea Bulan has five sons and four daughters.
The five sons are Raja Biak-Biak, Tuan Saribu Raja, Limbong Mulana, Sagala Raja, and Malau Raja.
Meanwhile, his four daughters are Siboru Pareme, Siboru Paromas, Siboru Biding, and Nan Tinjo.
As a result of the incestuous marriage, the family is angry and Tuan Saribu Raja and Siboru Pareme will be punished to death. However, their siblings are not cruel and choose to abandon them in the forest separately.
Siboru Pareme, who is pregnant, is abandoned in the forest in the Sabulan area, which is known to be inhabited by many tiger populations (Panthera tigris sumatrae).
In the forest, Siboru Pareme meets a large tiger that is actually asking for help from Siboru Pareme because there is a bone from its prey stuck in its jaw.
After the bone is removed and the tiger is healed, it becomes Siboru Pareme’s loyal guardian, not only protecting her but also finding food for her to eat. And so, a son is born, named Si Raja Lontung.
As Si Raja Lontung grows up, he expresses his desire to marry a woman to his mother. Siboru Pareme tells Si Raja Lontung to bring a ring to the edge of the forest, where he will find a woman who is very similar to him. Si Raja Lontung is asked to marry the woman.
Without the knowledge of King Lontung, Siboru Pareme apparently followed his son by cutting off the road and waiting at the edge of the forest. As a result, the mother and child got married. Then they had children. Their sons were Sinaga Raja, Pandiangan, Nainggolan, Simatupang, Aritonang, and Siregar. Meanwhile, their two daughters were Siboru Amak Pandan and Siboru Panggabean. This is the story of the early days of various clans in the Batak tribe and is now certainly coloring the development of culture throughout the archipelago, in the framework of diversity that is preserved as part of the spirit of independence.
On my next trip to Medan, my focus was actually on durians, specifically at Durian Ucok. After a very enjoyable dinner at RM Madina on Jl T Amir Hamzah, with the super delicious main dish of Mandailing-style lele stew, I was invited to visit Bang Ucok’s stall. Unbeknownst to me, three large and very smooth durians were eaten.
Durian is indeed a living asset of North Sumatra. In 2020 alone, Sumut durian production reached 74,675 tons, with 597,576 trees producing them and a productivity of 124.96 kilograms per tree. Meanwhile, the main producing areas are the regencies of Tapanuli Selatan, Tapanuli Utara, and Dairi.
The various potentialities attached to the diversity of Indonesian culture, such as in this Batak community, are indeed a very valuable asset for the nation and the country. The spectrum of inter-relationship between one another, the environment, and the Creator, has given birth to a process of appreciating the fundamental values of life, colored with shared dreams, hopes, and goals.
The commotion while eating durians, arsik, or jesting about the spiciness of sambal tuk tuk, has proven to be able to negate social strata, dialectical differences, and various other attributes and labels that melt into one primordial identity.
Not in the context where primordialism is often placed in the negative quadrant, ya. Because by definition, primordial is the bond within a community, which has the nature of originality and has been brought since birth.
This bond can be in the form of kinship, ethnicity, group, and religion. Primordial can become a very good identity that is attached to a person. Therefore, in this context, primordial is social capital that can be a contributing factor that is substitutive and complementary in a social construction that emphasizes diversity as the foundation that supports the creation of a strong structure.
Imagine Indonesia, this mosaic, can construct a cultural structure that can become an exhibit of noble human values that are warm, empathetic, and always willing to be useful to one another in various spheres of interest, instead of being at odds due to petty stereotypes and cunning agitation that trigger conflicts, or also becoming an identity that is only belittled to accommodate instant and fleeting interests that are based on a misguided logic about relationships that are only driven by the spirit of manipulating benefits.
My dear child, my beloved child (My good son, my dear son) My child, my song (My good-hearted son) Remember, my child, about the teachings (Remember, my child, about the teachings) Your parents are old (Your parents are old) Always pray for you, my child (Always pray for you, my child) May you be better, my child (May you be better, my child) Accept it, accept it (Accept it, accept it) My prayer for you, my child (My prayer for you, my child).
As the lyrics of the song containing prayers and parental advice go, allow me to close this article with full gratitude for the blessings of diversity that have been bestowed upon this nation.
