Lembu tak pernah tahu kenapa dia dikutuk tak bisa jauh-jauh dari rel kereta api. Kutukan yang membuat dirinya berkelana menumpang kereta api, melewati seluruh jalur yang ada di Jawa, selama 100 tahun kehidupannya. Tak juga pernah dia ketahui sejarah ibunya, atau tentang Mbok Min—yang mengasihinya, nyaris tanpa syarat. Pun dia tak tahu dari mana datangnya makhluk-makhluk yang hanya terlihat olehnya. Makhluk-makhluk gaib datang bergantian, menemani setiap fase kehidupannya. Lembu memang tak ingin tahu semua itu. Namun, dia tahu, dia lahir saat jalur kereta pertama di Jawa sedang dibangun. Lembu juga mungkin tahu, sesungguhnya ada yang selalu mengawasinya. Setiap langkahnya sudah ditentukan sejak dia lahir untuk sebuah tujuan. Bahkan bagaimana dia mati pun sudah ada yang mengatur. Kerincing yang terkalung di lehernya—-simpul dari kehidupan ibunya dan kehidupan Lembu sendiri—-membuat dia harus berurusan dengan dewa-dewa yang kian tersingkir saat tanah Jawa semakin tenggelam ke abad modern.
Author
Zaky Yamani was born in Bandung City, July 27th 1978. He worked as a journalist and editor for the Pikiran Rakyat daily from 2002 until 2016. He graduated with an MA in Journalism from Ateneo de Manila University assisted by a scholarship from the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism (2006 - 2008). Zaky also writes fiction, in the form of novels and short-stories. Books published include Johnny Mushroom and Other Stories (2011), Thirst in the Water Field (2012), Coffee-bitter Comedy (2013), Bandar: Family, Blood, and Inherited Sins (2014), and Running Amok (2016). All of his books were written in Indonesian language In 2008, Zaky received the Developing Asia Journalism Award in Tokyo, Japan, for his investigative report about water in Bandung City. Then in 2009 he received the Adiwarta Award (Indonesia’s journalism award) for his investigative reports on Indonesia’s foreign debts. In 2010 he received a Mochtar Lubis Fellowship to write about water. The book was published with the title Thirst in Water Fields. Again in 2012 he received the Adiwarta Award for his in-depth article about graffiti. His first novel, Bandar: Family, Blood and Inherited Sins, was long-listed for the 2014’s Kusala Sastra Khatulistiwa (a national award for fictional works in Indonesia). In 2015 he was invited to the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali. Zaky will publish a collection of novelletes titled Kepada Assad Aku Menitip Diri (To Assad I Entrusted Myself) in 2017. Zaky is also working on a new novel, a historical romance with fifteenth century Indonesia and Portugal as background. For this novel, Zaky joined the residency program organized by National Book Committee. He will be conducting research in Portugal.
