It is early dawn in the island of Java. Two mighty volcanoes draw a dreamy silhouette against the clear night sky. The sun is still below the horizon, when Mr. Basuki wakes up to the coolest hours of the day. It is soon time for Fajr, the prayer before sunrise. Mrs. Tuwari has already started praying, as her husband joins in.
It was love at first sight. Basuki was still in his late twenties, when he caught a glimpse of a warm, charming smile. Both had just started working at the rice fields. Tuwari recalls the moment of their first eye contact being beautiful and natural. The sunny afternoon in the paddies continued with intimate glances of each other. Soon the glances turned into conversations, and the conversations into passionate love. The chemistry between them has thrived ever since.
Today, Basuki and Tuwari are going to work at the same fields they met almost thirty years ago. First rays of light hit the peak of Mount Sumbing, as they walk their way up to the paddies. Rice crops have recently been harvested, hence it is time to start the tobacco season. In Temanggung, rice and tobacco are planted in half year turns. Basuki begins to till the dried out soil with his shovel. He overturns one row at a time, catching a breath in between each length.
Tuwari descends to a river nearby, where she will collect sand from the riverbed. She fills one twenty litre sack at a time and carries it six meters up to the riverbank. When a truck load of sand is collected, she will sell all of it as building material to interested buyers. Time ticks away as Tuwari climbs up and down the bank. Suddenly, someone whistles in a distance. It is Basuki calling for a midday break.
Daily prayers set the rhythm of the day for many in the village, which is the case for Basuki and Tuwari as well. The couple heads to a local mosque for their Dhuhur prayer, after which they walk back to the house for lunch. Rice, tofu and young cassava leaves are on the menu for today. The afternoon passes calmly by at work, with an Asr prayer in between as a break. When the setting sun has painted the sky from orange to purple, the workers call it a day.
A ready cooked dinner by the couple's children awaits back home. Everyone enjoys their meal in a warm atmosphere filled with good jokes and juicy stories. Once the last light of the day fades away into darkness, the family ambles to the mosque through peaceful, dimly lit alleys. After Maghrib, a few neighbours join the family for an evening tea and butter biscuits. Local TV shows run in the background, while 5-year-old granddaughter, Anfa, amuses everyone with her newly learned dance moves.
