Bond that Remains
Text by Isyanti Rahamaya
Photo by Isyanti Rahamaya
Behind her glaring smile, she got stories you’d not expect. She would be there in the morning and afternoon, sitting patiently and serving her brew of Indonesian traditional medication drink, Jamu. Bude, as they call her.
1975, the year that brought her to the city we love, Bandung. Coming to a strange land with such a different culture of her origin in Wonogiri, Central Java. She set sail on an embarking journey with her husband. Finding Ciumbuleuit as her next home, and as a place, she’s proud to call it her workplace, where she weaves strands of the social fabric into her regular customers.
She had a stable life with her husband in Ciumbuleuit. Being a young woman selling Jamu around the neighborhood, she got a chance to know a lot of people around Ciumbuleuit and Hegarmanah. Even after several conversations I had with her, it turns out that she used to go to my house in Hegarmanah before I was even born! And sell Jamu to my aunt. It was a comfortably nifty routine she established.
Until 1990 came, the year that almost became a turning point in her life, the passing of her husband, the father of two beautiful girls they have. The situation forced her to go back to Wonogiri and leave Ciumbuleuit and the life they had built behind. But it was faith. She is destined to go back to Wonogiri and take a rest.
Four years passed by, 1994 she remarried to her neighbor, and they went back to Bandung where she gave birth to two boys. They lived together for a while before her husband moved to Jakarta to find a job, while she stayed in Ciumbuleuit. She got four kids, two women and two men. They are all grown up now and have their own life and family to take care.
Even during this pandemic, after five months being back at Wonogiri, she chooses to go back to Ciumbuleuit. Despite the desolated campus, she’s fighting her way to keep her business going. Above all places she could go, she had chosen Ciumbuleuit, where she started her everyday routine selling Jamu. The land she treads is one with her. The love for the place won’t fade even with the greatest of hardships.
