What a Beautiful Divorce
67. The Farmer He Said was Weird

“You have seen piranha fish?” lapen asked Taro and Lennon, looking at the pond. That afternoon they were sitting chatting on a long bench near the pool next to Bu Inari's Vimala garden.

Lennon seemed interested. “There! Their teeth are very pointed and numerous. But the habitat is only in the Amazon river, right, Lapen?”

“I think so,” said Lapen. “What Uncle Prapto and Uncle Nimo will fish piranha there?”

Taro who was taking the biscuits, laughed. “I'm not sure. Seeing the piranha form alone they must be afraid. I'm more interested in the giant arapaima fish. Can we take the fish to Uncle Prapto, yes?”

Lennon turned to Taro and frowned. “You want to put where that big fish is?”

“In the river,” answered Taro briefly, while chewing.

“Taro ... Taro, can the river fish be eaten, then what are we going to fish? Arapaima?” Lennon.

Taro stopped chewing. “True too, yes!”

Lapen took the biscuits and stood up. He stepped over to the edge of the pool, broke the biscuit in his hand into two pieces, and threw it into the pool. One of the ornamental fish devoured the biscuit.

“What ornamental fish in this pond can live in the river?” ask Lapen to his two best friends.

Taro and Lennon got up and stepped beside Lapen.

“Should be,” says Lennon. “Ornamental fish ‘kan also freshwater fish.”

“Considerable,” connect Taro.

Lapen. “Tomorrow I'll ask Grandpa, then we release it on the river.”

***

A cloudy night, when Mr. Oscar chatted on the porch of his house with Mr. Dwipangga. Their coffee is half. They just finished having an important discussion with Mr. Handoko, Mr. Gumiro, and Mr. Reynaldi Green through the zoom application.

“May they succeed, Mr. Dwipangga. I'm sure the intelligence and compactness of both of them will help a lot later,” said Mr. Oscar. “Maybe they will be quite long there.”

“I thought so too, Mr. Kades. By the way, I did not expect that India has such great agricultural science,” said Mr. Dwipangga.

“They are the same as Endonesa, sir. There are many cultures and sciences there, but most people do not want to learn, because they wrongly consider modernity as a way to be happy.”

Mr. Dwipangga laughed. “And the funny thing is, it is precisely modernity that makes them stressed and depressed now. They're funny, Mr. Kades.”

Mr. Oscar nodded. “They continue to’a for happiness, but their way of life and mindset leads to depression and stress. Even not infrequently in do’anya they seem to dictate God. They are less grateful.” Mr. Oscar then took a sip of his coffee.

***

Although his name and clothes were green, Mr. Reynaldi Green also liked other colors, such as the color of the night he was seeing now. His wife and son were asleep, now he was sitting alone on the porch of his two-story house, smoking while smiling at the night.

"I'm sorry, Prapto, Nimo. If we tell you from the beginning, you might object, because the one you will meet is a human who most people think is strange.”

After saying so in a soft voice, Mr. Reynaldi's phone on his porch table rang. He lit a cigarette first and then grabbed his phone.

Mr. Reynaldi laughed. “Sorry, Prapto, and also apologize to Nimo. Last night, coupled with Mr. Dwipangga, we had an emergency discussion through the zoom app, and we decided to ask you to continue your journey to India.

“Terra petra is great, Prapto, but not enough to supply the crops to the new companies we work with. So, after you guys get home from the harbor, I immediately call Ziko and discuss about this. He then suggested that you meet a strange couple in India. Ziko will take care of your flight tickets from Brazil to India. The rest, talk to Ziko, yeah. You guys want to, right?”

***

“Alright, Mr. Reynaldi ... Equally, sir, leave it to us,” Prapto said.

Prapto turned to Nimo, who heard everything because the phone call had been activated by the speaker. Nimo nodded. They then asked for an explanation from Mr. Ziko.

Mr. Ziko sighed. “There is a science that studies about agriculture and natural farming in a special way in India, Prapto, Nimo. However, the science was not spread widely. There are only a few heads of families who master the science and to all I think are strange people, who live in remote places.”

“Don't they, even though they live in a remote place, people could just meet them to study, sir?” ask Prapto.

Mr. Ziko shook his head. “They are stubborn freaks, Prapto. Many people have come, including me who was accompanying a friend at that time. They are good, but they still do not want to give the knowledge to my best friend. Said the head of the family we met, the science of natural agriculture can only be passed down to people who have ‘enlightened’.

“I offered instead, but I refused because I did not go into agriculture. While my best friend was, they said they had not enlightened his mindset. I don't understand that much myself. I'll give you the address of the head of the family I met, and a friend of mine will accompany you.”

Nimo scrunched his face. “So, even though we came all the way there, not necessarily the head of the family will give us the knowledge we need, Mr Ziko?”

Mr. Ziko nodded. “But you have to go there and try. The cost of your trip to Brazil and India will be replaced many times if you get the agricultural knowledge and you combine it with the black soil terra petra. Not only will the plant be very fertile, but the harvest time will be faster, so you can supply the results of planting in large quantities.”

“There is a suggestion for us to succeed, Sir?” ask Prapto.

“There. You must have been enlightened, but I myself do not know what that enlightenment means,” replied Mr. Ziko, laughing.

Prapto and Nimo are in a tailspin.

***

The next day, Prapto and Nimo shake hands at the airport with Mr. Ziko. They had exchanged phone numbers, and Mr. Ziko promised to send portraits of large animals in the Amazon jungle if he found them.

“How many hours drive to India, Boss?” ask Nimo to Prapto. They are sitting in the waiting room.

“I saw on google, about nineteen hours, Nimo.”

“Means, we'll be there tomorrow afternoon?”

“Iya, Nimo. And chances are we will be quite long in India,” Prapto said.

“Why is that so, Boss?”

“Because we definitely need a few days to learn and then understand the science of agriculture, Nimo. Hopefully we can learn it quickly.”

Nimo took a deep breath. Then he said, “But, Boss, all we have to think about first is how to get the head of the family to downgrade his knowledge to us.”

Prpato laughing. “May we succeed, Nimo. Come on, our plane is leaving!”