The Intersection Project Duo: Puri Lestari
Meet Puri Lestari, contributor and editor of The Book Project and writer of soon-to-be-published novel, Urup.
In between the launch of her book, designing fabrics, and being a super mom, Puri has kindly shared to us readers her inspirations to write the novel and her goal for The Book Project:
How did this project, The Book Project, came into being? Where were you in the state of life?
A friend introduced me to Inez. My friend, Fenty, told me that Inez wants to write a book and I like to read, so perhaps I could have a chat with her. One thing led to another and overtime I found her idea really interesting because she has a very clear vision at such a young age. But she needed someone to facilitate this idea and to help her realizing this book into something that she intended. I was busy with Fabrik + Ink, a 2-year old son, and other projects. In the beginning I was a little nervous to take on this project, but I was very impressed with her enthusiasm, so we moved forward.
You’ve mentioned that actually this is the first time you write professionally and publicly. What’s your writing journey been like?
Yes, that’s true! I’ve never imagined I would write a novel! It’s a mind opener. But most importantly is learning to be discipline with yourself and your time. You need to just jump into the water and eventually you’ll find a way to survive the water. In the end, you’ll learn and figure things out if you have strong will. But overall it’s been really fun because the process is organic, fluid, and natural. It’s really exciting.
Why fiction and why a novel?
This topic, having a purposeful life, is very deep and can go into a series of different sub-topics. I’d love to tell stories that the readers can relate to; stories about regular people or someone you might know. And I’m hoping that this way, my readers can learn from the characters’ journey in solving conflict and living a purposeful life. I believe that storytelling is a really important and great tool to convey messages. And in this novel, I just break down this big ideas into things that happen in the daily life.
Would you do this (writing a novel) earlier? And if you had the chance to do it earlier, how is your viewpoint going to be different than what you have now?
I don’t think I would have done this earlier because I just never really thought about it — writing thousands of words. But if I had the chance, or the will, I’m sure it’ll be a lot different than what it is now. What I’ve put in the novel is my reflection on myself and the lives around me. Had I done this earlier, I might not have references as rich to write the novel. It might just be a single narrative from my view.
You were also an architect and you own Fabrik+Ink. What was your career life look like then? And where are you heading now?
Ha! That’s a question I get from many people. I don’t define myself through career. I don’t think career is part of my identity; I think it’s a mean to realize your dreams. I studied architecture. But along the way I find some aspects of the business don’t really align with my values. So I just took the design aspects and implement them in other ways, but architecture. Fabrik + Ink was born through that process.
I still have big passion in design AND I love giving impact to people. That’s another thing: I don’t get that in architecture. You design great spaces, but it takes time to have an impact on people. Whereas with Fabrik + Ink, I can almost immediately see the impact. It’s an instant gratification.
You speak on 65s quite a lot. What’s your background? Are you currently doing any social activities related to that? What truly sparked your spirit for this?
My grandfather is a victim in the G30S. Personally I’m not that involved, just endorsing a community called Ingat 65, a platform where the younger generation can tell their stories and events about the 1960s. It’s a really important platform. We need to confront the truth and pass on the stories. If we don’t know the truth, then we are not learning anything. Good thing we have Jokowi that is very supportive about this, so we’re hoping that our generation has more opportunities to learn about our own history.
As someone who’s already in your 30s, could you share to us some of your learning experience/points in your 20s?
Follow your heart! First impression matters. Try something new. Meet new people. Traveling is very important. And be open to anything.
What’s your goal for tomorrow?
I have to finish up some design for Fabrik + Ink and I just received feedback from the first readers of my novel, so I need to look into that a bit more. And making dinner and school’s lunch for the kid.
What’s your goal for next week?
Wah, it’s packed! Towards the end of the week, usually there’s no more time to breathe or for myself. Photoshoot for Fabrik+Ink and replying feedback (for novel). Also I promised Inez to do some illustrations, so there’s that as well.
What’s your goal until end of this year?
I’m really hoping the books will be out and ready! But I’m actually very anxious because end of the year is usually the busiest time, so I’m hoping that I can juggle all of my commitments better.
What’s your goal in a year?
Really looking forward to promote this novel and this project. So many people out there we want to share this with. Next year will be the more exciting part for The Book Project. We can do many things! Road map, book reading, and meeting the readers.
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