I was born in the southernmost part of the capital, in a twinkling golden hour of June. I liked to sing to the roses in the garden, collect pressed leaves, and routinely intimidate my younger sister. I didn't like to eat. Chewing seemed gross and terribly time-consuming. My grandmother fought me tooth and nail over every meal, and I responded gloriously: I kept food in my mouth for hours.
All my life, I knew one goal my mother told me after every bedtime story: you have to be the best. That, and the victorious ancestral stories of how my grandfather and his father before him fought the Dutch, the Japanese, and joined the revolution. Tales of valour, bravery, and sacrifice for the greater good became the hymn to my existence.
So I climbed peak after peak of human existence: best school, best major, best grade, best student. I met three foreign presidents, was received in the great hall of one of the world's biggest powers, and spent fifteen years working across consulting, government, tech and banking; privileged enough to see the inner workings of the things that grease the wheels of society.
Then the gods took my mother and grandmother without warning. After all the peaks, the memorable moments, and the hurt that came with them, I realised it was time to sit with my feelings and write them down.
My first book, Satu Sendok Takar, Kumpulan Cerpen, was published in 2024, with one of its twenty-five stories winning First Place in a Kuncie x Karyakarsa Writing Challenge hosted by acclaimed Indonesian author Dee Lestari.
Today I am writing a full length novel that I hope to publish in 2027.