Designed as a series of intimate conversations, the Weekender Living Room convenes writers, thinkers and other interesting personalities in a setting made to feel less like a formal stage and more like being invited into someone’s living room.

In its third installment on Oct. 27 at JP Live! Space, the Weekender Living Room is sponsored by KB Bank Indonesia and spotlighted the inner workings of the Weekender’s “Little Big Things” column, which was syndicated from Aiyar’s The Global Jigsaw newsletter. Joining her in conversation were The Jakarta Post president and chief revenue officer Maggie Tiojakin and Weekender lead editor Jet Damazo-Santos.

Aiyar, who returned to Jakarta after eight years, described how her constant relocating allowed her to learn how things she once considered normal and mundane to the point of becoming invisible start becoming visible when viewed through an outsider’s lens. Having grown up in India, she has lived in Indonesia, Spain, Japan and China, which she said provided her with layers of identity rather than losing them when she moved.

As an avid traveler, Aiyar noted that traveling in itself doesn't automatically change the traveler; rather, the attitude determines the experience. As opposed to asking 'What can I take/photograph?', she continues, asking 'What can I learn?' allows travelers to have an open perspective.

That attitude was what Aiyar utilized when writing “The Kingdom of the Sick and the Kingdom of the Well”, a memoir about her breast cancer diagnosis in 2023. She recalled crying at her kitchen table before realizing her own advice about traveling: appreciating a country on its own terms instead of complaining.

To that end, she reframed her cancer diagnosis as an unfamiliar country to explore with curiosity, attentiveness, and narrative focus.

“Shifting from 'Why me?' to curiosity decenters you as a victim. When I published 'The Kingdom of the Sick and the Kingdom of the Well' in the Weekender, the reader response was overwhelming. Real human connection happens when you are confident in being weak and vulnerable,” she said.

Along with Aiyar’s lived experiences, the afternoon’s conversation also touched on topics such as memoir and personal essay writing tips, a debate on how AI-generated writing can be a slippery slope to weakened cognitive abilities, to an observation about how passports can be likened to a caste system in international travel.

The session ended with a keepsake jar that touched on Aiyar’s point on observing one’s surroundings with an open perspective, inviting attendees to write down daily minor observations on paper rolls, where they can look back on them later to reflect on their day.

____

To keep in touch with the Weekender community, follow @JPWeekender on Instagram, and subscribe to the Weekender newsletter to follow upcoming “Little Big Things” columns and future Weekender Living Room events.

Popular

Two years in, Prabowo exhausts Indonesia's state capacity

Clashes break out as hundreds of thousands protest in France

WTO chief urges Indonesia to join interim mechanism, insists priority reform