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The craft of writing has both pragmatic and artistic applications. While there are professional writers who use words as a means to an end, writing can also be a pastime and a tool to help soothe the mind. It can be an honest way to share feelings, experiences and observations with others.

In the book “7 Perempuan Urban: Sebuah Catatan” (“7 Urban Women: A Note”), seven women do just that, conveying their experiences in a compilation of daily observations. Some of their stories are personal narratives about conventional topics, while others discuss social concerns such as religion, gender and ethnicity.

The authors — Heni Wiradimaja, Ine Febriyanti, Kiki Febriyanti, Lulu Ratna, Nina Mashjur, Raisa Kamila and Olin Monteiro — are women from a range of social backgrounds, generations and professional fields, including film, media, photography and literature.

In the book, they describe everyday sights, sounds, feelings and activities that many Jakartans can relate to.

They write about the experience of going through a traffic saga after a rainstorm has brought the city to a halt, walking along chaotic sidewalks that are more like obstacle courses, hearing new life perspectives from strangers, considering how someone’s skin color can make them feel and many other ordinary yet meaningful events.

In doing so, they effectively express what many of us see, feel and hear on a daily basis but have never put into words.

Because of the book’s notebook format, and because its authors use a stream-of-consciousness style, reading each anecdote is like listening to a friend.

In one section, Raisa Kamila, a 20-year-old philosophy student, shares her observations on religion. Born and raised in Aceh, Raisa questions the provincial government’s desire to lure tourists to the region as it also continues to push increasingly stringent standards of Shariah law on the local citizens.

Religion comes up repeatedly, with more reflections from documentary film director Kiki Febriyanti, who grew up in a strong Muslim family in East Java.

Kiki’s grandparents, she explains, were respected religious figures who founded an Islamic learning center just behind their house in the village where they lived.

Even so, Kiki was allowed to attend a public school instead of an Islamic boarding school, as most of her relatives did before her.

Her parents also decided to move the family to a place where people of different religious and ethnic backgrounds lived side by side. As a result, despite the strong religious influences in her life, Kiki was fortunate enough to see the world from a new angle.

While “7 Perempuan Urban” takes a slice from each of the seven author’s lives, it stays completely free of bragging or bravado. Instead, it offers a refreshing take on relatable experiences, putting words to good use for creativity and expression.

7 Perempuan Urban: Sebuah Catatan
By Heni Wiradimaja, Ine Febriyanti, Kiki Febriyanti, Lulu Ratna, Nina Mashjur, Raisa Kamila and Olin Monteiro
Published by Kelompok Perempuan Bukan Penyair
100 pages
Bahasa Indonesia