NUSA DUA, Bali (BPN) – I Gusti Ngurah Rai, the national hero from Bali, is the main character of the book Prosa Gerilya, which is launched also to celebrate Indonesia’s 78th independence day on August 17, at The Apurva Kempinski Bali, Nusa Dua.
According to Andre Syahreza, the book depicts Ngurah Rai’s life story in a different writing style and how the story is interpreted in the present so that younger readers might enjoy it.
Andre acknowledged that during the writing process, he struggled with the places Ngurah Rai visited in his fight against colonialism.
“There are several points that I visited, especially where there had been wars, one of which was at Tanah Aron,” said Andre.
Through this book, Andre hopes to educate the next Balinese generation about Ngurah Rai, who is more than simply a national hero from Bali who died in the Puputan War (a fight to the death).
Vincent Guironnet, General Manager of The Apurva Kempinski Bali, said that the book’s launch at the resort is a contribution to Bali and a celebration of Indonesia’s 78th Independence Day.
“He is not only a hero for Bali but for all Indonesian people. In the moment of the 78th Independence Day, it is very appropriate to be the day to launch this book,” said Vincent who also claimed to have known about the struggle of I Gusti Ngurah Rai.
According to him, history is not the past but rather the present and is still relevant and related to today’s Bali.
I Gusti Ayu Agung Inda Trimafo Yudha, the granddaughter of I Gusti Ngurah Rai, expresses her appreciation for the publication of this book and considers that it is highly innovative because the author wrote it from different perspectives based on the current generation and era.
