I have watched the ever bubbly bold Kubbra Sait at the IAA functions, where she was almost the default Master of ceremonies. Watched her as Cookoo in sacred games. She is a highly impressive personality. Though I never interacted with her. So, when her book ‘OPEN BOOK’ was announced, I found myself pre-ordering a copy. The title ‘Open Book- Not quite a memoir’ sounded interesting enough.
Now, I must first say that I enjoyed reading the book. It does justice to the title-. It is an OPEN BOOK and written with the same transparency of brutal honesty and nakedness. Not worrying about reactions.
IT IS MORE THAN WHAT BOOK MARKETING FOCUSES ON
The book is far more than what the marketing has for its own reasons concentrated on. The book interviews discuss her being sexually molested and exploited by a family friend. It speaks of her terminating the pregnancy after a one-night stand. Both are an essential part of the book and reflect the title ‘Open Book”, but the book is much more than this.
Kubbra Sait says, “You are taught to give into these oppressions, but I think writing this was about literally forgiving myself for not knowing what to do. What I could not have done, and I did not do it, and it is okay”. You know there is a level head that is sorted out now.
You know she is absolutely right when in the interview reacting to the past, she says, “The purpose of writing that incident was not to tell the world that I was a dukhi aatma. We are all sad in such a situation, but I am miles away from that situation now. I am looking at it from an outsider’s perspective. I was not looking to make it right.”
WHY READ
Read the book for some incredible journey of her life. Look at the ups and down, coincidences and destiny, hunger and passion, dreams and efforts. Know, at least in her case, people have been of help if one reaches out to them. The world is a lot better and cannot really be defined by one or two bad experiences, And they must never be allowed to define life.
In addition to saying Kubbra Sait wrote the book- because it was waiting to be written. She also acknowledges that she started writing the book because Kubbra felt clarity in her thoughts. Because she felt comfortable sharing.
In fact, towards the end, Kubbra Sait candidly puts a significant part of the book in the open under acknowledgements. She says, “writing this book was a cathartic journey of overcoming my hurt and pains. Rolled into these pages us a brief account if many elaborate therapy sessions that I have endured”.
One of the most significant points Kubbra Sait makes in her book is – The past is behind us. The present is a new book to pen. And what we can do is define and decide what chapters we will write in the future.
SOME EXCERPTS.
I now take as long as it takes to do a task. I do not hurry to either wear my pants or fix my hair. I wake up early and try to do things to a set schedule every day. The thing with a fast-paced life is that we want to do more than our minds and our bodies can actually deliver. We set unrealistic standards to live up to. In the end, we blame it on stress…. If you slowly and surely, take control of what is realistically possible, you can arrest the fall into abyss. ( Page 26)
Today, we all are specialists, this narrows our learnings, making us myopic. It’s as if we have blinkers to resist ourselves from taking on other fields of study or learning a new skill. I’ve worked in many places before doing what I do, but it took me many pitstops to recognise the direction in which I was going ad growing. This may not be a prescription for everyone, but it also shouldn’t be a strikethrough for those who may be experiencing it right now. Page 45
We in the modern world carry our pains and sorrows through the medium of inconsistent and innumerable thoughts, judgements and perceptions about how the world perceives us. We have been made to believe that we need to carry this emotional weight around. We are so focussed on ourselves and what the world says to us or the way in which the world reacts to us that we close our hearts to giving love to the very people with whom we co-exist. Day by day, we are relinquishing our faith in humanity and, in the process, losing faith in ourselves. So if love is what you seek, then personify love yourself. If forgiveness is what you seek, then forgive yourself first. Allow yourself to fail only then will you discover how to rise….. “we only die once, we live every day”. PAGE 191
NET-NET
As I said, I enjoyed reading the book. It is simple and well written. It is not linear or chronological, but it packs a punch if you are willing to listen to the book while you read her hurt, pain, and life episodes. Pick it up. There are too many life-impact moments packed in her life.
Not a comparison, but the life impact stories in ‘Open Book” reminds me of the two anthologies I have curated. ‘Reflections’– stories from the life of Batch of 87 IIMA and ‘Life Reloaded’– stories from personal and business lives.
BOOK BLURB
Sharing the blurb of the book- as I think for a change, i was reading ab blurb that does justice to the book.
At five, she took the stage by storm as Indira Gandhi. At eight, she was bullied. At ten, she hit rock bottom. At thirteen, she discovered a personality development programme that changed her life forever…
From being an awkward teen in braces to becoming a sought-after master of ceremonies to successfully portraying the transgender Cuckoo on the hit Netflix series Sacred Games, Kubbra Sait has broken boundaries and made a name for herself. Her ordinary upbringing notwithstanding, Kubbra is an extraordinary woman who quickly learnt how to deal with the harsh ways of the world and shape her life successfully despite them. The bullying she encountered in school as a child helped her face nepotism in Bollywood, an industry known to favour its own, often at the cost of talented ‘outsiders’.
Part memoir, part inspirational treatise, Open Book lays bare the struggles, achievements, joys and failures, and the many reinventions of a shy and anxious Bangalore girl who dreamt of making it in the competitive world of cinema.
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