Open Book : Not Quite a Memoir
By Kubbra Sait
Publisher: HarperCollins (2022)
Eyes are windows to the soul and the books when well written are doorways to another world.
Kubbra Sait is a known personality, I knew her as Danish Sait’s sister. Don’t get me wrong, she is definitely a person of her own, but for me my knowledge was limited. When I got an opportunity to read this book, I was thrilled because I did not know what to expect and that is a very weird yet a good feeling. As I started this book I was taken into the world of Kubbra by her beautiful writing. This lady is so talented with her words and storytelling I instantly became a fan.
From childhood to teenage and now as an adult, Kubbra has laid down her experiences and learnings in such an alluring way. This book is not a collection of her “experiences” alone, it also covers her mistakes (which trust me is challenging to put out for the world to read). It is the courage to accept and learn from them that makes this book all the more real for me.
Along the way the author also shares some pearls of wisdom that are also the hard hitting truths that we usually tend to avoid or ignore. There are many many quotes in this book that have left their impact on me, and here are a few of them:
“Unresolved emotions can raise their ugly heads when least expected and become the subcontext of one’s life”
“Forgiving oneself is much more rewarding than waiting for an apology from the person who destroys us.”
“Being broken can be seen as a great opportunity to reconstruct yourself”
“One who takes breaks in between the chaos, is aware that frowning makes her forehead look silly and also has a big luminous smile which shines through her eyes”
This book is the journey of a young Kubbra who had trouble in school and at home, her journey of finding her lost self. She also shares her journey as an outsider in the industry that was very fascinating for me to read. The most interesting part of the book was her spiritual journey that was something new, I have often seen or read about how a 10 day retreat can change a person , change their thoughts but reading it as someone shares what they went through during such a retreat has another feeling to it.
It is never easy to write about yourself, your journey and especially your lows. Ever since the pandemic hit, I have always wondered how celebrities cope with having to spend time away from work and how their day actually looked like and my curiosity has been answered.
When a person decides to write a memoir, I believe it is equivalent to laying your soul bare for the readers to see you , see the real you. And that is exactly what you get is this book. One of my favorite things about this book was it felt like having a conversation with the author where she is sharing her story , her spiritual story.
In conclusion all I would like to say is, I recommend this book to all not because I enjoyed it but to know the person that she is and understand her journey because it is to be read, she deserves her story to be read.