Gauri VijPublished on Jun 13, 202210 memoirs to add to your reading list now Life stories are sometimes the best guide books for the soulIf we didn’t share stories with each other, we would forget the experiences ever happened or that they perhaps just existed in our minds. I am, of course, paraphrasing what one of my favourite cinematic characters Sajjan Feranades—played by the unparalleled Irrfan Khan—says to Illa (Nimrat Kaur) in The Lunchbox (2013). In the film, the characters Ila and Sajjan, through a happy but highly improbable accident, begin exchanging letters to each other, laying the ground for an unusual love story. The letters show us a side to both Sajjan and Ila that we would not have witnessed otherwise.The lives of others are continuously interesting to voyeuristic humans. We derive inspiration from, satiate our curiosity, discuss threadbare, emulate and disseminate from the lives of famous people. Memoirs and autobiographies are telling documents of the times we live in. Our selection of ten memoirs cover a gamut of life experiences, include stories of failures, courage and triumph, and impart wisdom that is never really learned but earned. Studies indicate that reading books can actually create new neural pathways in our brains. So imagine what reading a book about someone’s fascinating life can do?Dolly ThakoreWritten in collaboration with writer and lighting designer Arghya Lahiri, actor, newscaster, columnist and casting director Dolly Thakore’s book about her life is aptly named: Regrets, None, which is a candid look at love, sex, infidelity, motherhood, commitment, the ecstasy and the heartbreaks. In the works for close to three decades, Thakore’s book is a must-read for the different worlds she’s inhabited during the course of her life and the message she has for us, “Go ahead and have the courage to do what you want. There’s great joy in it.”Shanta GokhaleWriter, translator, journalist and theatre critic–it’s difficult to label Shanta Gokhale and the numerous milestones in her life. One Foot on the Ground: A Life Told Through the Body is written with humour and candour. In the book, Gokhale’s life is divided into 31 chapters–18 of which are named after parts of the body and medical conditions that she has had turbulent relationships with. From tonsil troubles to a partial loss of vision and her allergies to, later in life, her experiences with chemotherapy, Gokhale tells us her story with affection and an impeccable journalistic sense of integrity in check.Kabir BediStories I Must Tell by, An Actor's Emotional Journey by Kabir Bedi is noteworthy for its honesty. Deeply moving in parts–especially when discussing past loves Parveen Babi, Protima Gauri and his son Siddarth–Bedi’s memoirs seem astonishingly open and frank for an actor. Besides stories about Bedi’s parents–his English mother Freda who became a Buddhist nun (Gelongma Karma Kechog Palmo) and his philosopher father Baba– his memories about an independent India, pre-partition Punjab and Kashmir are a fascinating documentation of the nation’s past.Sabira MerchantKnown to most of us as the lady with impeccable manners, Sabira Merchant’s A Full Life is prefaced by Lara Dutta and co-written with journalist Mitali Parekh. Through a breezy read, Merchant, who is also known as India’s etiquette queen, gives us a glimpse into old Bombay lives. The book talks about the city before it was renamed Mumbai. That Merchant worked with radio, television, theatre and, later, with beauty pageants should be more than enough reasons for anyone vaguely interested in Bombay history to pick it up.Hannah GadsbyIn her 2018 Netflix special, Nanette, comedian Hannah Gadsby announced her desire to quit the comedy scene. In her book, Ten Steps to Nanette (2022), she reveals that Nanette sprung out of the desire to get away from traditional comedy. She says the plan was to “repurpose comedy into something that could allow me to express the heat of my anger and the pain of my trauma but without transferring it.” Gadsby’s book is structured as a step-by-step process to creating Nanette, with footnotes of her life. In the book, she continues to addresses the issues of gender-based violence, misogyny, sexual abuse, homophobia, ableism and fatphobia, all of which she has experienced at various stages of her life.Jane FondaWarning: My Life So Far is not a new book. But it’s been included here given Jane Fonda’s new lease of life with the Netflix show, Grace and Frankie. While Fonda’s extraordinary life, her troubled relationship with her father–the legendary actor Henry Fonda–her many loves, her marriages and her activism are all examined in great candour, the book desperately needs an update.Betty WhiteHere We Go Again: My Life in Television written by actor Betty White, also known as America’s badass sweetheart, is one of several books she authored. This one was published in 1995 and covers her time on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the beloved TV show, The Golden Girls. Her 2011 book, If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won’t), draws from White’s experience as a seven-time Emmy winner as well as her thoughts on friendship, love, ageing, television, animals and celebrityhood. A more recent tome, Betty White: 100 Remarkable Moments in an Extraordinary Life is a coffee table presentation of her life. The actor, who died before turning a century, was much loved for multiple reasons. Once you read the books, you will know exactly why.Girish KarnadThe passing away of actor, novelist, director, translator and playwright Girish Karnad in 2019 was a huge blow for most of us. This Life at Play (2021), jointly translated from the Kannada by Karnad and Srinath Perur, begins with a story about Karnad’s mother, Kuttabai, a widow, who married Karnad’s already-married father after living with him for five years. Each of the ten essays is rooted to a specific geography and illustrates how Karnad was, at heart, a storyteller, whether on stage or film or in print.Remo FernandesTo revive the Konkani folk song, singer Remo Fernandes’s father started a Mando Festival with scholar Bob Moraes. It’s bits of this kind of information that make Remo: The Autobiography of Remo Fernandes a great read. Described as an honest and fearless narrative, the book is sometimes excessive in the details of his life (read sex life) but stands out out for is the musician’s honesty and his love for his home state of Goa.David AttenboroughThere is nobody better suited to the style of storytelling that involves nature and man. At 96, David Attenborough is that indefatigable legend that humankind needs to listen and learn from. His extensive travels have enabled him to explore some of the world’s most rare and biodiverse destinations, many of which are destroyed now. A Life on Our Planet (2020) is a companion book to the film David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet and is a must-read for every human alive.Also Read: 6 first-time authors who will leave you wanting secondsAlso Read: 15 books to keep your summer reading going strongAlso Read: Who are India’s busiest literary agents?Read Next Read the Next Article
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