Lubna Salim brings alive on stage a woman’s journey

Lubna Salim performed her monologue, 'Gudamba', on the second day of Jashn-e-Rekhta. The monologue follows the story of 40-year-old Amina, who shares her journey – from an 18-year-old girl to becoming a mother-in-law, and how she navigates domestic politics in her joint family and deals with her husband’s betrayal. Written by Javed Siddiqui and directed by Salim Arif, the monologue is full of self-deprecating humour.

The audience listened in rapt attention as she narrated the life of Amina and said that girls should be taught to stand for themselves and their lives should not be about making sacrifices.

At the end of the monologue, Lubna explained the title of the play, and said that 'Gudamba' is a metaphor for life. She explained that Gudamba is a dish made of raw

mango

and

jaggery

, and it is salty, sour and sweet and one can drink it or eat it. She said, “Zindagi mein saare zayke hone chahiye - khatta bhi, meetha bhi. Bilkul meri saas ke gudambe ki tarah. Mera khayal hai ki iss zindagi ka naam badal kar gudamba rakh dena chahiye.”
Javed Akhtar who was also at Jashn-e-Rekhta, came to watch the monologue. After her performance, Lubna Salim shared, “I got so scared when he told me that he is going to watch this performance. I was like why are you watching this? And he said, ‘Achha nahi dekhta phir’, but then I requested him to come.”