I was doing some research on menstruation for a column. I read about Arunachalam Muruganantham's life and work, and his story gripped me, and that is when I sat down, wrote the first few pages, and sent them off to my editor to have a look.
— Twinkle Khanna
Was it my lifelong ambition to be in the movie business? No.
I start my day with a hot water and lemon routine. I meditate. And I take my problems lightly, like my mother always said: treat them like helium balloons and let them go. I devour a lot of books to feed my mind.
Sometimes kids want a hamburger, but I'll fill it up with a quinoa tikki. We eat makhana instead of popcorn; we even take it to the movie theater! I also mash up a lot of vegetables and put it in the aata, so they don't realise they are eating vegetables.
I don't think I have a sense of fashion. But I do have an aesthetic, which I feel is an offshoot of me working in the design industry. For example, if I am mixing and matching prints on my sofas and cushion covers, I tend to do that with my wardrobe as well.
A wise woman keeps her hands firmly in her pockets and does not accidentally unzip anything, including her mouth.
I don't really read non-fiction, but I have grown up on a steady diet of Wodehouse and, of course, science fiction.
Some people are diplomatic, some people are outspoken, but the next generation is very clear. People are speaking their mind out. People are worried about other things besides their own careers. It's not accurate to say that they don't speak out.
I love Twitter. Here, I get pieces of information quickly, and I also get myriad viewpoints rather than a one-sided view from a particular newspaper. Here, I have got a topic and 11 viewpoints, and I can judge for myself.
'If The Weather Permits' was closer to my heart because it was a woman closer to my age, with a contemporary background like mine. I felt for that character. I've seen so many women like that - smart women who are a wreck when it comes to their emotional lives.
I actually believe we are the superior gender. Why are we superior? Statistically, we outlive men by a good 10 years. No one should underestimate the power of nagging - it's on par with nuclear weapons.
My mother always wants me to put me on a diet.
We grow up, and we need to confront a society to be fit in.
I live my life in a very peculiar way where nothing gets my goat as such. I don't look at things in a manner where they offend me. I look at things in a manner where they amuse me.
I'm not romantic; I'm very practical. There are lots of fish in the sea; so whoever gets struck with your rod, one is as good as another.
It is only through reading that one can understand how people are smarter than you and what they have left behind for you.
Sometimes it is okay to have some chocolates and ice-creams. We all have those days sitting in front of the TV and have those. But you have to have the balance.
I have always been immersed in a world filled with words, earlier as a reader and now, finally, as both a reader and a writer.
The thing about India is that even if the economic backgrounds are different, the cultural background is the same. Somebody who is working as a tailor will also tie a black thread around his kid's wrist; so will somebody in Bollywood. That's the fun of being Indian.
After sitting for two to three hours at a stretch, my feet just swell up. So I try to walk as much as I can.
I think till I reached my mid-30s, I just rebelled and rebelled. But eventually, the one thing I did pick up from mom was paying attention to my hair. We all put eggs, oil, dahi, even beer in our hair.
I have never had a facial in my life. I use a facewash, a sunblock, and then I am set, with some kohl pencil around my eyes.
Sometimes I am glad I am not a philosopher - how would I ever complete a single chain of thought when someone is constantly asking me to do something? I don't think Plato would have been able to write his dialogues if he had a wife who kept bugging him to pass the pita bread.
I have readers everywhere: from a radiologist who decides to compliment me on my writing while inserting a probe to check my ovaries to 80-year-olds who send me emails. And, of course, women my age everywhere.
I am living in the world that I always dreamed of. I am still not living in a world where you can teleport matter from one place to another just by atoms. We haven't reached there yet.
I had a multicultural exposure; that's why I don't believe in a particular religion. I have respect for most because I grew up surrounded by so many. I don't judge people by that, and I feel extremely offended when people categorise based on race, religion, or gender.
'Salaam, Noni Appa' tells the beautiful story of the elderly Noni Appa, who finds love in the twilight of her life. The Noni Appa story gives you hope.
I think every woman should have the skills and confidence to be able to earn a living. A working woman is happy because she has goals beyond herself and her needs.
My granny was always mourning about the fact I wear dull, stained jeans or don't brush my hair.
I'm constantly working. I am constantly going to the next thing.
What is feminism? We are just asking for equal opportunities, nothing beyond that. It doesn't mean that you cannot be pretty or you cannot cook or you can't do a whole lot of things. Feminism's got a bad rap; that's it.
The gratifying part of my journey is no one calls me a star child or a superstar's wife anymore. I think I have grown beyond that and have my own identity.
Humour has to have a huge nugget of truth to be funny. You cannot laugh at something unbelievable. Whenever I say something on a lighter note, I am basically unwrapping the truth from a different perspective, and that makes it funny.
I love to eat makhanas, and I always keep a packet in my car.
I am a bad actress. I know I am. I am realistic. I can't even lie properly; how can you expect me to act?
While growing u,p I was the fattest girl in the class, and my name was Twinkle, so if I didn't learn to laugh at myself, then I was going nowhere.
Sometimes I do give in to a scoop of sitaphal ice cream from Naturals or a chocolate chip cookie.
My fashion cues come from my work, not the ramps of the world. I just keep working with so much colour, texture and structure, it rubs off!
There are 146 countries above us where the men have longer lifespans, and the biggest blow is that even with four wives who don't fast for them, the Arab men outlive our good old Indian dudes.
Naming me 'Twinkle' was a foolproof way of making sure that I would get teased throughout my life, have immigration officers at various airports stare at my passport and shake with hysterical laughter, and strangers stalk me with WhatsApp messages like, 'Twinkle, Twinkle, little star, I hope you get hit by a car!'
I seem to be known as much by the moniker 'Mrs Funnybones' as my own name these days. The book was about how a modern woman looks at India and how India looks right back at her. I am glad that India seems to be looking back at me with a grin.
I am not a performing seal. In your writing, you are tapping into the part that is 'the best' in you. But what you are also filters through in your writing your prejudices, your bitterness. I am not a pretentious person.
Strangely enough, I don't mention my sister too much in my columns because she nags me and says, 'Don't make me look foolish. Don't write nonsense about me. Don't make jokes about me.'
My husband and my son are both such positive-thinking optimists. Together, they've succeeded in making me a bit like them. I am looking at the brighter side of life and enjoying this phase of my life the most.
I grew up in a bustling household of women with my mom, granny, and aunts. Seeing all these strong women taking charge of their lives and living it to the fullest was a great inspiration while growing up.
For all the oddballs and misfits out there, eventually, if you just follow your path, you will reach somewhere no one else has. You are uniquely meant to do something that only you can do.
To me, it felt that if I give up my name, I am also sending a message to my children, saying my name was not important enough as your father's; I am not as important as your father. That is a message we are passing down generation after generation without realising.
Aamir once went behind a rock to cry because his director didn't listen to what he was saying.
I think you have to be pragmatic to the approach of life and brutally honest with yourself. We all are here to do something, and it is important to understand our potential first.
I am not a gym person, so I do walk a lot. I find gym is incredibly boring. Other thing I do is to devour books because I feel we need to feed our mind as well.
