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Her unbridled candour and wit completely charmed Kolkata. Mrs Funnybones had the 350-strong audience in splits.
At an event titled ‘Superpower of Blogging’ organised by the Ladies Studies Group, a half-a-century-old prestigious organisation in the city, Twinkle Khanna’s new avatar came shining through. Her sparkling demeanour even had the moderator, firebrand journalist Barkha Dutt, smiling ever so indulgently at the guest.
She learnt to handle struggles early in life. With a name like ‘Twinkle’ what choice did she have, she shared with the audience.
Peals of laughter resounded as she added that her mother, Dimple Kapadia is today not even allowed to name their pets!
A nerd who loved Mathematics, Twinkle was most keen on becoming a Chartered Accountant .
Her CA dreams slowly faded into the background as being a child of successful star parents, film offers arrived.
It was all about numbers, Twinkle did a quick calculation and realised that at her age no job would pay her this kind of money and she plunged into her acting career. It was something she never enjoyed, but doesn’t regret either. “I met my husband after all,” she beams.
And what does husband, actor Akshay Kumar make of her new career: Blogs and books? With refreshing candour she says, “Well he hasn’t read a book in his life, so he thinks I am a genius.” But her biggest cheerleader is now her censor who goes through her blogs before they go on air.
Her message for women… Not to focus on external appearances. Looks are an area of diminishing returns. For Twinkle, it is books over botox.
Blogs have given her life a new meaning. Her special technique is to get her point across with wit and lightness.
Inspired by a man who made a low-cost machine to manufacture sanitary napkins for his wife, Twinkle decided to tell his story.
Sexual harassment is another subject she feels strongly about. “I had a wealthy client who made me uncomfortable. I chose to ignore it and finish the work and move on. Situations like this can put you in a spot. If you share with your family, they will want to punch him in the face and then tell you it is safer to be home!”
It was a heady sensation when her columns began going viral. An excited Twinkle shared her joy with her mother who responded with a, “You know, last evening I noticed your serving dishes didn’t match.”
There was laughter in the hall as Twinkle explained, “My mother ensures we stay grounded. Our family doesn’t make a big deal of success. That is why we accept failure with ease too.”
Many in the film industry were convinced she had a ghost writer to do her pieces.
As Namrata Sureka, President of the Ladies Study Group says,“Twinkle walked away from Bollywood without batting an eyelid. She has had the courage to be a catalyst in highlighting social problems. Don’t fall for her disarming pen name Mrs Funnybones. She can easily dissect you with her literary wit.”
All charged up, Twinkle is forging ahead, and she adds teasing her “trophy” husband, who just received a National Award, about being more famous than him by the time she is 65!
(Payal Mohanka is a Kolkata-based senior journalist.)
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