The good part about getting older is you stop trying to prove anything to anyone, including yourself. All you are in the pursuit of is collecting experiences - beautiful, fragile little soap bubbles that you store in your heart, and every once in a while you pull one out and gaze at the delicate pictures it shows you.Collection: Good
I don't really read non-fiction, but I have grown up on a steady diet of Wodehouse and, of course, science fiction.Collection: Diet
I remember joining a boarding school in the sixth grade. I was lazy, complacent, and fat. Suddenly, I realised that I had to fend for myself. That's when I discovered this drive within myself. For the first time, I ranked first in class, which was a miracle in itself. However, it didn't matter to my family.Collection: Family
'Mrs Funnybones' is based and structured around my columns, and it's about how a modern woman looks at India and how India looks right back at her. Since I have a weakness for illustrations, there are also a few funny illustrations in there as well.Collection: Funny
My mother always wants me to put me on a diet.Collection: Diet
Today, it's about gender equality, not neutrality. Anyone who doesn't agree would be a bit of an idiot.Collection: Equality
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.
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.
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've had my nose in a book my whole life. I never thought it would be useful, but it is now. What's really nice is that I don't have a photographic memory, so words get blurred, thoughts get mixed up, and they come out as something new.
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.
'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.
Read everything you can get your hands on: Programme your mind to read all the time and everywhere - even in the bathroom; skim through the lines printed on the back of shampoo bottles and sanitary napkin packets.
I am into the candle business, have a home store, The White Window, and interior designing is my primary occupation, though writing now seems to have become better known.
'Barsaat' was a wonderful experience, but it took a long time in the making, and that got very tedious.
My frankness has got me into a lot of trouble. I try to temper it down now. As you get older, you get wiser.
To me, a life that doesn't change things and touch people's lives is pretty meaningless.
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.
You won't believe it, but my grandfather named me. And the choices were between Sparkle, Sprinkle and Twinkle. So, thank God, they chose Twinkle.
My father believed in astrology. His astrologer had predicted that his daughter would become a writer someday. My father would nag me, but I didn't write a word till he passed away. I wish he could see me now.
Relish being an oddball: Well-behaved, well-adjusted people are hopeless storytellers and, honestly, terribly boring.
Once, I went to the premiere of a film, and the producer asked me if I liked it. I said it's crap. But I don't say that anymore. Now I say I have to think about it. If you ever hear me say that, you know the answer!
I'm just a normal girl. People have these preconceived notions about what movie stars are about and how we've grown up. My mother is pretty regular and raised us just like anyone else.
I pretend that I was never in the movies. The only job I had before was selling prawns door to door. That's what I tell myself. My kids have never seen my films. I'm too embarrassed to show them.
I don't need an alarm clock to wake up in the morning. Akshay snores so loudly that I'm usually awake the entire night!
Akshay's idea of a romantic date is a six-kilometre jog, followed by 500 crunches... together! Eeeeks!
Do people think women from Bollywood aren't smart?
I don't take too many things too seriously.
No one has ever told me that I act badly. It is just that most of the films I did didn't click.
I'm a different person who's not my father or my mother. I want to be treated differently from them. I am myself, Twinkle Khanna. I am proud of being the daughter of such illustrious parents, but I would not like to be compared with them time and again.
I still remember, when I got my fees for 'Barsaat,' I ran into a car showroom and purchased a Maruti Esteem. I treasure that car more than anything else in the world.
The editor of a newspaper, who is an old friend, asked me to write a column. According to her, I cracked lame jokes all the time and read voraciously.
My husband has always been my biggest supporter, and my mother has finally joined the cheerleading team now that her friends have been telling her that they like my work as well.
I just wanted to say that there is so much goodness in the world. We keep looking at the terrible and diabolical things when we open newspapers.
Standing in front of our hallway mirror, I am practising a few poses - one leg artfully bent, the opposite shoulder up - when the man of the house strides in and decides to share: a) I look like I have dislocated my shoulder and b) Has anyone ever told me I strongly resemble Tom Cruise?
Writing is a way of drifting within my own mind: almost a solitary process, so to speak.
I would have liked to be Birbal in Akbar's court, but a court jester also suits me just fine.
Scripts didn't exist during my time in Bollywood, or, at least, I was never given one. I don't want to act at all and am happy in my cave.
I just became less rebellious with clothes, and today, I can slip into appropriate attire according to what the occasion requires, but off the red carpet, I am not that particular about what I wear, and comfort is my main priority.
My father was very fond of reading. It was something we did at our home. I don't think it fits the way people think Bollywood works, but that's who we are.
By the time I was in my teens, I was reading science fiction. I had this maternal uncle who had cartons of books. It's important to read because you have to fill your head with words.
People feel feminists are aggressive, men-hating women with a little moustache. I think it's got a bad reputation because when feminism came into being, we were facing so much opposition that we had to be strident and aggressive.
When your name is Twinkle, you are a bookworm, and a fat child, then you have to be ready to be made fun of. As a child, I used my fists a lot, but then the tongue seemed like a better option. So I started using words as a sword to jab fun at myself.
Now that I look back, all the things that I was teased about, became game changers and my strengths. That's what we have to learn as mothers. We push our children so much to be perfect, but it's their imperfections that make them unique.
There was never a game plan to be on social media. Like most things in life, if you work consistently and at your pace, then things fall into place.
I like to see the world from different levels. Even when I'm making a candle or designing a piece, I like to sit on the floor to polish or make it from scratch. I haven't seen really tough times, but my husband has come up the hard way. He has even seen poverty.
I was born into the limelight. So, my biggest achievement, which I worked hard for, is to stay normal.
Ultimately, there is no definition for smartness. It's just the ability to do what you want to do really well.
Chiki Sarkar edited 'Mrs Funnybones,' and she is a ruthless but kind editor to work with. The only lesson I learnt during this process was to say, 'Yes, Prime Minister,' and re-write.
I like crisp words like 'blimey', 'yikes', 'crap' which describe consternation, embarrassment, and sometimes wonderment without making me type so many alphabets.