If laughter truly is the best medicine, then Twinkle Khanna aka Mrs Funnybones is just what the doctor ordered. Of the many proverbial hats this multi-hyphenate wears—author, columnist, interior designer and film producer (we’d add former actor to the list but she refers to her Bollywood stint as a gruesome tragedy, so it’s probably best left out)—it’s her pen (and not Google and lame jokes as her Twitter bio claims) that has emerged as her mightiest weapon. Her signature style of writing is real, unafraid to ruffle feathers, and comes with serious potential to leave you roaring with laughter. This is true of her novels, her column and even her chuckle-inducing Instagram captions.
“The world of words is my comfort, my escape. If I am not working on a column or a book, I feel miserable, and my kids say I get cranky. I need to fill my head with stories, so I am glad that I get paid to do what I would have done anyway,” she tells Vogue India in an exclusive interview.
Khanna extends the same brand of say-it-like-it-is wit to her female-centric online content platform Tweak, that is a space for Indian women to challenge old ideas and discover new ones, and where only laughter is considered sacred (no surprises there, considering its founder’s reputation). As Tweak turns one this month, we spoke to Khanna about why she felt the need for a digital media company to discuss everything from the G-spot to gender roles, and her trick to maintaining an authentic voice in the often-callous online world. Excerpts from the interview below:
“The idea had been percolating within my head for a while. In the last eight years, perhaps because I write about the commonalities between people, a lot of women would reach out to me, hoping I would have the answers to their problems. I realised that like me, they were also looking for ways to make life easier, and to be equal in a world that is essentially topsy-turvy.
I thought about hosting a show that would address these issues in a tongue-in-cheek manner, but the thought of getting all dolled up every day to face the camera, dissuaded me of that particular notion. With Tweak, I can do the same thing, without pulling on a pair of Spanx and sticking on false eyelashes every morning.”
“We spent over nine months before the launch defining who we are and what sets us apart. I have been lucky enough to have spent most of my life with a perspective that some would call decidedly odd, and a penchant for finding a thread of humour in some very sombre topics. This is what we wanted to distil through the platform, which I believe we have managed to do adequately. Next, we have the launch of our Tweak Book imprint this month with two wonderful books—a celebrity cookbook What’s in your dabba? and a children’s book When I grow up I want to be.
This year has been a steep learning curve for all of us. I realised that resilience and agility are invaluable weapons, especially when you encounter an event that sends all your projections fluttering in the wind.”
“They say it takes 10,000 hours to master something , so I suppose hitting the right notes comes down to experience. I know that being authentic also means being prepared for brickbats. I was working on a column last week, and I knew on the day it’s published, the troll army would do their best to invade my sanity. I can’t say that sometimes I don’t want to back down because of fear, or that I don’t get scared. I do. I just go ahead anyway—not because I am terribly brave, it perhaps comes down to just being foolhardy.”
“What is humour if not being able to see the intrinsic truth through a slanted perspective? Mrs Funnybones would say that laughter is the equivalent of a bubblegum flavoured antibiotic syrup. Instead of a throat infection, this one cures you of stupidity. Once you laugh at something, you can never see it in the same light again. This is why I suppose, cartoonists are routinely fined or face prison sentences. Humour works as an oxymoron, it is a powerful weapon in the hands of the powerless.”
