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Twinkle Khanna, author: Indian women’s aspirations have changed

Twinkle Khanna, author: Indian women’s aspirations have changed

The Interview vor 11 Monaten

Devina Gupta speaks to writer Twinkle Khanna about life for women in India today

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‘When it comes to women's lives, things have progressed, maybe
not always in a linear way.’

Devina Gupta speaks to author and columnist Twinkle Khanna about
the lives of women in 21st century India. Khanna’s column in the
Times of India, Mrs Funnybones, captures the contradictions of
being a modern Indian woman — one day praying to a cow, the next
filing a tax return. It was turned into a book in 2015 that sold
over 100,000 copies in its first year alone.

Born into a family of Bollywood royalty, Khanna initially
followed her parents Dimple Kapadia and Rajesh Khanna into
acting. However, despite appearing in dozens of films and
receiving accolades for her performances, she considers herself
to have been a ‘failed actress’.

After a short stint as an interior designer, she turned her hand
to writing, and soon realised how much she could make people
laugh.

As a prominent writer, however, Khanna has faced significant
backlash - including for comments challenging both traditional
roles within marriage and religious customs that label women
impure during menstruation. Her outspoken views on gender norms
and marital expectations have led to heated debate on social
media, and made her the subject of widespread trolling.

So with the follow-up Mrs Funnybones book coming out over a
decade later, she’s now asking the much larger question: what, if
anything, has changed for Indian women in that time. The
Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world,
from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You
can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a
podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get
your podcasts.

Presenter: Devina Gupta Producers: Ben Cooper, Clare Williamson
and Aakriti Thapar Editor: Justine Lang

Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the
hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Twinkle Khanna: Credit: SUJIT JAISWAL/AFP via Getty
Images)