It is that time of the year again, when parks and gardens around the city see a lot more footfall and fringe group members advocating... well, single forever. But that is beside the point. Because Valentine's Day may come and go, dates stay or don't, boyfriends break up, girlfriends leave and for us millennials, falling in and out of our varied concepts of "love" continues.
But then there are couples we see around us which make us want more. Continuously, unconsciously giving us couple goals, these partners seem like they have it all and we would do anything to get a bit of that in our lives. Sometimes our parents; sometimes, fictional beings from books and movies; sometimes, old couples you see walking down the street, holding hands. And then there are Twinkle Khanna and Akshay Kumar.
One has to simply look at these two together to know that theirs is a story for the ages, more than what we can say as a whole generation, I am sure.
Only this morning, Twinkle Khanna posted a picture of the couple busy promoting PadMan and it was the first line of the caption that got me all warm and fuzzy, mostly because I have always been a fan of their chemistry together.
Twinkle Khanna on Instagram: "I once told my Pad Man that I will take him places..."
But this is just a small window into how much they adore each other. They've been married 17 years and the two have always been very vocal on every platform about how much they love the other. But more than that, it is the everyday nuggets of their life that show how they are pretty much every couple ever, if only ever so quirkier. Those Instagram posts that are a sneak peek into their everyday life are enough to show that after all, it is not just love, but respect, acceptance, and a great sense of humour that keeps the ball rolling when many things fail.
A post shared by Twinkle Khanna (@twinklerkhanna) on
Congrats 2 d highest selling debut author & highest selling female author of 2015!Time 4 me 2 keep quiet at home now https://t.co/gJvCHOk38I
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) August 18, 2016
And hopefully stop disturbing me when I am at my desk by asking me to look for socks,phones or the missing mudgal:) https://t.co/Qu6nRslxkc
— Twinkle Khanna (@mrsfunnybones) August 18, 2016
I don't think any of us need reminding of one of the most memorable episodes from the last season of Koffee With Karan, where Twinkle and Akshay shared the couch. It was an appearance that the couple had made with some trepidation - not without cause, as Twinkle's zingers revealed: that her mother thought Akshay was gay, that they started seeing each other just as a fling-thing, that Akshay proof reads her columns, how Akshay saying "Chashma pehen le" is code for Twinkle to zip it, and how Twinkle made a chart of Akshay's family medical history to decide if their marriage was a good call...genetically. You know. No biggie.
And it is pretty clear that they have come a long way since. In most relationships, there is a bid to change the partner; safe it will be to say that many marriages fail because there is constant friction. Accepting each other as they are, then to befriend that difference and learn from it seems like a more solid way to go. And apparently that is what these two right here have done.
There are a lot of couples out there who give us that vibe (Michelle-Barack Obama anyone?), but when it comes to Twinkle and Akshay, the candor, the class and the comedy is pretty damn aspirational.
Especially, for our cynical, cracked but always hopeful millennial hearts.
