Twinkle Khanna recalls the time she and son Aarav Kumar applied to the same university: ‘We were horrified’

Actor-turned-author Twinkle Khanna opened up about the experience of applying to universities simultaneously with her son, Aarav Kumar, who was also seeking admission to a university abroad.

By: Entertainment Desk

Chennai | December 26, 2023 03:31 PM IST

3 min read

Twinkle Khanna with son Aarav Kumar. (Pic: Twinkle/Instagram)

Actor-turned-author and columnist, Twinkle Khanna, embarked on a new chapter of her life by returning to university at the age of 48, where she pursued masters in fiction writing at the esteemed Goldsmiths, University of London. In a recent interview on YouTube channel A Suitable Agency, Twinkle opened up about the experience of applying to universities simultaneously with her son, Aarav Kumar, who was also seeking admission to a university abroad. She also shared insights into navigating friendships across different age groups during her time at the university.

Reflecting on her longstanding desire to return to university, Twinkle recounted, “When my son was young, I used to take him to school counselor and I kept saying, ‘I want to go back to university,’ and the counselor told me that for now I have to take care of my child and I can go back to uni when he is older. I used to laugh at that and say, ‘That’s misogynistic, I am going to put you in the newspaper,’ and he would joke with me about it.”

Discussing the period when both she and Aarav were applying to universities, Twinkle revealed, “Finally, in the pandemic I decided I wanted to study. So, I did six months online courses at Oxford and I really loved it and I wanted to go to university. I didn’t know which ones to go to. There was a time when my son and I both were applying to universities together and we had one university that we both had applied to and we were horrified, it was not our first choice, but it was like, ‘Oh my god, if I get it, I will have my son on the campus and he is going to see me.’ We decided that if that happens, we will pretend to not know each other because that’s really uncool. But I ended up getting my first choice, Goldsmiths.”

Also read | Twinkle Khanna gets advice from Akshay Kumar, Dimple Kapadia after son Aarav’s terse refusal to share password with her: ‘I am 21, not 12’

Sharing her experience at the university, Twinkle said, “I suddenly had this group of university friends. I had four friends and our group was called Scribes in the City. One of us was 66 years old. I am 50, so we had two buddhies and then we had these two 25-year-olds. I have to say that the buddhies kind of outed the 25 year olds. But it was really nice. I was worried who will I have lunch with everyday and I met them and I never had to have lunch alone. So, that was my highlight.”

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