They say ‘Charity begins at home.’ But so does everything. Right from the values you imbibe, the way you face the challenges in your life to your perception of the society – almost everything you learn at home first. And parents and guardians play a huge role in shaping young minds. They can help inculcate positive thinking and the importance of inclusiveness in their children. This is of prime importance in today’s troubled times where discrimination of all sorts occurs based on one’s race, religion, gender, and even with the LGBTQA community. While information about such things might not have been easily accessible to the previous generations, today’s millennial has social media to look up to for everything. However, the responsibility of helping their children decide what’s right and what’s not – still rests with parents. And when their young children demonstrate maturity and sensibility with their innocence intact, it is a moment of pride for any parent.
One such moment occurred in writer/actor Tahira Kashyap Khurrana’s life. One of her husband’s, actor Ayushmann Khurrana, movie is due for release very soon. Called ‘Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan,’ the movie deals with the contentious topic of social acceptance of gay couples. It sends out a subtle social message in a simple, comic manner without being preachy. The launch of the trailer of the movie stirred up a conversation on social media. Acceptance of gay couples among family members became a hot topic of discussion all over again, thanks to the trailer. Now, you must be wondering if such a topic would have ever come up for discussion at the actor’s home too since he plays a gay protagonist in this movie. Before we could come up with any conjectures, the answer came in the form of a tweet from Tahira herself.
Image: tahirakashyap/Instagram
On 27 January 2020, Tahira shared an incident on her Twitter handle that melted our hearts. In it, she wrote about an exchange with her son, Virajveer, the left her teary-eyed. With her husband’s path-breaking movie due for release very soon, she thought it was the right time for her to have a conversation with her 8-year-old son regarding homosexuality. She wanted to know if he was aware of what being gay means. She was also curious to know his views on the topic. Like any parent, she might have been nervous before posing the question. But when she did, her son’s response not only surprised her but also made her overcome with emotions.
Image: Twitter
When Tahira asked Virajveer if he knew what being gay was, the smart little boy answered immediately that he knew what it was. But it was his next response that surprised her. When she asked him if he was okay with it, he replied innocently asking her ‘what’s there not to be okay about.’ Now, imagine being a parent of such a sensible and mature kid. And, as much as Tahira would hate to take the credit, it must be given where it is due – to her upbringing. No wonder then, it left the mother teary-eyed upon hearing her son’s response. It is truly heartening to know when children imbibe the same beautiful values as their parents.
Image: tahirakashyap/Instagram
On one hand, Tahira has been promoting social causes related to cancer (being a cancer survivor herself). While on the other hand, Ayushmann Khurana has become the face of ground-breaking cinema with socially-relevant themes. With each of his movies hitting the bull’s eye every time, he has proved that such movies do have an audience – an audience that has heart and is sensible enough to get the message.
As for Virajveer, let us admit – it’s not only Tahira but the rest of us too who are proud of her son. With a dad like Ayushmann and a mother like Tahira, it is only likely that their son too would have turned out beautifully as his illustrious parents.
