Author and chat show host Twinkle Khanna has sparked a relatable conversation about parenting with a candid Instagram post, arguing that all babies should arrive with a built-in instruction manual — accessible via a QR code. The post, shared from her official handle, drew on an experience at the Biennale, where she was seen attempting to change a diaper.

What Twinkle Said

Reflecting on a diaper-changing moment captured on video at the Biennale, Khanna wrote: 'At the Biennale, while there was a deeper layer to this exhibition, it also struck me that all babies should come with a QR code like this that takes us straight to an instruction manual.'

She followed it up with a characteristic dose of wit: 'Right now, we are simply making it up as we go along. We do our best, love them fiercely, keep them fed and reasonably clean, and then they grow up, go to therapy, and blame us anyway.' She closed with a question to her followers: 'If your child came with an instruction manual, what's the first page you'd turn to?'

The Broader Point on Parenting

Khanna's observation cuts to a universal anxiety — that parenting, for all its emotional intensity, has no definitive guide. She noted that despite parents' best efforts to love, feed, and care for their children, kids frequently grow up to discuss parental shortcomings in therapy. The remark, delivered with her trademark self-deprecating humour, resonated widely as a candid acknowledgement of parenting's inherent uncertainty.

A Pattern of Candid Social Commentary

This is consistent with Khanna's established voice on social media, where she regularly addresses everyday anxieties with wit and clarity. Earlier this month, she used the metaphor of airline baggage fees to address emotional baggage, writing on Instagram: 'We all carry baggage, and like airline counters, the heavier the bags, the greater the penalty. We may never get rid of it all, but with enough practice and perhaps even the right therapist, we can learn to downsize our baggage so it's small enough to stow in the overhead compartment.'

Khanna, best known for her acting work in films such as Mela and for her career as a bestselling author and chat show host, has built a significant following for her unfiltered commentary on life, relationships, and society.

What It Reflects

The post taps into a growing cultural conversation in India and globally about the pressures of modern parenting and the rise of therapy culture among younger generations. Notably, Khanna's framing — equal parts self-aware and humorous — avoids moralising, making it broadly shareable. Whether the Biennale exhibition was intended as a commentary on parenting or not, Khanna found in it a mirror for a very human predicament.