Shah Rukh Khan may be good at a lot of things – we, in particular, love his wisdom – but the actor believes that what he’s best at is being a father. He has gone on record to call himself the best father in the world, and has even said that of all the names he’s called, he likes papa the best. Which is why we love hearing him talk about his children – even when you’re just reading words on a page, you can tell that his face was all lit up when he was speaking about them. 🙂 And after reading the Bombay Times interview today, we’re convinced – he’s the best papa in the world. Here are 10 reasons why!
1. He takes selfies with his kids
Not only does he have a Theory on Selfies (a rather legit one, I might add), but he also takes them with his kids:
The one with Aryan was taken while they were trying to study, while the one with Suhana was taken during a father/daughter movie date – they were watching Coraline! (And yes, Photo Booth counts as a selfie.)
2. He gives them their space
“You need to take care of each other’s space also. I never ever enter their rooms without knocking. And I get very angry if anyone ever does. They have separate rooms and everyone must knock and ask, ‘May I come in?’ and give them the five seconds of taking permission.”
3. He will not embarrass them in public
“With my daughter, I know I will not embarrass her when she is in public, but I drop her to the party. I know she may not like being kissed or hugged in front of her friends so I will do it at the doorstep.”
*Aww*
4. He still goes for coffee dates with them
And now that there’s a new Starbucks in his office building, we expect this will get easier?
5. He’s willing to learn from them
“The best way to teach is to learn from the student.” – Ain’t that the truth 🙂
6. He gave the best lessons ever
“When they were young, I invoked this sense of yearning for learning in them. I made games out of it, always taught them that it is great to just know things. No need to show off. I would go in the whole house and give them 20 questions where the answers would be scattered throughout the whole house. I would do this the whole night and they would be running around trying to find the answer.”
This is the coolest. LOVE this idea, and the concept behind it: learning because it’s awesome to learn things, not because it’s something you have to do.
7. … and he doesn’t believe that coming first matters
(But he’s still the best anyway.)
“This coming first is the worst kind of teaching. It’s like our crappy 100-crore club. This whole wanting to be better than the best, is lowly. You are unique. You don’t have to be better than someone. You have to be the best at what you are unique in. I don’t think they feel jealous and don’t feel the need to be better than others but just like me they are very competitive, but compete with themselves.”
I could go on forever about how terrible it is that we give so much importance to “coming first” and being a “topper” in this country. It’s great that some parents understand this and don’t put that kind of pressure on their children.
8. He hugs them everyday
“Every morning they will come and hug me, spend time with me, say good morning to me on their own. I don’t have to ask. Though sometimes I have to say, ‘Aaj ka hug nahi hua’.”
True fact: I first heard about this interview not because I read the newspaper, but because when I was leaving the house this morning, my mother said to me: “Where’s my hug? You know, Shah Rukh Khan’s kids hug him every morning!”
9. He’s retained his sense of childishness
“But somehow, I am childish in my heart. I am oversensitive, playful and happy with the trivias of life. If I had a choice between discussing a big business proposition versus playing PS4 with my children, I would choose the latter. I love listening to their stories.”
That, and he also knows the meaning of the word swag:
10. He doesn’t forget the importance of the smaller things in life
“I tell them the importance of flowers. I tell them the beauty of poems, I tell them the greatness of gentleness and teach them the goodness of God. I teach them very simple things and they both have a great sense of humour.”
I only have one question left, SRK: will you adopt me? 🙂