How Much Is Too Much, When It Comes To Personal Details About Celebs' Lives?

For Ayushmann Khurrana breast milk protein apparently once made for a good addition to his fitness diet. An anecdote his wife and writer Tahira Kashyap shared in a recent interview about Khurrana's seemingly bizarre nutrition choices has raised many eyebrows on the internet. This is the internet we are speaking of - a space where eccentric confessions are routine and people are nearly benumbed to everything, almost. Kashyap's revelation managed to draw many disbelieving reactions even here, most of which expressed pretty much the same thing: um... that's TMI (too much information).

For the uninitiated, Kashyap divulged that, on a trip to Bangkok, Thailand with her husband after the birth of their firstborn, she was constantly pumping milk. She was filling bottles of baby food that, curiously, one day went missing. It turns out, Khurrana - "the gym-going, protein shake-drinking, breast milk-stealing freak" - had taken her breast milk supply for his protein shakes.

He said "it had the perfect temperature, was highly nutritious and blended perfectly" with his drink, she said.

The internet, meanwhile, said: WHY!?

In India, celebrities occupy near-god statuses. What does Janhvi Kapoor eat for breakfast? What does the wardrobe of Anushka Sharma's daughter look like? When is Katrina Kaif's wedding? Fans hunt for answers to these, and similar other questions, as if their lives depended on them. What is regular, and unfortunate, is that they dig for gossip about their favourite stars even at the cost of invading their privacy.

But on odd days, when celebrities themselves drop a giant ball of wack on our laps, we are clueless as to what we should do with it. We accept the offering - thank you, dear Kashyap - but what do we make of it?

Here's what Twitter had to say: 

News of both KJ Apa and Ayushmann Khurrana drinking their wives’ breast milk breaking within the same week was not on my list of 2021 expectations

— strawberry shortcake 🍓✨ (@badassflowerbby) October 31, 2021

Everytime I see that breast milk story with Ayushmann and his "milk mustache", I shudder so hard. Some stories just need to not be told 😖😖😖😖

— Disgruntled Pelican 🏳️‍🌈 (@ThisisLLN) October 31, 2021

ayushmann khurrana drank what from what 😭 pic.twitter.com/zUJazFT59g

— txj's hand holder (@zzhlune) October 30, 2021

Keeping Kashyap's revelation aside for a minute, men consuming breast milk is really not that novel a concept as is being made out on social media. A study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine in 2015 notes how breast milk has emerged as a "super food" among adults. The researchers elaborate on the promotion of breast milk use in "CrossFit, BodyBuilding, Palaeo and other fitness communities." The paper, however, outlines that breast milk's benefits do not have clinical backing and that the protein it carries is lesser than what is present in cow milk.

So really, Khurrana and his breast milk protein shakes aren't too radical. And anyhow, my editor tells me, married couples do a lot of weird stuff together. To each their own, I guess. What's puzzling is the sharing of all that and more.

When you come to think of it, the audience has always had a thing for outlandish oversharing from celebrities. Earlier this year, a photo of Nick Jonas 'slicing' a "snack" - his wife Priyanka Chopra's backside - strangely went viral online. In his 2017 memoir Khullam Khulla, late actor Rishi Kapoor recalled the time his wife Neetu Kapoor conceived their son Ranbir when the couple was shooting for Prem Rog. 

Perhaps Kashyap thought her husband drinking her breastmilk had more humour than shock value. While many netizens may be cringing, who's to say that Khurrana's fan following isn't actually pleased to be let in on this little secret from his life? Or that this won't kick off a new trend of men turning to breast milk for their protein needs in India? (I'll be interested in seeing how this idea makes it past the culture police gaining mainstream predominance in our country.)

Either way, there are some details the public at large is better off unaware of. Celebrities, you can just take our word for it.

Views expressed are the author's own.

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