Jab Taimur Was Born: Looking back at Kareena Kapoor's first pregnancy, ramp walk to Veere Di Wedding

Remember when Taimur Ali Khan broke the internet just by being born? The year was 2016 and the month was December, Kareena Kapoor Khan delivered her first child with Saif Ali Khan at Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital, as a sea of press photographers waited with ready flashes to capture the little one's first glimpse. Soon after, the Pataudi heir was named Taimur Ali Khan and social media crashed!

The debate around the name Taimur was particularly unique. One section of social media users questioned the need to name a child - born in India - after a usurper who plundered India, another section sided with the parents' right to name their child as they please. A large section, however, were left disappointed. Somehow Taimur the name didn't live up to the expectation built over the previous nine months as we, as a country, closely followed Bebo's first pregnancy. So what was it all about? Let's roll back.

It is not as if Kareena was the first celebrity announcing her pregnancy in the age of thriving social media, yet the curiosity it generated still remains unfathomable. Kareena certainly did one thing - she made pregnancy look unrealistically effortless. She flaunted her baby bump in style, too. And, most importantly, she kept working, and how!

It all possibly started with Kareena walking the ramp for Sabyasachi in Lakme India Winter/Festive 2016, all decked in the ace designer's bridalwear, flaunting her pregnancy. It was a first for the Indian audience, for on one hand, fashion has always been about unforgiving body standards, and here Kareena was, glowing, walking gingerly on the ramp, confident. A true diva.

Kareena was also shooting for Veere Di Wedding while she was pregnant. In an interview back in 2018, right before the release of the film, Kareena said, “I got pregnant after signing the film, so I told Rhea (Kapoor, producer) about it and that they need to take someone else. As a producer, she stood by me. She decided to change the character to be pregnant. But then I told them that I can’t do this. However, it was Rhea’s conviction that she said, ‘Let’s just wait for some time’.”

Kareena then ent to do several magazine covers and endorsements, all while she was pregnant. This, in itself, was challenging the notion that an actress in Bollywood has a shelflife - desirable until married. Kareena, on the other hand, did not stop, not when she married Saif in 2012, and certainly not after she got pregnant. Why would she then stop after her delivery?

Taimur Ali Khan was born on December 20, 2016. The family of three got home to their plush Khar, Mumbai flat, and just in a couple of days, pictures of Kareena partying with her girl gang started doing the rounds on social media. Another debate ensued - should a mother stay home and take care of her child, or does she have the freedom to live a little? Well, Kareena did both, mind you. And through all that, Saif stood by her. Kareena herself admitted in an interview that Saif, in fact, encouraged her to do her own thing in her own way. “I am so lucky to have a husband who is so understanding. He told me to go to the gym and go back to the studio and take my son along to set an example. Yes, we (women) can do both,” Kareena had said.

Soon enough, little Tim - yup, that's his nick name, or as we'd like to say, 'daak naam' given Taimu has a little bit of Bong in him, thanks to grandmother Sharmila Tagore - stole all the limelight. The adorable little marshellow was papped everywhere he went, from his playschool to the gym to the airport, and as an obvious side-effect of his popularity, his nanny also became a star. Who is she? How much does she get paid, we wanted to know everything.

There was also a lot of talk about Taimur's eugenics and genetics, and daddy Saif Ali Khan weighed in on that. When Taimur found himself in a nepotism debate he knew nothing about, Saif, in his characteristic sense of humour, said, "It's easy to confuse nepotism with genetics. Maybe there is something in the genes too that makes many of Raj Kapoor's descendants actors or Pataudis cricketers. I think it's actually eugenics and genetics that's coming into play." Well.

While what he said can be questioned, he wasn't entirely wrong. We too wanted to know what song Taimur went to sleep to - Chopin - or how many times does mommy Kareena kiss him in a day - 20,000 times! Well well.

Then, things took a bizarre turn when a Taimur Ali Khan doll appeared for sale on a popular kids' shopping website. The parents were unfazed, but do you see the madness slowly taking over method?

Today, as news of Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan's second pregnancy broke, all eyes are again on this family-of-three. Taimur is going to be a big brother now and he is just three-and-a-half years old himself! Will we see a repeat of et al? Umm, we wouldn't put it by us. But for now, congratulations to the proud parents-to-be and brother-to-be Taimur.

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