On Suhana Khan's birthday, parenting lessons to learn from Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh Khan is an inspiration to many – for his acting skills, romance, warm-nature, wittiness, good-looks and the list goes on. Another popular image of SRK is that of a father and a family man. Shah Rukh has three kids with wife Gauri Khan – Aryan Khan, Suhana Khan, and AbRam Khan.

Suhana has been making headlines since the announcement of her debut film The Archies, an adaptation of Archie Comics by director Zoya Akhtar.

As the debutant star kid celebrates her 22nd birthday on Sunday, May 22, take a look the parenting philosophies SRK and Gauri brought up their kids with.

Shah Rukh Khan does not see his kids as a responsibility, rather “a measure of our capabilities”, he shared once in a tweet.

"When someone says 'my kid is such a problem'. I want to tell them don't look at them as that because actually, their 'issues' are a call to our potential, a source of telling us we can exceed our energies more than we know," he wrote.

Shah Rukh and Gauri both believe in giving their children the space to grow and discover themselves, instead of controlling them or their life choices.

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Instead of being a strict disciplinarian, King Khan rather prefers to be friends with his children. “I love my children not because they are my children, but because I have garnered a friendship with them. I am realising this… as they are getting older, they are my greatest friends. I think my mental age is between 12 to 14, so it is nice to have two friends that I can ever have,” he shared in an interview.

When Aryan was studying abroad and couldn't be home for his father's 51st birthday, he shared a social media post, expressing how he, too, sees his father as a friend. "He can play like a kid, give advice like a friend and protect like a bodyguard. Happy Birthday to you. We Love You BossMan.”

When Suhana-starrer Archies’ teaser took the internet by a storm, everyone poured in love and best wishes on social media. Shah Rukh wrote for Suhana something that stood out as wise and beautiful, something only a loving father and a successful actor can share.

Sharing pieces of fatherly wisdom with his daughter and his social media followers, he wrote, “Remember @suhanakhan2 you are never going to be perfect….but being yourself is the closest to that. Be kind and giving as an actor…the brickbats and applause is not yours to keep…the part of you that gets left behind on screen will always belong to you.”

As a father-of-three and much-loved public figure, Shah Rukh also touched on how to handle celebrity life, “You have come a long way baby...but the road to people’s heart is unending…stride forth and make as many people smile as you can. Now let there be Light…Camera and Action!”

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In many interviews, Shah Rukh Khan has mentioned that one thing that is very important for him is to spend quality time with the family. Out of his busy schedule, he never misses any chance to spend a good time with his children.

He once stepped out on the streets to take Suhana for a bike ride. Sharing the special moment, he tweeted, "One of those days when I go through the emotions. Cycling with Suhana was the highlight.. need to do it more."

Gauri shared in an interview that she and SRK split parental duties, which helps her manage her work-life balance. “Little Abram takes time but Shah Rukh and myself, both have enough time for him so we share our duties as parents, which gives me enough time to be at work and do what I love and I’m passionate about. It’s going quite smoothly.”

The couple has stood together as strong parents in times of trials, such as during Aryan’s arrest in October last year, following the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raids in Mumbai. He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court, 25 days after his arrest.