Sorting Through Legacies

As a student, I had to commute in local buses as prevalent during those times. My wait for the arrival of the next bus forced me to notice an old lady curiously observing me. I pretended to ignore her but still found myself to be a subject of her curiosity. Undeterred she stared, and embarrassed, I turned my back towards her, only to find her blatantly changing sides to face me again. Realizing my awkwardness in avoiding her she questioned me about my grandparents and excitedly mentioned my mother’s name to confirm my filial descent. She then introduced herself as an old neighbor of my grandparents who had seen my mother as a teenager and my resemblance to her. Thank God! I whispered as I sat and bid farewell to my new acquaintance. Genetics and not Facebook turned out to be the most potent tool in uniting the long-lost figures in my mind.

 As I was having my morning walk session, I could see groups of people performing yoga and yet another group indulged in a discourse on adhyatm. It made me realize that I missed the gene during the cross-over stage of cell division from my genotype during transference from my ancestors. I had spent over half a century on this planet and despite growing up amongst the most spiritually inclined grandparents, the idea of spirituality had never struck a chord.

Counting the traits, I could even find the gene for artistic fervor from the other side of the family as having mutated during chromosomal replication. Alas! I could only look up with awe at my father and his father for that lost phenotype. Genie if only you could give me that gene, I desired so much.

I remember complaining to my grandmother about a ton of my traits: my thick eyebrows, spectacles adorning my face, hair on my scalp, and my facial hair, to name from her side of the family. She squared off all my grudges in one statement. “Say all you wish but be grateful for the brain you have from my side of the family.”

When we hear the word “inheritance,” images of trust funds, sprawling estates, and cash windfalls might come to mind. But let’s not forget about those other “gifts” that get passed down in families: the DNA inheritance that blesses (or curses) us with everything from our dad’s nose to Aunt Seema’s laugh. It is a quirky world of inheritance, where family fortunes and funky traits meet.

God, forbid I do not intend to offend anyone as I delve into the matters of inheritors or their inheritance. These are sacrosanct issues to us, for we are all inheritors and assets are not the only inheritance we have.

Families don’t just pass down money or physical traits; they pass stories, habits, and shared experiences. Traditions, whether quirky or serious, become a unique inheritance. While financial inheritances run out, and physical traits blend with each generation, family stories have a way of lasting forever.

So, the next time you’re at a family gathering, notice who has grandpa’s dimples, grandma’s sense of humor, or maybe even a slice of the family fortune. As strange and unpredictable as it is, inheritance reminds us that we’re part of something bigger—a family legacy filled with cash and chromosomes.