Identity
Identity: The Story We Inherit and the Story We Create A few years ago, I found myself contemplating a deceptively simple question: Who am I? At first, the answer seemed obvious. I am a son, a brother, a husband, a father, an engineer, a writer, etc. But as I reflected further, I realized that each of these labels represented an identity, some given to me at birth and others earned through experience. That realization led me to think deeply about the nature of identity itself. I was born to Telugu-speaking parents in the small town of Tirupattur in Tamil Nadu. My family belonged to a long line of merchants. My father owned a textile showroom and dedicated his life to the business, while my mother managed our home and family. Growing up, my world revolved around two places: school and our textile shop. My elder brother and I spent much of our childhood helping our father. Whenever he travelled out of town to purchase inventory, one of us would often skip school to look...