‘Blood is thicker than water,’ they say but what if your family was Hitler? Or Osama Bin Laden? (Not metaphorically).

Just BTW: The idiom ‘Blood is thicker than water’ is a shortened version of the phrase ‘Blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb,’ which actually the opposite. The relationships you choose are more sacred than the ones you inherit.

I don’t exactly remember how I stumbled upon the profile of India Hicks on Instagram but defenitely wanted to know why she was named India. Usuaully there is a deep connection to the place— Crickter Johnty Rhodes and Actor Chris Hemsworth named their kids ‘India’ for emotional reasons. India Hicks is no coincidence. She is the grand-daughter of Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India. Her sibling Edwina is named after Edwina Mountbatten. I mean, I don’t know what I was expecting the grand-daughter to do but maybe a yoga practioner/designer wasn’t at the top of my list.

It also fascinated me when I learnt the singer John Legend had dated or was spotted with Osama Bin Laden’s neice Wafah Dufour. However, this is not as unlikely as it seems because Bin Laden came from a wealthy family which once had close ties to the Saudi Royal family. So for Bin Laden’s niece pursuing a modelling career in the United States is well within the realm of plausibilities. Later on the family had to abandon the last name and adopt different names to go undercover because of Osama Bin Laden.

The bloodline of Hitler didn’t end with him either. The leading paragrpah should tell you how different

Now take the case of Iran. In 2013, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini’s granddaughter was targeted when she photoshopped her daughter’s picture to cover her skinny black jeans. In 2022, Khomeini’s granddaughter Farideh Moradkhani called for the international community to cut ties with Iran and was sentenced to three years in prison for doing so. Such a stark difference.

Let me give you a context of why it surprises me. In India Ambedhkar’s Grandsons turned out to be politicians, and Gandhi’s grandsons are either social activists or have entered politics. Most of Subash Chandra Bose’s family had a stint in politics or they are scholars. Last week, Ananya Birla quit music to concentrate on her business. Instantly, there were jokes about how Birla’s kids could not pursue their passion. Or this funny reel on our prince of Indian politics. 

There is, of course, a part of me that feels that it is just plain nosy to go after the family for something that the one person did. Fame is sort of imposed on them—and for the wrong reasons at times. They didn’t choose it but I can’t help but wonder about the lives changed by mere association to an individual. There’s a really interesting series called “Evil Lives Here” which caters to this prying urge of people who want to know what it is like to be associated with criminals.

I feel this is also the reason why books like The Berkut are interesting, this was one of the earliest books that I had read (thanks to my sister ofcourse) that suggested an alternate ending to Hitler’s death. It suggests that he had infact escaped Germany and was lived among us for a while. Or movies like Gumnaami which are based on alternative theories of Bose coming back to India to live as a ‘baba’. What do you think?