Hindus Have a Head Start

A Cultural Advantage

Thanush grew up in a Hindu family, and looking back, he thinks that gave him a head start in genealogy without him even realizing it. Death anniversaries were a regular part of life — ancestors honored, photos up on the wall with dates underneath, stories told and retold. He knew his grandparents' faces, knew their stories. "They are now with the gods; they are gods themselves, and we revere them as gods," he says. When he eventually got into genealogy, none of it felt foreign. "It felt like a natural extension of what we'd always done."

Walking in Ancestral Footsteps

He was still young when his grandmother brought him back to her village for a celebration. Being there changed something for him. He saw the places his ancestors had actually lived, met relatives he'd never known existed, and found himself wanting to know more — asking question after question. It was only after that trip that he realized there was a whole world of people who did this kind of thing on purpose, who actually researched their families and built out family trees. Luckily, his grandmother had answers for his questions even before he had the word "genealogy" for what he was doing. She was educated, and for years she'd kept a small notebook of birth dates and family records that she referred back to constantly. That notebook ended up being the backbone of his tree on her side, stretching back several generations, because whatever he asked, she could check her book and answer.

Talking to Others

The other side of the family took more legwork. He started talking to cousins, and piece by piece they worked out a few more generations together. One conversation with his aunt stuck with him — she told him about a great-great-grandfather named Anacchan, and explained that the name itself pointed to his profession: someone who builds homes. Whether that meant he did it for a living or just to shelter his own family, nobody's quite sure. But it was moments like that — a name turning into an actual person — that hooked him.

The Most Powerful Discovery

The discovery that hit hardest, though, was learning his grandfather had led eighteen villages in pre-independence India, despite coming from a lower caste. That one stuck with Thanush. "Knowing I carry those leadership qualities in my genes changes how I see myself," he says.

Moving Forward

He's nowhere near done. The plan is to scan his grandmother's notebook, upload old family letters, and start adding photos and memories as he expands the tree further.

Excitement to Continue

For Thanush, this has stopped being just a hobby — it's become a way of staying connected to people who came before him, of celebrating them. And he's only just getting started. He's always loved history, but there's something different about your own history. "To understand history is a gift. To understand our own history is life-changing," he says. It's helped him understand who he is today.

My Favorite Question

I asked Thanush the question I often ask: if you could be dropped into one ordinary day in your family's past, where would you land — and what would you want to see, hear, or finally understand?

What's Next for Him

Right now Thanush has a pile of handwritten letters, photos, and stories sitting around — and with university wrapping up, he's finally got time to scan and digitize all of it. He's also planning to track down his grandparents' siblings and add them to the tree.

A note for anyone doing this kind of work: don't stop at the direct line. Fill the tree out — siblings, cousins, the whole web of it. Tell your family what you're working on. Print copies and hand them out at weddings, at birthdays. Let your cousins know this is something you care about, because you never know — one of them might be sitting on a box of old photos or letters they didn't think mattered, until they hear what you're building.