Individuality - My Definition

A term normally used as an excuse for anything we do, which may be seen as offending or not likeable by others. Is it really an excuse or more than that? Well my definition may not be seen as an exact interpretation, however it should be seen as a practice adopted by many which includes me and my family.  Individuality is a personal attribute and should not be linked to everything or the rare thing which we do as part of our daily routine in this mad old world. 

I’m trying to sound very simple and whoever feels its a complex subject to venture in or an absolute waste of time to try understand it, may skip this section and move on to the next one. To me Individuality and personality are two completely different terms used to explain the same thing.  One’s persona is defined by his actions and the qualities he/she has in him/her. I personally have been in the quest to search my individuality, right from the day I was exposed to the functioning and purpose of my life in this world. From my first date in the school to this moment, I have been described as a person who looks very much like his Dad and behaves like his mom. This is not something which I wanted to be or accept it to be as my inviduality/personality, but I got it defined by family and relatives - Thanks a ton to them !! Hope none of them reads the following section. 

So Im still trying to ascertain whether I really have my own individuality/personality or not? 

I never needed a character certificate from my relatives or family but these are the things which you get by default if you are born in a well knitted Indian family ( a one which always has a bigger count & circle of relatives). My mom believes all my dad’s relatives are blood suckers - well the description would have been more worse If I had to put it in Bengali or Malayalam. And my dad was more tolerative to all the realtives irrespective of the team they belong to.

Another virtue which I had probably inherited from my dad is being generous. You can be generous only till the extent you can, but my dad's case is an exception.  I feel he would have been an excellent fit during the era of King Harishchandra or Vikramaditya. He believes in selflessness and willingly opts to help almost everyone in his Neelamana family irrespective of the type of help seeked by them ( financial, Job, Personal advice etc: ) and is remembered among his relative circle as a selfless person. Well I personally don't care how someone remembers or thinks about me. I only care about what he/she has done for/to me. Now that's why I term this virtue of mine as partially inherited, I had groomed and tailored it as per my needs. Being generous where I want to be and a miser where I need to be.

Now let me try changing the definition of individuality in 21^st century- “The aggregate of qualities and characteristics that distinguish one person or thing from others wherein the qualities, virtues and characteristics possessed by the individual could have been inherited from his/her parents/or groomed by the individual possibly through an option of choosing the bad, good and practical virtue/Qualities that he could have.”

It sounds as an excellent and practical definition of individuality/personality- Hope all my readers would share the same thought.