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Double dilemma
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Twins, even identical ones, are often contradictory individuals quite independent of each other.
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The Bijani twins as children and as adults. It was because of their fierce individuality that they sought to lead independent lives. One wanted to be a journalist, but was forced to study law, thanks to their unfortunate circumstances.
WE'VE JUST done with the month of June, synonymous with the Gemini twins, and one cannot help but contemplate on the ironical characteristics denoted by this sun sign. The Gemini twins are said to denote the diametrically opposite sides of a person. When one person can have a multilayered personality, does it follow then that twins have one personality? The recent tragic deaths of the Bijani twins, Ladan and Laleh, provides an answer to this intriguing question. The conjoined Iranian twins opted for the fatal surgery because each had a personality very distinct, and even opposite, of the other. From the personal experience of being a twin, I can tell you it's not unlikely that twins have similar characteristics but still be entirely different personalities. It was also interesting to check out some of the City's twins.
Says Mamata Srinivas Moorchung, who has a twin brother: "We are totally opposite of each other and he's more like an older brother, than a twin. Earlier, if there were family functions to attend, being a girl, I would enjoy being a part of them, and he would hate to come with us. Also, he's more dominating, bossy, and acts older."
Alwin John Madtha feels likewise about his twin, Elvin Gabriel: "It was no big deal having a twin, it feels just like another sibling. He is nothing like me and our views are different on everything." Alwin, who is also married to a twin, tells us the example of his mother-in-law, who is — gasp! — a twin: "My mother-in-law, who is very much a family person, is nothing like her sister, who was a cloistered nun."
As for me, my sister and I share similar views and opinions on most matters, but where worldly aspirations, choices, and tastes are concerned, we couldn't be more different, which resulted in her pursuing medicine as a career, while I chose to stay as far from the field as possible. However, Meera and Meena, both doctors, don't feel that way. Both chose to follow the same profession, though they graduated from different colleges. The same can be said of Sonika and Monika Naidu, working for the same software firm in Bangalore. These twins have similar preferences in terms of careers, but they do feel they are different people, which is why they tend to squirm when people compare one to the other saying, "She is taller than the other", "Her eyes are bigger", and so on.
Talking to mothers of twins, one learns that twins are also different in their behaviour, which tends to be cyclic. One of the twins is always more reserved, while the other is more outgoing. My mother always said that one of us was the "good one" for six months while the other was cranky before the pattern was reversed. But this myth is countered by psychologists who say that this is a natural tendency in two siblings and good or bad, the twins will always be "partners in crime" when faced with a third person! This bonding though, is not very common in twins of the opposite sex. Scientists credit this to the fact that twins of the similar sex tend to undergo the same experience at the same time, thus making them bond better. Mamata, who says that her experiences differed from those of her brother Mukund as his lifestyle began to change and they started having separate rooms instead of one, also seconds this view.
However, there are other twins who have very close bonds, ESP, and similar and simultaneous thoughts (even humming the same song). I for one, soon after my marriage, would call out my sister's name every time I woke up at night, as we twins had shared our room and bed.
Twins may or may not look alike, depending whether they are monozygotic (single egg) or dizygotic. Fraternal twins, who are dizygotic, may not even resemble each other, sometimes. However, there is no fixed rule regarding physical characteristics as environment can also cause a change in appearance as time goes by. Also, there are cases where monozygotic twins may differ significantly, where one is distinctively smaller than the other. Shobha Venkat, a gynaecologist, confirms that this may be possible where the two have shared the blood vessels and placenta and twin-to-twin transfusion has taken place, where nutrition has been transferred to one twin through the other. This was the case of Sarika Bansal's daughters, where one twin was born much smaller than the other. "Their weight and growth is different but they look alike, and contrary to what one would think, the weaker baby is much sharper and quick on the uptake."
Parents can be blamed for projecting twins as one entity: they dress the twins alike, with identical clothes and bestowing them with similar sounding names.
Looking at trends, one notices that twinning rates have increased worldwide (50 per cent in the last two decades) due to use of fertility drugs, IVF procedures where more than one embryo may be used, and fewer miscarriages. There is also the "vanishing twin syndrome", where one twin doesn't survive the pregnancy). Family histories don't make it easier either — Alwin has four pairs in his family, and I have six in mine!
TINA GARG
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