When it comes to dads, we all have a familiar story. Alia Bhatt recently shared a fun peek into her bond with her father, Mahesh Bhatt. When asked about an annoying quirk of the Bollywood filmmaker, the Jigra actor said, “It’s very difficult to have a smooth, easy, free-flowing conversation when he forgets who he is talking to and then calls me Shaheen, sometimes Soni, and sometimes other people that I’ve never heard of. And he does the same thing with everyone else. But lo and behold, the apple does not fall very far from the tree. Now I do the exact same thing. So, what’s annoying is I’ve picked up on this quirk.”

Dr Rimpa Sarkar, clinical psychologist and founder of Sentier Wellness in Mumbai, says children often pick up their parents’ quirks through observation and modelling. “Parents are a child’s earliest and most consistent behavioural models, so the brain absorbs not only what parents say but also how they respond to stress, communicate, organise things or handle emotions. Repetition makes these behaviours familiar and automatic, which means a child can reproduce a behaviour before consciously deciding whether they like it,” she tells indianexpress.com.

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Alia picks up on Mahesh Bhatt’s quirks. (Source: Instagram/@aliabhatt)

Even when the quirks are negative?

Dr Sarkar says that there is also an interesting distinction between knowing a behaviour is negative and being able to change it.

“A child may think, ‘I hate when my parent does this’, but still internalise the same pattern because it has become part of their behavioural repertoire,” she shares, adding that some behaviours are also reinforced indirectly, even when they consciously recognise that the behaviour is irritating or undesirable.

If a particular quirk helps the parent manage anxiety, gain control, avoid conflict, or get a desired response, Dr Sarkar says the child may learn that the behaviour has a function even if they dislike how it looks.

“As children grow older, they become more capable of recognising these patterns and consciously choosing which ones to retain and which ones to change,” she further informs. This is why adults sometimes suddenly notice themselves saying a phrase, reacting to something or following a particular habit exactly like a parent.

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“We inherit many behavioural patterns through repeated exposure, but awareness gives us the opportunity to modify them rather than simply repeat them,” Dr Sarkar concludes.