On environment and health

My ancestors were not gluttons for punishment (both work and food). Nevertheless there are parallels. My maternal grandfather lived for a good part of his adult life in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) but returned to India some time between or during WW2. He chose to settle in Bombay rather than the village that he was brought up in. My paternal grandfather lived most of his life in a small village, population probably 2-500 then but around 10,000 when I was growing up.

Both my maternal and paternal families ate reasonably well. My paternal family had no refrigerator but maternal family succumbed to it early.  And the food that our ancestors in the US ate in a day would have been sufficient for mine for more than a week. 

Yet there are dramatic differences between the two families in terms of health. Most of my paternal relatives (who continued to live in villages and small towns) lived well over 90 years and quite a few living well beyond a hundred with a quality of life better than mine now at 68. On the other hand most of my maternal relatives did not make it to 80, some of my cousins passing on in their forties. Most of the maternal relatives died of cancer, and water borne diseases such as typhoid.

Stress, lack of exercise, quality of public services (water), and pollution al have a role to play in cutting short people's lives.