Reading & Writing Assignment (2) – The Family
As we said before, the best way to improve your English is to practise a lot of reading and writing. Let’s get started with our 2nd assignment, shall we?
What will you do in this assignment? – You would read a few paragraphs on a topic and then share something from your life.
Today’s topic
I grew up in a joint family in Nawalgarh, a small town of Rajasthan. My father, two of his brothers, their families, and our grandparents stayed together (a joint family of 16 members). We have a couple of small businesses, a departmental store and an oil mill, back in Nawalgarh.
My father is the eldest of the brothers. He had to quit his studies after 10th to support rest of the family. What I admire the most about him is his grit – he once fought a court case for possession of our shop for 20 long years and won it. I also like how open minded and understanding he is. I think that comes naturally to elder siblings who have to shoulder responsibilities early on in their lives. Almost all of my business acumen and principles have developed by observing him over the years.
My mom is a home maker and I think I got my brains and inclination towards studies from her. She has a story too. She was an ok student in 10th standard and the principal of her school often used to praise the class topper in front of everyone saying how the topper would be the only student from the school to get the 1st division (back in the 70s, a 1st division was a big deal). My mom took it as an insult and studied really hard to prove the principal wrong and she also secured the 1st division. But what I really admire her for is the love and affection she has for the entire family and the sacrifices she has made. Even today, at age of 60, she takes more care of us than what we possibly do for her. I think that is how moms usually are.
My elder sister (eldest of us 3 siblings) is now married and perhaps the most innocent and soft hearted woman I have ever met. She once profusely apologised to an Amazon call center executive for returning a product because it would mean the delivery boy will have to come back for a pick up in the scorching heat – she apologised to the delivery person too. You can often find her at her home, doing household chores, despite the maid being around (she just can’t find it in her heart to order someone to do something for her).
Finally, my elder brother who shielded me from all the distractions that come with growing up in a business family (we boys often had to handle the departmental store or the mill by ourselves) and took it all on him. It affected his studies, not mine. He paid the price, not me. What I like the most about him is how passionate he is about the issues he believes in and the child-like excitement he shows while discussing them. He pretends to be a tough task master at business, but the guy’s heart is all cheese :). Here is a glimpse of what my extended family now looks like :)
Writing exercise for you– Tell us about your family. What do they do and the one thing you admire in each member. Please write your answers in the comment section below (min. 200 words).
You can also read fellow students’ answers in comments (but do so only after you have submitted your own answer so that you don’t get influenced by what others wrote). We also encourage you to share your feedback, appreciation, and thoughts against others’ answers. Remember, it is a community effort and we are all in it together :). Only when you participate, you can expect others to participate and share feedback on what you wrote. Deal?
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