Personal Narrative: Growing Up In My Family

As a child growing up in the village and with my family’s agrarian background, I had the opportunity to be in close association with the environment. We moved out of the village when I was thirteen, but I go back there on holidays regularly to visit my grandparents. In my short lifetime, I have witnessed many changes in the village which have affected the pristine environment, bringing decline in the agricultural yield and extinction of many plant and bird species. In particular, the household sparrow, which was very common and abundant during the end of the last century, is very hard to spot these days. One can no longer relish the beautiful chirping of these birds and watch them play. The inappropriate dumping of non-degrading polythene materials have found their way into the farm lands through canals and threatens the agriculture. In addition, the longer summer season followed by a condensed but very intense rainy season is landing a fatal blow on today’s agriculture. Most of the current generation in my village are leaving for towns and cities in search of other occupations just to survive. While attractive opportunities have caused them to move, the decline

My father’s younger brother had a textile dyeing business, but due to some unfortunate events, his business incurred heavy losses, and my dad helped him financially to recover the business, but he couldn’t. Eventually he ended up doing nothing at home and was depressed. My Dad’s helping my uncle burdened our family, but as a child, I couldn’t condone his state, even though he was my best friend. As I grew up, I realised his absurd mistake of staying back depressed instead of trying to fight back. It actually created a huge impact on me. It taught me never to say no to hard work and trying again in the event of failure. Now, I believe that hard work and perseverance are the investments I need, and nothing can stand between me and