Jiya Krishnakumar

United Arab Emirates

Getting to know myself

It was the middle of the school year when my mom decided she needed to go to Brazil for her job. I was left alone with my dad for the next four weeks. And perfect timing, too! My history teacher just gave us an assignment to write about our family’s past and background. So I decided to get to know my dad and his culture for the first time.

After hours of listening to him go on about India and how he grew up, I was so interested in everything about the place that made me half of who I am. I spent several more hours just reading more and more about the great land. I was ready to immerse myself in my dad’s culture. I knew enough about my mom’s culture; being surrounded by her culture in the US helped. I had never seen him smile wider than the day I asked him to teach me his recipes and his language. This one month with my dad will be wonderful, while he teaches me everything there is to know.