This is my prize winning essay. I wrote this essay in an essay competition conducted by Sindhi Academy at district level.
Myself, Lippika Parwani, daughter of Shri Ajit Kumar Parwani and grand daughter of Late Shri. J.W. Parwani. I am born and brought up in Delhi, but originally we belong to Khairpur Mirus state in Pakistan. Our family traditionally lived in Sind province once part of India but now in Pakistan. After migration to India the Parwani family spreaded all over India. By and large our family is of literates and intellectual persons in as much as it had produced Administrators, Educationalists, Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers and successful businessmen. I must say at the outset that I am proud to belong to Parwani family. My family has ever stuck to our ancestor’s motto “try to do good to others as far as possible, but never harm any one even if he be your enemy”. I have been brought up in a family where Sindhi culture was, rather is very prevalent & was enforced upon all by my grandfather. When alive, my dadaji used to teach us about our old family tree & family hierarchy from a family book he had. Unlike other grand fathers who tell their children stories of kings & queens, he used to tell us story of his & his ancestors days in Pakistan. His narration extended from the beauty of life in those days, to royal culture, joint family, importance of relationship to fun they used to have in their family autak to the history of mohan-jo-daro. And, these all narrations have not only given us insight about the life in Sindh, but have also given us an inspiration to become better person in life, and needless to say, have drawn us more closer to our Sindhi culture. For, guidance, today my dadaji tough may not be here, by his teachings & words have given me motivation & strength to write this essay.
With due respect to all the above & higher generations of Parwani family, I start our family hierarchy from my dadaji’s dada, i.e. Diwan Pratap Rai, after whom our house “Pratap Bhawan” is also named. Diwan Pratap Rai was son of Diwan Asomal Parwani. He holded the prestigious position of finance minister in the Khairpur Mirus state. Diwan Pratap Rai was blessed with six sons, out of which my great grand father Diwan WaliRam Parwani were the youngest. Diwan Wali Ram Parwani was very literate & highly qualified. He served as teacher to Mir Ali Murad khan in Khairpur Mirus state.
Diwan WaliRam Parwani was blessed with four sons, and my respected Dadaji were his third son. My dadaji, Late Shri. J.W. Parwani, retired as section officer from Ministry of Defence. Though, he retired at an age of fifty eight, still he was not tired of working and so he planned to give a new turn to his career. And hence, he started his practice as civil advocate in Delhi High Court. He practiced till an age of 83, after which his physical potency was not enough to keep him going, so he took final retirement from his career.
Though he stopped his practice but even at an age of 83 his willpower & determination to study & learn was worth admiring. His mantra of success was it’s not important whether u win or loose, but he used to tell that what is important is that how honestly u have tried.
In his entire journey, my grand mother Smt. Padma Parwani stood beside him as his soul mate. My grand mother was a very literate and educated lady. In that era, where females rarely used to go for education, she was a matriculate in English medium. She was a very pious lady, who dedicated her entire life in the service of family and god. Her routine of doing service in our family temple every morning, evening and night was fixed.
Late Shri. J.W. Parwani & his wife Late Smt. Padma Parwani, were blessed with five sons, three daughters and 13 grand children. The couple was a perfect example of maintaining balance in the family. Where, on the one hand, my grandfather managed to infuse hard core principles, traditions and discipline in the family, my grandmother tried hard to permeate moral and religious values in the family. Through them, I have learned to follow each and every tradition with due respect and willingness, and not as a burden.
Of the eight children of my grandparents, my father MR. Ajit Parwani, is the second son. He works as a director with private firm since last 35years. He believes and teaches that stability and consistency is the factor which forms basis of every success. He like his father has been working as a very dedicated volunteer with Sindhu panchayat. Through his journey of life, my mother Neelam Parwani, has been his constant supporter for last 28 years. My parents are both kind at heart but strict disciplinarians. My mother works with State Bank of India. My parents are kind at heart but strict disciplinarians. They are blessed with 2 daughters and 1 son, from whom I being the eldest. After completing my studies in electronics & telecommunication engg., presently I am working with an MNC as design engineer. My both siblings are studying.
Through all these years we have tried our level best to live upto the values and culture derived as heritage from our ancestors and for the future seek the blessings of our elders, to continue living the same.
