Rooted in Diversity: How our grandparents impact us

Inspired by the popular UK TV programme Who Do You Think You Are? Religious Education teacher, Dot Wildman, asked her 8th grade RE classes to research their grandparents and reflect on how those lives have impacted them today. Their stories provide a fascinating glimpse of the extraordinary backgrounds of many of our students.

Jago von Moltke

My grandmother from my mother's side was born on 13/6/1942 in Thorn, Prussia which has now become part of Poland. She had to flee her house at the age of 5 because of the Second World War and lost her mother at an early age. After that my grandmother decided to train as a nurse and worked in several hospitals around Germany, then married and had one daughter; my mother and had one son who sadly died a few months later. She lost her husband, son and father in the same year 1971 which was very tragic. She then married again and had three more children, now she lives in Germany in the countryside and enjoys life there. This affects my life because my grandmother had a very hard life until her 30's and lived in the middle of World War II. I am lucky that I am not living in those conditions and not having such a hard life.

My grandfather from my father's side was born on 21/1/1934 in Breslau, Silesia (now Poland). From a very old aristocrat family with important historical figures for example General Helmuth von Moltke-an important general in the Prussian army in 19th century, Helmuth-James von Moltke – formed the "Kreisauer Kreis" in the fight against Hitler. Had to flee Silesia in the Second World War and lived in Mockmuhl in Southern Germany with seven brothers and sisters and his Father died early because of cancer. He Studied economy and worked in the steel industry as a Director of the biggest steel manufacturer in Germany, then moved to London and worked in London for the same company. He has two sons now and lives in London however he is moving to Berlin, Germany in a few months. This affects my life because I have one of the most famous second names in Germany because of the plot against Hitler. My family made huge changes in Germany and now there is a statue of my Great grandfather in the centre of Berlin, so this makes me think about how important my family was in that time.

Hminga Hmar

My tribe is called the Hmar tribe. We originated from a place called Sinlung. Nobody knows exactly where this place is, but most of the guesses that historians made have said that it is somewhere in China that existed during the Qin dynasty. Bravery and courage are two of the greatest virtues that my ancestors showed. It is also here that they started practicing headhunting. Eventually, they were forced to leave Sinlung because of some unknown reason(s). They moved to Shan, which is a state in Burma. Here, they learned new and improved arts of war and using iron as tools. They also made many festivals here celebrating their victory over their enemies. But eventually they had to move away from the land because of a famine. They moved north to Kachin which is located somewhere in Northern Burma. After staying there for a while, they moved to Kawlphai Khampat. Here they also prospered but they were forced to move out of the land for reasons unknown. After being forced out of the land, they traveled with the Raltes and eventually ended up settling in Mizoram. That is just a short history of my clan and is the most I can tell you because too much information is missing.

Wangchuk Sadutsang

My father's father was born in 1925, in Kham in eastern Tibet. At the age of 7 he moved to Lhasa, the capital city, and started his school there when he was 8 years old.  He continued to go to his school until he was 14, after that he went to the Sera Je Monastery to study the Buddhist scriptures until the age of 23. During the Tibetan New Year, he had to distribute gifts to all the monks of the Monastery. He stayed for an extra three years and he had fulfilled his duty to the monastery. He then left for his home in Kham at the age of twenty-seven from Sera Je monastery.  In Kham, he joined the Dhargay Monastery where he was appointed the overseer of the monks. In all, there were 5 overseers who had the responsibility of keeping the monastery running by doing business on behalf of the monastery. They had to take an oath and promise that nothing would be used for their personal gain or his family. Each was given a location as to where they needed to go for business and my grandfather was responsible for Lhasa and the term was for 3 years. During those 3 years, the sales and business were exceptional for the Dhargay Monastery. At the handing over ceremony, each of the overseers had to swear that he had not used any of the gains for himself or his family. After the ceremony was over, HH Dalai Lama on his return from Peking (now known as Beijing) was invited to the Monastery and he stayed for three days. During his stay, offerings were made to HH Dalai Lama. Then HH Dalai Lama returned to Lhasa. After HH Dalai Lama returned to Norbu Lingkha (Summer Palace) in Lhasa, he was invited to visit a circus show held in the Chinese army camp. All the Tibetan people were against HH Dalai Lama accepting this invite due to the feeling that this was but a trick to lure HH Dalai Lama into their stronghold and take him away to Peking. Dhargay Monastery chose my grandfather to be sent down to Norbu Lingkha and guard HH Dalai Lama. Soon after a few days, HH Dalai Lama secretly fled to India. After HH Dalai Lama had left for India, my grandfather went down to join the guerilla army, Chu-shi Ghang Druk (four rivers, six mountains) which was stationed in Lhokha. They made their last stand in Lhokha and when defeated by the Chinese army there, they fled towards India. They entered India through Bomdila and later my grandfather settled down in Kalimpong in West Bengal.

My mother's father was born in 1940 in Tehor Kham which is a province in eastern Tibet. My grandfather belonged to a merchant family and since he was the elder son, he had to learn about business and trade at the age of 13. Along with the rest of the merchants he would ride on horseback with packs of mule filled with merchandise to sell in other provinces. Life was going smoothly for him while he was living in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, when in 1959 the Chinese invaded Tibet and started to take over the country. My grandfather was just a teenager but he was already in the voluntary army. Tibet had just a few thousand soldiers against millions of Chinese soldiers. In my grandfather's group there were 25 self voluntary soldiers who were trying to protect Norbulinkha (the summer palace) of HH the Dalai Lama, along with thousands of other soldiers and civilians. My grandfather and his group had to try to fight the Chinese while escaping.  During the escape they suffered bullet shots from the Chinese soldiers, some colleagues got swept away by the river, others died of starvation. After two long months only 5 out of 25 survived and crossed over into the Indian border. My grandfather enrolled himself into the Tibetan school in Mussoorie. In 1969 he came to Nepal and started a small business which later expanded and went on to other business.  Now after all these years, he is the chairman of on quite a few business and we are all very proud of him.

Willow Limbach

My grandmother, Lucile Lanning Harris was born in the city of Cleveland, Ohio in 1913. She was extremely smart, so when she was in elementary school she was one of few students used to establish an all-time high score on the Stanford–Binet Intelligence test (a standard IQ test). She was so smart that she was accepted into medical school in the 1930s when VERY few women were accepted. She was one of only two women in her entire medical school class, and was forced to work much harder than any of the men. After she graduated she was faced with discrimination in her practice, and in the 1940s a local hospital began to refuse admission to any patients of women doctors. This made it very hard for her to practice medicine so she went into practice with a man who would admit her patients under his name. Because of this discrimination, she was a minority rights activist and a great admirer of Martin Luther King.

She was a political activist as well, and an early supporter of Planned Parenthood and worked for them for many years. She was the campaign manager and personal friend of Congressman and later Senator Donald Reigle, and was elected to be on the City Charter Revision Commission. She also helped make a new city charter (or set of government rules) for her city. When she was growing up, her family were personal friends with President Harding, and on a trip to the White House in the 1920s, she accidentally lit a fire in her guest room while reading late at night by the light of an oil lamp. The fire was not destructive but it caused a lot of commotion and smoke in the White House. She was a firm believer in nonviolence, so during the Vietnam War when young men were being drafted into the army and killed, she would use her medical authority to write letters to the drafting board saying that family friends were ineligible for the army because of a made up medical conditions. In the Vietnam War she also worked for the Red Cross and ran their blood donation program.

I don't think that her life directly affects me, but I think she passed on her value of working hard and having strong political views to my father. He always does his best to show me the value of hard work and help me see how fortunate I am to have an education and opportunities like I do. I think he was pushed hard to do his best as a child and is in turn encouraging me to make the most of my opportunities.

Dhruv Lakhanpa

My paternal grandfather (Dada) studied his MA in English and then immediately joined his uncle in the 1950's in the family business which was producing and marketing radios by the name of Murphy. I believe it was the No.1 brand in India during the 1950's and 1960's. My Grandfather was in charge of marketing in North India as he was asked to start the North India operations for Murphy Radios by his uncle. Until then the company was only selling in West and South India. My grandfather became the youngest Marketing Director of Murphy Radios which made him responsible for marketing for the entire country. Later in the 1970's when Murphy Radios was bought by someone else, my grandfather and his uncle started a company which used to produce and market batteries by the name of Novino Batteries. My grandfather once again was responsible for the marketing of Novino Batteries for the whole of India. At present my Paternal Grandfather has retired and is completely involved in translating books written by his father on various topics - from Hindi to English. He is presently 76 years old and lives with my paternal grandmother (Dadi) in Delhi.

My maternal grandfather ( Nana) did his automobile Engineering from Germany in the early 1950's and was hired directly from Germany by TELCO ( Presently known as Tata Motors). His entire career was spent in Telco and he was in charge of production of Tata Trucks. He is presently 81 years old and lives in Pune with my maternal Grandmother enjoying the retired life. Most of his day is now spent running errands etc. for the other retired folks around the area who are not in a position to do any running around.

Edward Kant Mansal

My grandmother's name is Nina. She was born in 1947 in the northern Russian city Vologda - then the country was called Soviet Union. Vologda is an administrative center of one of the 89 regions of Russian Federation. Her father was Nikolai Fedorovich Nikiforov and mother was August Vasilievna Nikiforova. Hence my grandmother's maiden name was Nina Nikolaevna Nikiforova.

At three years of age she was admitted to kindergarten. In 1955 she started school. Then it was Soviet Union's time and as per the tradition every child had to join the pioneer's organization (scouts), so she did the same. Every year children have been spending their summer vacation in the scout's camp for the period of three months. The children had to take care of themselves in the camp by cleaning their rooms, making their beds up, washing their own dishes, setting the tables up in the kitchen and going for hiking. The senior children had to look after the juniors. They used to arrange several different activities such as concerts and dramas. By her initiative they had organized a puppet show for the children. They also used to read them fairy tales and showed slide shows. In addition they stitched and sewed clothes for children and for dolls also.

She completed her school education in 1965 and wanted to study medicine but was not successful. So she was forced to seek other work. In 1967 she came to Moscow where she was admitted to an automobile construction institution, completed her study and started working in transport the department. She had a post-graduation course in Moscow Automobile Road Institution. Then she worked as a chief economist and chief of recruitment departments.

In the meantime she met her future husband in the institute where they studied together. She got married in 1969 to Alexander Ivanovich Zorenkov who was my grandfather. In 1970 she gave birth of a daughter who is my mother Olga.She lived a very happy life with her husband until 1993 when my grandfather passed away, before my sister and I were born. Since then she has been living alone. She also helped my mother while my sister Nina and I were small.

Farid Rajkotia Zaheer

For my RE write up I decided to write about my grandfather from my mother's side. His name is Jitindar Singh Rajkotia. He was born on the 17th of February 1930. His family consisted of his older brother, mother and himself. They lived in Lahore which is the capitol on Pakistan now but before was the capitol of Punjab. My grandfather's father had died when he was four years old because he had a burst appendix. The British rule at the time had affected his life gravely because he wasn't able to complete his college education. When my grandfather turned 18 the British left the country and the war of partition between India and Pakistan broke out. Since my grandfather lived in Pakistan he had to come to India, being a Sikh and Muslims had to go to Pakistan. So to come to India my grandfather and his mother had to take a death train to India. A death train is a train which gets hijacked and the hijackers come and kill all the passengers. Even if the train isn't hijacked there is a lot of violence on board itself. But my grandfather made friends with a British officer and protected himself and his mother very well. They arrived safely in India and went to Dehradun; there my grandfather's older brother was commissioned as an Indian army officer. So the family lived there for a few years till my grandfather got tuberculosis. He had to go live in a sanatorium in the hills of Kasolli which is in between Mussoorie and Shimla till he got better. He ended up living around a year there. When he came back completely cured he married my grandmother. Then he bought land in a place called Karnal which is located in between Delhi and Chandigarh. He soon started a farm and got into the agricultural business. He still lives there today. His life hasn't really affected mine but I do like to hear all the stories he tells me and like to go to his house to relax whenever I get my holidays. I am proud to be his grandson.

Chaitanya Prashant

I will talk about my grandparents who are from my Mom's side. I call my grandfather Nana and my grandmother Nani. My Nana's name is Rai Singh and my Nani's name is Vijaya Laxmi. My Nana was born on 15th September 1951 and my Nani was born on 6th January 1959. My Nana is 70 and my Nani is 62. They had an arranged marriage, as that was the norm back then. My Nana had a Masters in English literature and was a lecturer and professor for 8 years in DAV College in Punjab. My Nani had a degree from Jaipur. So you could say they were educated. When they got married my Nani was 18 and my Nana was 26. Nana was into agriculture and has been for the past few decades. Nana is also one of the biggest exporters of the Kinnow fruit, which is a hybrid of an orange and Mausambi which is an Indian fruit. Nowadays he's into experimental agriculture and also is into hybrid and organic foods. There was a tragedy 15 years back when my Nana got throat cancer and his voice box got severely damaged. Fortunately he fought the disease and was cured of it but he can only speak in loud whispers, though he still lives like a normal person. My Nani was a housewife until 10 years back when she joined politics. Four years back she became the chairperson of Women's Welfare Board of India. She helps women of lower status and funds them for education and basic welfare.

The life story of my grandparents has had a bit of impact on me. I think that what my Nani is doing is great because she helps women fight the social crime of discrimination. I am happy what my grandparents have done over the years.

William Hellier

My grandfather, William Hellier Sr., was born in Birmingham, Alabama. His childhood was spent there and in Charlotte, NC. He moved to Atlanta, GA, just prior to his senior year in high school. He graduated from Davidson College with a BS in chemistry. He spent two years in the military serving in Germany and earned the rank of Captain in the reserves. He came back to Atlanta and began his career as a banker at The First National Bank of Atlanta where he became a vice president of the bank. From there they moved to Baton Rouge, LA, where he was Vice President and Chief Lending Officer. After two years, they moved to Greenville, SC, where he was Vice President and Commercial Lending Officer dealing mostly with real estate loans. He died on March 12, 1993 of cancer.

My grandma, Kate Hellier, was born in Chicago, IL and spent most of her childhood in Birmingham, AL and Atlanta, GA. She attended Wheaton College and upon graduation was employed by First National Bank of Atlanta as a personal assistant. Except for the two years they spent in Germany, she continued that employment until their first son was born. She has been involved with several volunteer jobs and is now teaching English as a Second Language, working as a receptionist at a local hospital, and teaching Bible studies.

My grandma is one of my favorite people in the world. She is really nice and she sort of spoils me. Unfortunately, she lives a few hours away in Greenville, SC, so I don't get to see her very much. Because of that, when I do get to see her, it is more enjoyable. While she doesn't impact my everyday life, she is a good influence and a nice, fun person that I love very much.

Heesun Seo

When my mother's side grandmother was in elementary school, there was a war going on between Korea and Japan. It was called 6.2.5 war. By this war, a lot of Koreans were forced to go to Japan, learn the Japanese language and they had to follow what the Japanese told them to do. During the war, my grandmother and her family suffered a lot. Because of this, my grandmother's father and older brother had to go to Japan and my grandmother had to live alone in Korea with the support of her neighbors and other people. My grandmother's father passed away because he was too old, but her brother is now working in Japan and he is now proud to be in Japan because he has a wealthy living and he likes Japan now. Anyway, when the war was going on, she used to have a very bad health condition and she got sick often. When my mom was young, she was also feeling lonely most of the time because my grandmother was sick and my mom couldn't also talk to her older brothers and sisters because they were all busy doing their school works and part-time jobs. Because of this, my mother is really being nice to me and she always tells me to be thankful of what I have right now because she used to have really depressing days when she was growing. I felt that I really have to be thankful and satisfied with what I have. Also, if my grandmother was caught by the Japanese soldiers, I might not be in Korea.

Donnie Blank

I have two Grandfathers and two Grandmothers but I am only going to tell you about one of my Grandfathers. My Grandfathers name is John Blank. My Grandfather lives in America with my grandmother. My Grandfather was a pilot in world war two. He was fighting for America. During the war he would drop off troops in Germany and France. It is amazing that my Grandfather is still alive because after he came back from the war his plane was examined and it had many bullet holes in the floor near his feet. My Grandfather also has memory loss but he can still remember parts of his childhood and the war. After the war my Grandfather went to college and after that he went to medical school and became a Psychiatrist and made a very good living. My Grandfather also had a big hobby of flying and so he purchased a few planes. He also owned a few boats. My Grandfather also used to be very strict and that is why my father is also very strict. Now my Grandfather is not strict at all and loves to play card games all day with my Grandmother. My Grandfather has not really affected my life that much because he lives in America but I live in India. I would say the only effect my grandpa has had on me is my dad and his views of being really strict to his children.

Paritosh Garg

Before this I did not know a whole about my grandparents. My grandfather's name is Purshuttam Das Garg. He was born on 8/8/1939. He was married to my grandmother in the summer of 1969. My grandfather is the youngest among his brothers and sisters. My grandfather has 8 brothers and sisters. He was a Charted Accountant in Bombay from 1965-66. In 1964 he got his degree from the Ferguson Account and Finance Company in 1964. He worked there for one year. Then he came back to Kanpur and practiced CA for next two years from 1966-68. Then he joined the family business in Kanpur. He married my Grandmother in 1969. They had their first child in the form of my father in 1971 and their second child in 1972.He is working with my father in his business. He is a really sweet person but when during the work if he gets angry then he can be really mad. He looks old but he is not according to me. I like him as my grandfather because I would like to take inspiration from my grandfather because he got a degree which in that time was really difficult to get. The study for the degree was very expensive but after that he was really successful. Today he does not practice but he still knows everything needed for the accounts in the office.

As I am the eldest Grandchild so he wants me to make most out of it. I would like to take inspiration from him because he did not get a good education like I am getting but he got a degree. He got that degree because he was really hard working. The degree I would like to get is really hard to get. I live with him when I go back to holidays he always tells me one thing, that the education and the degree that I would like to have is really difficult. If you want it you need to work hard. I would like to say thank you for telling me everything.

Dev Nalwa

My Dad's side: Shri Hari Singh Nalwa (my grandfather) was born in 1936 and Kanta Nalwa (my grandmother) was born in 1940. Both my grandparents are Hindu. My grandfather has 11 brothers and sisters and my grandmother has 5 brothers and sisters. My grandfather is a very dedicated man. Even though he is 76 he gets up at 4 AM and does yoga. Then he goes for a long jog and then he continues his day with other activities. He started off as a lawyer in the Delhi high court. He was the MLA of his district 4 times. When he was the MLA he created hospitals, schools and colonies for the people. He built roads and buildings for the people. If there is one thing my grandfather believes in, it is the people. He always looked out for them no matter what. From what I know my grandfather never cheated on his district. He was also a very close friend of Indira Gandhi and when she died he was really devastated. He still has pictures of her with him. Now he is an Ex MLA. He owns and runs a school and college. The name of the school and college is Nalwa College of Education. His life had a big impact on my family and the people. He will always be remembered for what he had done for the people. Some people in my district call him 'DON'. His life had a big impact on my family and the people and my grandmother was always there to support him when he needed it.

My Mom's side: Mohini Bedi (my grandmother) was born around 1940. My grandfather died before I was born so I don't really know about him but my grandmother and he are both Sikhs. My grandmother is really active for a grandmother. She has 5 brothers and sisters and they are all alive. Even though she is 70+ she dyes her hair and loves to dress up. She goes to a lot of kitty parties and she loves to socialize. I always tell her, that she should be on Facebook because she loves to socialize. She is also an awesome cook! Whenever I go to her house she makes me unimaginable food. I think that is why my mom is a good cook. She is a very independent woman.

Satyam Kedia

My mother's side grandfather: My great grandfather started a small business facing many hardships and my grandfather's job was to expand the small business into a big one. He faced many challenges in his life. Like one of his main business shut down. But he never gave up; he started new companies, worked hard and achieved his goals. He was really gentle and humble. He never said no to anyone. If anyone was in a bad condition he gave him a piece of land for farming or for starting a new business. I have also heard that he was really good at sports like swimming and badminton. He used to swim with his friends in the river and he played badminton at state level. He always used to teach me not to say no to anyone in a bad condition and he always use to teach me how to work hard in life. He really taught me many things and he always said "trust in people". I was always excited when I went to their house because we had so much fun! We always played with our brothers and sisters there. My grandfather told the gardener to pluck mangoes and guavas from the garden and he always took us to eat Pani Puri. We also went on many picnics together. In the picnic we always played cards and ate homemade food. I really respected my grandfather a lot and whatever he told me I always took it seriously and when last semester I heard that he passed away I just broke down. I will always remember him.)

Shefali Rangi

The vacations are finally here and I am in the train going to my grandmother's house, I always look forward to meeting her in my holidays and spend time with her. If I were to describe my grandmother I would say that she is very active, very conscious of her health and is very intelligent and experienced in life. Like me, she also does not like to be late for anything, so, here I am writing about my maternal grandmother and how she has affected my life.

My grandmother is a Christian and I enjoy celebrating Christmas at her house. She has two houses; one is in Orissa and the other in Kolkata. She also owns a motel by the beach in Orissa and also has a small cottage there. So, sometimes I spend Christmas in by the beach and sometimes in the big city of Kolkata. The best part of her cottage is that the sea is right opposite our cottage so I often go to the beach for a walk or a swim. Therefore I enjoy going to those two places during my vacations so I really look forward to it. The thing that I like most about her is that she is full of energy and laughter so she keeps cracking jokes and keeps us entertained.

My grandmother and I are both Arians. She has faced many experiences and one of them is when the cyclone hit Orissa in 1999, she was the member of the Municipal Community and helped the poor people in different ways. She made sure that the homeless people got adequate food and shelter and she also dug a well in order for them to get clean water. During this time she also met Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and requested them to get aid to help the poor people.

She has taught me many lessons and has affected my life in many ways. She works very hard so I learnt that hard work leads to success, from her I have learnt to care for the underprivileged, she has also achieved many things in life and I would also try to do the same. She is very close to me and is a big part of my life so I will never forget her and keep looking forward to meeting her in my vacations and other times.

Sorab Sandhawalia

My maternal and paternal grandfather both were born in the part of Punjab that is now in Pakistan. My Paternal grandfathers name was Jagjit Singh and my Maternal grandfathers name was Rabinder Singh my maternal grandfather was a big landlord; he owned about five thousand acres of land; and same with my paternal grandfather. Both of my grandfathers have lived luxuriously, with a very lavish lifestyle. This happiness only continued till 1947 when the word broke out of partition. In this partition all the Sikhs and Hindus had to migrate to India and all Muslims had to live in Pakistan. My maternal and paternal grandfather both had to migrate with their families for their life leaving their house, land and all they had. This migration was the biggest in the world.

Fortunately both my grandfathers reached safely with their families. Both of my grandparents stayed in Punjab but different parts. For both of them it was a whole new start, and they had less money so they both started working. My Paternal grandfather started engineering and then joined the Indian Air force and retired as an Air marshal, however my maternal grandfather became a lawyer and started some agriculture where he stayed. Slowly and staidly for the loss they had by migrating the Indian Government gave some land to both of them in compensation but very less to what they had. After all this they both lived happily ever after.

I was impacted by my Grandfathers in many special ways some of them are my religion a Sikh, from my paternal grandfather I lot to know a lot about the armed forces and I get the honor to attend airplane shows every year, whereas from my maternal grandfather I got to know a lot about the partition that impacted him directly, and also a got a knowledge about how the government works from him because he was a good lawyer. Horse riding also my favorite sport came down to me from generation.