Written by Raasti Kayani
I share a special bond with my Nana, my maternal grandfather who lives in Pakistan. Despite living in another country, he has maintained a close relationship with his grandchildren by hosting regular Zoom lessons, tailored to each grandchild’s academic needs. As a seasoned writer and educator, Nana asked me what I needed help with in writing. I confided in him that when I write, I end up being too verbose, which makes my writing unclear, and makes me lose the main idea. After considering how best to help me, he said, “Raasti, when I was your age, my English tests required us to create a 250-word summary from four pages of text by authors like Charles Dickens. Together, we will practice précis writing, which will teach you to summarize the main ideas of a passage. This will improve many facets of your writing and your ability to paraphrase.”
Each day, I attend our Zoom session at 7:30 p.m. Central Time which is 5:30 a.m. Pakistan time, just before Fajr there. After joining the meeting, Nana greets me with a warm smile as he adjusts his glasses, his beard gleaming white. Through the window in his office, I see his sky awakening, transitioning from twilight to dawn and hear the tranquil chirping of robins. I feel as if the air exiting the vents in my laptop is the same breeze rustling the leaves of Nana’s neem trees.
After sharing my screen, we open IXL, an educational website, and gather passages to summarize using précis writing. After discussing the main ideas, I start typing in Google Docs. Nana patiently waits, giving me time to build my sentences. When I fall into familiar traps, he gently reminds me, “Raasti, this is irrelevant; we can rephrase this. Remember what Thomas Jefferson said – the most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” I take his advice to heart, and delete irrelevant words and ideas. After several rounds of editing, using his feedback, I emerge with a polished piece of writing half an hour later. Nana congratulates me with words of affirmation. He then ends our lesson with a beautiful prayer, “May Allah (swt) bless us in our lesson, and may He join us all together in heaven one day, InshaAllah.” Nana then moves on to his next lesson, which is with my younger sister Zaina, on spellings.
Since our lessons began, my writing has improved significantly. I have applied what I have learned to my school assignments and feel much more confident as a writer. I have published three articles in local magazines and continue to find opportunities to write more. My grandfather has been an integral part of this process, as he has taught me the foundation of being able to write clearly. Most importantly, we have created a beautiful bond of friendship despite the challenge of living far apart.