This is the second of three articles recognizing a Gridley family in honor of the upcoming National Family Week held November 23rd – 29th. Youth First encourages Gridley families to plan and participate in their own family night on Monday, November 24th as a way to celebrate National Family Week and bring families closer. Suggested activities for a “Family Night” may include, cooking and eating dinner together, playing games at home, a game of soccer or baseball in the back yard or a family outing to the park or Gray Lodge. This week, the Janda family has been selected to be Gridley’s Family of the Week.
Harbinder Janda emigrated with his family from the State of Punjab in India when he was 10 years old. His wife Daljit also moved from Punjab with her family to the U.S. when she was only 12. Their families both settled in the Yuba City area where they were raised. Daljit now works as an RN at Fremont-Rideout Hospital in Yuba City and Harbinder is the owner-manager of a 7-11 store in Chico. Harbinder and Daljit have been married for 15 years and have three lovely children.
The oldest, Sonia is a freshman at Gridley High School and is 14. Karamvir is 12 and attends Sycamore School and Abneet, the youngest, is 6 years old and goes to McKinley School. The Janda children were all born and raised in Yuba City, until they made the move to Gridley. The family’s move was based on the commute time of Harbinder, who was having to travel from Yuba City to Chico everyday. With their residence now in Gridley, they have found a happy medium and Harbinder spends less time on the road.
Family get togethers, including birthday parties and other events are important to the Janda family who visit with grandparents on a weekly basis. Daljit has five sisters, some of whom live in the Bay Area and when there are birthdays and other special family events, the Janda’s hit the road to enjoy the special celebrations with aunts, uncles and cousins. Their families also get together to celebrate the holidays. For Thanksgiving, they enjoy the traditional turkey and at Christmas, the extended family comes together to exchange gifts.
The Janda family experience a culturally diverse, variety of food on a regular basis. The family’s favorites include chicken enchiladas, pizza and Indian food. Daljit mentions that homemade tortillas are a daily staple in the Janda household and are eaten with many meals. Mom also enjoys cooking chicken curry and lamb curry, as well as deep fried fish and an Indian snack called a samosa, which is a stuffed pastry with a savory filling of spiced potatoes, onions, peas and coriander.
