She isn't bound to her rocking chair on the porch anymore knitting mittens for the latest addition to the household and he isn't necessarily the man who spends all his time mowing the lawn or driving around the neighbourhood in his vintage jeep. Today's grandparents have broken almost every stereotype and have emerged as broad minded, hip, well informed and tech savvy.
Tomorrow is Grandparents' Day and MetroPlus explores how grandparents are changing with the times and how they manage to stay abreast with modern technology.
“When mobile phones became more viable in the Indian market, in my family, it was my grandfather who first got one! His sons joined the club only much later. He was quite cool for a grandpa,” quips Mita, a doctor.
Anushka Prasad, a collegian says: “It's not only that my grandmother is on Facebook. She has been able to connect with nearly a dozen of her classmates from school. The funny thing is that she's fiercely competitive and wants to have as many if not more friends on the networking site than my mother has!”
In response to that, her grandmother Sumana, aged 64 says: “I was keen on knowing what social networking was when I read about Britain's oldest ‘tweeter'. Anushka would also show me photos of my other grandchildren who are abroad and I was fascinated. Luckily for me, my eye-hand coordination is still stable so it didn't take me more than a month to get used to Facebook. I even Skype regularly and now I don't usually need to ask someone for help with all of this.”
We always seem to talk about how working mothers do the balancing act but in many houses, it is the grandparents who juggle various responsibilities with equal élan. “I've a rather young grandmother and she enjoys shopping. Since my mother doesn't get time to shop with me, my granny is my companion. She's addicted to the malls here and like every grandmother, she splurges and spoils me to bits. She even swipes her debit card on such purchases and knows what Internet banking implies,” says 15-year-old Ashika Menon.
Grandfathers seem to be just as cool. “While my grandfather loves his country and retro music, he actually enjoys listening to my kind of music which is mostly classic rock and Blues. A few days ago he asked if he could borrow my iPod to listen to on his morning walk. I doubt grandparents get trendier than that,” laughs Adesh George, a musician.
Some things that grandparents have gotten around to accept are parties that their grandchildren host and attend. “Youngsters don't like if we interfere when they're having fun so we just let them be. That way they tell us everything we need to know and we don't need to worry or keep an eye on them. If we don't treat them like adults, how can we expect them to act like adults,” asks Rajesh Kumar, a retired banker.
Psychologist Shruthi Ahluwalia says: “The new age grandparent is usually younger and is hence healthier. This enables one to be more aware of the changing surroundings. The generation gap is much less than before, so grandparents and grandchildren are actually able to relate better.
“They are keen learners though it might take time to get a hang of modern technology. Like the bedtime storybooks used to be the connect between grandparent and grandchild in the formative years, now grandparents who want to stay connected to their grandchildren realise they have to change with the times, even if that means resorting to joining Facebook.”
They enjoy fast food joints as much as their grandchildren do, know of the latest movies, are well updated on everything from fashion trends to celebrity gossip and know the difference between GSM and CDMA phones.
These new age grandparents are those who in spite of all the modernisation will never lose their grandparental instincts.
And thank heavens for that!
