Millennial grandkids, hooked on to their gadgets, are missing out on lessons from their Grannies
In the beginning it was the Granny, and then came Google. Even If a child just sneezed during our childhood, Granny was the first port of call. Her homemade medicines would be tried before any further medical help is sought. When buttons went missing from our clothes, she knew how to put them back in the right size and color. Be it the recipes for pickles or family’s favorite dish or family tree or religious rituals or even mythological tales, Granny was the biggest storehouse of information on the house. Of course, since she lorded over all the prized information, she acted pricey at times. But she was our storyteller, seamstress, and search engine all rolled into one.
As years roll by, it’s time to ruminate on what all have changed in our lives. One thing that strikes me most is the end of multigenerational families living under the same roof. Even if grandparents live in the family, millennial grandkids, hooked on to their gadgets and gizmos, have little time or patience to listen to their stories.
I came across an old woman who used to come daily to the park before sunrise. One day I got into a conversation with her. And in no time, she told me all about her life. Perhaps she was too pent-up to tell her tale, and her joy knew no bounds when she found someone eagerly listening to her. Now in her eighties, Mrs. Sethi narrated to me how her family had migrated from Jhang, now in Pakistan, to India. She had studied in Lyallpur Khalsa school. A mother of six children, her extended family lives all over the world. Now she lives with her youngest son who has also retired from a PSU.
“Much as I care for my children, I don’t want to live outside India with any one of them,” she says. “I would love to die in my own country for whose freedom we paid so dearly.” To draw my flagging attention, she points out two prominent persons who were born in Jhang but died in this part of India in 2017—Professor Yash Pal, the famous scientist, and S Paul, the photographer, who broke new grounds in photo journalism.
She laments how people have stopped learning things from elders ever since the Internet happened. “From looking for a medicine to learning how to cook a dish, people go to Google. You have information and videos on everything these days.” She fondly recalls how she learnt cooking, sewing and making pickles from her mother and grandmother. It brought generations together like nothing else can.
“No matter how many videos you watch, you can never learn to make Moong Dal Halwa in the Lyallpur style unless you come to me, I keep telling my children and grandchildren,” says this octogenarian with a little self-pride. Grandmothers are mostly perfectionists to their fingertips when it comes to cooking a flavorful dish or a story.
“Doing those domestic chores taught me the dignity of labor and has kept me fit all these years,” she gushed with newfound energy. Finding an avid listener had comforted her no end.
Face-to-face conversation is suffering in this era of Facebook. You often notice family members sitting in the same room without uttering a word, with their eyes riveted on their mobile screens and fingers frantically typing away.