Grandparents -The most treasured people

7th April 2025

As a part of the engagement of a blog hop, I read one of the posts that talked about how we growing up are ashamed of parents and grandparents who fail to keep up with time. They would have been pro back in their times. But adulting, mundane life, and responsibilities take over and they lose touch with times, they fail to be as updated as they used to be. Back then, access to things and information was not as easy as it is now and priorities also change with time. That does not make them any less. This is aptly portrayed in the film English Vinglish when the daughter is ashamed of her mother attending her PTM instead of her father.

This made me think, I never belonged to this category, thankfully. I take pride in saying that I was raised with love and inclusivity was the basic criteria we were imbibed with early in our upbringing. My Dadi ( I call her Maa) was in 8th standard when her marriage was arranged and fixed with my Baba ( dadaji). She was a bright student, but as I mentioned earlier, responsibilities, adulting and everything else happened. She was tied to the kitchen platform for most of her day. When I started going to school, she used to secretly read my books and practice writing English alphabets on slate. She was a curious learner. From alphabets to words to sentences and paragraphs, her reading, writing, and grasping skills grew with me. Baba was already good at reading and writing, his work helped him stay updated.



When it came to reading tougher, more complex words and understanding them, we had an unsaid pact between us. She used to teach me one kitchen skill in exchange for a new word. At the age of 8, I could make tea, all thanks to Maa. Maa passed away in 2023. Do you know what she was capable of by then? She witnessed the transition from mobile phone to smartphone and could handle it well. She used to watch recipes on YouTube and read the written format mythological stories from certain blogs.
Today when I see genZ prodigies making fun of older folks, it irks me. They were patient with you when you were learning, they understood your language when you could barely speak. And now, when it's your time to be patient you make fun of them, call them names, not fair.
This is an inevitable circle. One day, you will be in their position and somebody else will be in yours. It is up to you to break that cycle and be kind to them.

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