Fun with Grandpas
Most of us and our contemporaries now are blessed with grandchildren of different ages & stages of growing up and therefore our interactions with them may range from a meaningless gibberish (Gen Beta toddlers) to profound conversations and world views (Gen Zee teenagers). Where we score over the hassled parents is the greater seriousness with which the little ones take us. Is it because we don’t’ mean serious business and are more approachable and non-autocratic, things their Gen so resents ?! But to me, the real virtue setting Grand-pops apart is ability to be funny & take things ( tantrums !) lightly !
Establishing a rapport with kids means not to treat it as a ‘challenge in communications’ but as a playful activity where you may need to convert from a one-time ‘Big Boss’ prone to issuing orders to all in sight, into a fuzzy, lovable animal, place or thing without any inhibitions, depending on the mood of the ‘prince’ or ‘princess’. The zanier & livelier the look & the efforts at their entertainment, better are the chances of a lasting camaraderie. Since infants have big mood swings, the normal colloquial ‘Chup-Ho-Ja-Beta’ may not soothe the nerves but ‘nonsensical’ expressions, noises, funny faces may appeal to them!
The quintessential ‘Ma-ki-Lori’ or sweet lullabies work well even if it’s not ‘nightingale’ like singing, for these ‘rocking-songs’ have therapeutic sleep inducing elements in them but that apart, with today’s Gen A & B, colourful cartoon clips played on the smart phones soon become akin to background music to their ears. Many babies, however, respond to songs sung to them & I’ve felt they take bit more kindly to tuneful singing & yodeling ! There are prodigies who soon acquire perfect vocal chords from a tender age.
Grandpas/Grandmoms are undoubtedly the best known spinners of yarns & storytellers, mayn’t be all true tales but exciting, exaggerated and dramatic and not strictly verifiable, especially the ones about ghosts and super-natural incidents. But my own Grandpa, NN Sinha, was ‘grand’ – full of Shakespeare’s dramas to the real stories from history – from Napoleon & Nelson’s exploits on the battlefield to famed actress Ellen Terry of English stage to legendary Bradman & Jardine’s bodyline to stop him from winning the ‘Ashes’ ! Later, history was repeated when my Dad played the wonderful ‘Dadun’ to my two Sons.
So what makes a great Grandpa ? For the child he’s the refuge as a protector from parents’ wrath, an ally who’ll stand by you and help with problems like pocket money, homework, low marks & school complaints. Sam Levenson put it so well : ‘The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy’ !
