(Wisdom, Wrinkles and WiFi)
It All Started with a Mildly Burnt Cake and a Major Complaint
Thatha (meaning ‘grandpa’ in Tamil) Rangan celebrated his entry into 70s with a loud sigh and a cake that looked like it had been through a World War.
“I’ve survived the Emergency, a buffalo stampede, and 40 years of drinking office tea that tasted like liquid cardboard,” he declared. “But these electronic gadgets? These will kill me faster than cholesterol.”
The family giggled nervously. Mostly out of fear. You never knew when his complaint would turn into a 45-minute speech about ration cards.
Aarav, his 17-year-old grandson—a part-time influencer, with more biceps than brains, said, “Why don’t you become a YouTuber, Thatha? You can then complain in HD.”
Grandpa squinted. “YouTuber? Is that the plumber who fixes toilets?”
Before Aarav could explain, Grandpa waved him off. “Just give me that extra phone of yours—the one you use to take shirtless photos and flaunt your abs.”
And thus began India’s most accidentally entertaining digital revolution.
Episode 1: How to Fold a Lungi Without Losing Your Dignity
The cinematic masterpiece was shot using a cracked phone balanced on a Horlicks jar.
Grandpa used a broomstick as a mic and gave a passionate demonstration.
Unfortunately, he forgot to press “Stop.” So, the video featured:
- 12 minutes of him yelling at the neighbor’s dog
- 3 sneezes, 2 of which sounded like a bomb blast
- Cribbing about how young people can make reels, but not curd
- A slow-motion fall after tripping on the lungi like it was stage choreography
Result?
94,562 views in two days.
36 marriage proposals.
And one confused Canadian who commented: “Why am I crying and laughing? What is a lungi?”
Episode 2: Cooking Rasam With Rage
Grandpa makes rasam while roasting:
- Gas prices
- YouTube’s 15-second unskippable ads
- “Today’s generation who don’t know the difference between jeera (cumin seeds) and saunf (fennel seeds)”
He ends the video by accidentally dropping the spoon in the rasam… and heroically taking it out with a slipper. Viewers applauded.
Top Comment:
“His rasam boiled, my self-esteem evaporated.”
Episode 3: Scolding in Different Languages – A Level-wise Curriculum
In this one, Grandpa teaches the fine art of yelling at people in:
- Tamil: Sounds like a scolding, feels like a lullaby
- Hindi: Includes dramatic pauses and background score (thanks to the passing autorickshaws)
- Malayalam: No one understood but everyone felt guilty
- Kannada: Strong, scary, and suddenly turned into song lyrics
- English: Like an uncle whose tea was stolen
He added subtitles, though some were wrong because he typed them while eating murukku.
Sudden Stardom
Within 3 months, Grandpa:
- Hit 2 lakh subscribers, 1 lakh of whom were aunties hoping for pickle recipes
- Was invited to be chief guest at a college fest (but only if they gave him filter coffee, not “that fake machine water”)
- Started doing unboxing videos—of other people’s Amazon parcels
He named the channel “Back in My Day”
Tagline? “Because today’s day is totally hopeless.”
Family Reactions
- Aarav now edits Thatha’s videos and pretends not to cry when brands offer Grandpa more sponsorship deals than him
- Grandma started her own store: “I Survived Thatha’s Complaints” mugs
- The neighbor’s dog? Now a side character with 30k fans and a brand deal for dog biscuits
Moral:
- Age is just a number. But going viral at 70? That’s a mood, a vibe.
- It’s never too late to learn something new— especially if you learn it wrong but post it anyway.
- Every generation has wisdom. Some of it is trapped in lungis and filter coffee.
- Underestimate a grandpa with spare time, a smartphone, and zero filter… and he’ll become more viral than your gym selfie and protein shake combined.
Subscribe to talesmith.in…or Grandpa will make another reel titled, ‘Cleaning hacks from a 70-year old ninja!’
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