India, May 28 -- A lot of mothers get to hear from their children that as grandmothers they are totally different beings than what they were as mothers. I often wonder, how I transformed into an epitome of benevolence, indulgence, patience and love when it came to my grandchildren.

More so, when the same pranks invited whacks amid desperate sighs, with my own children. Rather, one had so much more energy to cope, back then. Mental exhaustion was always around the corner. Most young mothers, were desperately looking for play schools, that would ease our lives for a couple of hours, of the bundles of mischief we had unsuspectingly brought into the family.

Ours was not a generation that could expect or demand help from either the family or...