Being Old : A wretched curse?

Vardaan Senior Citizen Home is an old age home and a rehabilitation centre in Malviya Nagar, a posh locality in New Delhi. It was set up in the year 2009 to provide medical and emotional support to old aged people. ​​As soon as you enter the old age home, gloom descends upon you , everything becomes very colourless and bland. Yet, when you get a glimpse of the beautiful residents, it brings a smile on your face.The patients/residents have different problems and medical conditions to battle. Illnesses like Alzheimer's, Dementia and Arthritis are common among the inmates of the home.

Aashna Puri, a 72 year woman was the first one who spoke to us . She suffers from acute Arthritis and also from the feeling of being unwanted.

She belongs to a well to do "family" and has worked all her life and held reputed positions . She never married because she wanted to be with her family and support them. After she retired , she started living with her nephew till the unfortunate day when she lost her physical strength to Arthritis.

Her nephew took care of her for sometime but then he didn't have the "time or patience" for her and handed her over to Vardaan. 'He never visits now', said she with tears in her eyes.

'I want to go home, I miss my family', said the once independent woman who is now totally dependent on others and on her emotions. 'I am not happy here, I even have to plead to people to take me to the washroom ' added Aashna Puri.

This is a reality we all want to close our eyes to , the reality we don't want to face. This is the story of Aashna Puri and the likes of her. The parents who do so much for us, are tossed into old age homes like vegetables. They live their lives in miserable conditions sometimes even praying for death and asking to themselves 'Where did we go wrong ?'

Blog Writer: Tanya Nadeem (BJMC I, School of Communication)