By Ranjana Sunil I turned to ChatGPT this morning to write a poem on an elderly man who has turned 80 and is preparing to meet death’s gentle face. ChatGPT surprised me by writing two poems instead of one. Both poems were pure nostalgia and a joy to read. The following prompt was used to…
By Sunil Saxena The hardest part of losing a loved one is to accept that this was the best for them. Really? You take a sigh of relief that they are gone. Their suffering has ended. The tears don’t come so readily. The grief is transient. You stop missing your loved ones within hours of…
By Sunil Saxena When I look at the mirror, I am sometimes reminded of this quote from Terry Pratchett, an English fantasy author: “Inside Every Older Person is a Younger Person Wondering What Happened.” My face is no longer young; it has started showing unmistakable signs of ageing. My hair and my beard have turned…
By Sunil Saxena The business of predicting death has found a new merchant: AI. So far, astrologers had a monopoly on death predictions. Armed with astrological charts and planetary positions they made death predictions for all mortals who wanted to know when they will die. Then came the algorithms. In 2006 The Death Clock made…
By Sunil Saxena I am on the wrong side of sixties now. Old age did not worry me so far. But for the first time now ageing fears have started to haunt me. I often wake up in the night. For hours I lie awake in the bed or pace up and down in the…
By Kavya Karnatac Main unhe pyaar se Ija bulati hoon, and honestly, I feel I’ve learned more from her than I did from school and college combined. Akele raho aur sab khud figure out karo When I moved out at 21, it was a big change. My parents were understandably worried, but my dadi had…
By Prisha K I have been tending to my Uncle for almost three years now. He moved in when my aunt died. Initially, he was sweet and accommodating though he had mood swings. But these were short-lived. Gradually, his behaviour started changing. The mood swings became more pronounced. Obduracy crept in, and at times he…
By Sunil Saxena Are you feeling tired, anxious, irritable or even depressed? Especially when you are taking care of a loved elder who is suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s or a terminal illness. If yes, then you are heading for what is known as a caregiver burnout. You may not realise it, but the stress has…
By Akhilesh Upreti The neurologist was blunt. “No, dementia can’t be cured,” he said firmly. “At best, we can slow it down.” The answer was simple and straightforward. Yet, I found it hard to accept. “What does it mean,” I asked. “It means that your mother will never be the same again. The best we…