when mothers and fathers start to be abandoned on the streets due to their dementia or the like

Dumped in their twilight years
11 Apr 2008, 0217 hrs IST,Deeksha Chopra,TNN

NEW DELHI: Their vacant stares, wrinkled faces and frail bodies speak of an alarming trend — that of the growing problem of abandonment of the elderly in the city. On a visit to a shelter for the aged in Badarpur, where Karma Devi was sent on Wednesday after being found abandoned on the JNU campus, Times City notes that she’s not alone in her plight. A common thread of neglect, harassment and even abuse binds the 30-odd inmates of this shelter.

"They are people who no one wants. They are found wandering about on the streets, but mind you, they are not beggars. They have been thrown out of their homes by their families," says Dr G P Bhagat, founder of the home, Vishram Vridh Ashram Karma, at Gautam Puri village. Many of them suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s and cannot even recall where they come from. Karma Devi, for instance, could not say where her son lives in Mahipalpur, and after a day’s search, the police were forced to bring her here.

Asked whether she wants to be reunited with her family, Karma Devi says with all the force her frail body can muster, "I would rather die than go back to my granddaughter, Ameeta. She used to hit me all the time and not even give me food. On the pretext of taking me to my son, Ram Shankar, she dropped me somewhere on the road. I didn’t even know where I was." About 100 years old, Karma Devi is also blind and hearing impaired.

Tears rolled down her wrinkled face as she kept repeating that her feeble body can’t take any more beatings.

According to her, she was staying with her son and granddaughter at Mahipalpur for the past 15 years.

The 20 other women and 10 old men staying here have lived through similar horror stories. You don’t need to go far for one. In a bed lying next to Karma Devi is 80-year-old Krishna, who was found wandering near Hanuman Mandir at Yamuna Bazaar two years back. She was brought to this home as no one from her family came to look for her at the police station. Krishna now hardly has any memories left of her earlier life.

men shown erotic images will be more likely to make larger financial gambles

According to a recent research conducted by some finance Professor Camelia M. Kuhnen, Northwestern University, men shown erotic images will be more likely to make larger financial gambles.

This exactly explains why many business negotiations have been done in those luxury so-called Lakashi bars with the company of beautiful bar girls and experienced public relation women. The secret business negotiation process here is usually like this – you see them at the airport, then you settle them in a cozy or snug hotel. The next day, you will give them a nominal but necessary briefing on the business you are negotiating on, with little touch on the deal you hope to cut. In that evening, here comes the vital part of the negotiation process – dinner and the after-meal activities. Going to a Lakashi bar, which you are familiar with, is always a good choice for the after-meal activities where you can strike any difficult deal once you choose the right bar as well as the right girls with the right chemistry and aphrodisiac techniques. Well, this is just one of the secret business skills in the culture here. And it exactly responds to Professor Kuhnun’s findings. Why don’t you give it a try?

Good sex can really change the mood promptly.

There are more and more men in Taiwan who are losing their interests in sex. You can easily tell that from the patronage of those ever-present brothels, which used to have a waiting line particularly after supper. Now, you can no longer enjoy this kind of spectacle. Some employees working with the brothel say, "Well, good oldie days seem never to come back; It is all because of the sour economy. When men start to worry about their pouch, they are losing their sexual drive too." However, whatever the economy is, there are still a certain amount of "loyal patients," who need and seek cure, comfort and relief from the vital service rendered by those brothels, legitimate or illicit, around this island country. Try to find out the association between economy and sexual drive, and think about whether it can also be applied to your personal case.