Gitanjali to be discharged next month

NEW DELHI: Away from media spotlight and tearing poverty, chronic psychosis patient Gitanjali Nagpal, better known for her catwalks and then for her stumble into the dark underbelly of the glamour world, is now recuperating in VIMHANS Hospital.
Three weeks after the riches-to-rags former model was admitted to the hospital, she is now emotionally and behaviourally stable and is likely to be discharged by early next month, say doctors.Having resurfaced in media limelight after she was found wandering on the streets of Delhi in abject poverty last month, the 32-year-old model is now keeping busy reading fashion magazines, listening to the 70s Bollywood music and doing Yoga.
And she can’t stop talking about her only passion in life — modelling and fashion. Doctors say she has time and again shown her desire to claw her way back in the fashion world. "We have provided her new clothes and some toiletries besides a few fashion magazines. She has also shown her interest to walk the ramp again," said Reny Jacob, DCW member, who has been in regular touch with her.
Talking about her treatment, Dr Jitendra Nagpal, who is dealing with her case, said: "Though her full recovery is a long-drawn process, we are working towards helping her get back her sound sleep and normal food habits. Even her interpersonal communication skills with doctors, staff members and DCW representatives have improved."
The Patiala House Court, which had allowed the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to get the former model medically treated till October 5, will pass an order on further course of action on the same date.
And accordingly, Dr Nagpal added: "The decision to discharge her will be taken only after the hearing on October 5. We are making preparations keeping in mind the current and future parameters like behavioural development, family and social acceptance and her job prospects in compliance with her treatment. Counselling her in respect of her role and responsibility towards her future work areas and health is also on."
Doctors said that her family has a great role to play in her recovery, and therefore efforts have been made by the DCW to convince her family to accept her. However, none of her friends or family members have visited her.
Jacob said: "We have been negotiating with her family and trying to convince them to take her back after she is discharged from the hospital. Since this is a medico-legal case, we will wait till the court order which will decide whether she stays with her family or is sent to an NGO."
Apparently, Gitanjali was in bad company for the past few years after she left Mumbai and the fashion world, where she walked the ramp in the early 90s. Later, she reportedly married a German national, Robert Stuempfl, and gave birth to a baby boy, Arthur, in Kathmandu. However, she is not in touch with her husband and son for the past two years since he left her behind and went off to Germany. Since then, she has also lost contact with her mother and sister Madhulika who was staying in Lajpat Nagar. After media reported about Gitanjali’s unstable mental condition, Stuempfl had shown interest to meet her.
sonia.sarkar@timesgroup.com