I am 45 now, and as the winter chill settles in, a simple act—oiling my head after a shower—triggered a cascade of memories spanning three decades. When I was a boy in a small town in Uttar Pradesh, the ritual of a weekly, sometimes daily, head massage with oil was as common as breathing. My favorite was the potent, earthy scent of mustard oil . I remember visiting our local vaid ji (traditional practitioner), who stressed the importance of this practice, lamenting even then that fewer people were keeping it up. Fast forward to adulthood, and my simple habit met the sharp reality of changing cultural norms. My wife, from a different background, and her circle found the idea of oiled hair "un-stylish." Even when I switched to the fragrant, dark luster of amla oil, the gentle teasing and continuous pressure to conform chipped away at my resolve. Now, my cherished ritual is relegated to an occasional, quick application, washed out within hours. Where Did the Oil Go? As I drov...
COVID-19 has not only uprooted economies, but also destroyed individuals both financially and healthwise. My daily routine was brought to a standstill during the second wave of the pandemic, as the notorious disease caught me. But even as the symptoms subsided, the lingering effect of the virus has been disrupting my life. Here I talk about my journey that went through the post-covid recovery and how it reshaped my thinking of health both mentally and physically. After being a victim of corona a lot of things have changed in my body and in my thoughts. I was still working in a college near Chandigarh, when, one early morning while riding towards my work I felt that something was just not right with me. By the time I reached the hostel room of the college, I was just not feeling the energy to move ahead. This happened during the second wave of the pandemic. Private colleges had partially opened and they had allowed some essential staff to stay within the hostel and look after dail...