India, March 19 -- It first happened a few months ago, when I was at a party. A group of us were standing around and chatting when a lady of our acquaintance entered the room. Everyone smiled and waved, but the moment she moved out of earshot, the whispers began. "She's lost so much weight; she must be on the jab!" "Have you seen how gaunt she is looking? It's all those injections!"

And that's how I was introduced to this new society phenomenon: Ozempic shaming. This occurs whenever a person who has been a little portly suddenly turns up looking suspiciously slim. They may swear that they've just been eating sensibly and working out to knock off the extra pounds. But the society aunties - and uncles, this is a gender-neutral game - will ...