India, Aug. 18 -- That June morning, during the cremation of Shaminder Kaur, one of my loving aunts from Bhakna, a border village of Amritsar, the air was scented not only with sadness but also with praises of her. Most mourners remembered her for her positivity, a quality she exuded despite the odds as she had been facing an array of health issues. A sudden heart failure took her life.

She was in her mid-sixties and had retired as a government school teacher. She had been bedridden for nearly a decade after she along with her husband met with a car accident. While uncle recovered, she couldn't, mainly because she suffered several fractures.

Being bedridden brought more health problems from poor heart health to diabetes. Over the last f...