India, Sept. 20 -- Last week, a friend and I were trading WhatsApp voice notes, as we often do. Usually, we laugh over films, share office gossip, or make weekend plans. But this time, our conversation had shifted. Instead of fun chatter, we spoke about cholesterol levels, blood-pressure readings, joint aches, creeping weight gain - the quiet but relentless markers of middle age that seem to sneak up when no one is watching.
Somewhere along the way, the focus of my conversations has drifted from love and literature to the mechanics of a body that creaks, rattles, and demands fixing. In my parents' generation, health was not a conscious pursuit. It was simply a way of life. They walked to the market, hauled home heavy grocery bags, cooked m...