THOUGH THIS WAS SAID AS A JOKE by a colleague, there is more than a pinch of reality in it. He said: “During your school years, when you beg for permission to go out and play, parents say: ‘Go study. Your half-yearly tests are around the corner. Moreover, all those kids are rowdies.’ And then when you are in your 30s, with a paunch and borderline diabetes, parents are like: ‘Why are you like this? Health is wealth. Exercise should be part of your daily routine.’”
The years have not been very kind to me, but I credit much of my current mobility to my active younger years. My father also supported our participation in sports. My elder brother and I used to play football with empty newspaper reels or even cricket stumps for goalposts, with our father as the referee. This active lifestyle paired with a predominantly home-cooked diet and good genes could be why all four of us siblings are still around.
And this is roughly what Union Minister of State Anupriya Patel has said in her column in this issue. As she handles the health and family welfare portfolio, the minister has looked at one element that hits families hard during health emergencies—finances. She has called for prevention, early detection, comprehensive care and financial protection when it comes to non-communicable diseases. Hence, this cover.
The main articles were written by Special Correspondents Pooja Biraia, Prema Rajaram and Abhinav Singh. While Pooja looks at the spike in metabolic markers among Indians, Prema looks at the fitness journey of model-turned marathoner Milind Soman and his wife, Ankita Konwar. Abhinav contributed to the article on protein economy.
From human health, we go to the health of our polity. Former Lok Sabha member Santosh Bhartiya has written an excellent column on how street protests convert pressure into political consequence. Correspondent Badar Bashir writes about how the Congress is betting on district-level cadre and caste equations to forge a broader social coalition.
This is also a good point in the letter to welcome our new columnist, Rajya Sabha member and academic Manoj Kumar Jha. He is the national spokesperson for the Rashtriya Janata Dal and professor of social work, Delhi University.
Senior Assistant Editor Sanjib Kr Baruah looks at the India-China talks on the Arunachal Pradesh border. There is hope, but a return to pre-Galwan days is a long way off, he says.
In @leisure, News Editor Mathew T. George writes about Fareed Kotb, an Egyptian photojournalist who covered the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a 96-year-old camera. One anecdote that did not make it to the article was about Kotb’s first camera. He won it in a promotional contest run by Juhayna, an Egyptian cheese brand, when he was around eight years old.
He does not have the camera now. He lost it along the way. “At that time, I could not have imagined how important photography would eventually become in my life,” he told THE WEEK. What would he not give today to get that camera back?
I see a direct connection between the camera and health. When we are young, we often do not value health. We take it for granted. And when age catches up, we kick ourselves over what could have been done.
