If wishing could make things happen, then even the most destitute people would have everything they wanted. An English language proverb, first recorded about 1628 in a collection, namely “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride them” succinctly conveys the message marking the all-too-common human nature of laziness in wishing for unqualified wellness and not labouring to get the wish fulfilled. The ancient prayer with the deep desire for all people to be happy, to be free from illness, to see what is auspicious, free from suffering of any kind is unsurpassed for the yawning gap between wishing and happening in our times due to causes not far to seek. Unarguably, selfishness, with focus on wellness of only oneself, takes the cake. If the haves in society move a mental makeover from merely sympathising to empathising with the have-nots, the gap between wishing by the needy and happening made possible by the well-provided would at least narrow down. That is not to deny the humane acts of thousands of good Samaritans in the land, voluntary groups alleviating the hardship of the weaker sections and also corporates sparing their resources to fulfil the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Setting apart funds for meeting the cost of public healthcare in the country is admittedly far short of the actual requirement. This is compounded by the utter lack of service-mindedness on the part of the staff in establishments under government control, in addition to exorbitant cost of medical attention in privately managed medical establishments.

Medicare or its synonym sickness care, as means to wellness in a broad sense has its limitations on many counts. Apart from the cost factor, utterly poor understanding of the connect between sanitation and infections, taking liberties with food consumption, neglecting early symptoms of illnesses, self-medication, quackery by unqualified practitioners, not complying with medical advisory, not to forget the ancient wisdom of prevention is better than cure, cemented by its improved message prevention is the only cure, should arouse all of us about the imperatives of living a life of wellness.

Chasing wellness of the country’s suffering masses, rising in nature and number on an unprecedented scale in our times, solely through medicare, has proved to be a wild goose chase as it were. The two measures that are within our grasp, namely a) keeping living spaces clean (swachchata) and b) consuming food on the principle of meeting the norms of nourishment rather than yielding to desire can greatly supplement the ongoing medicare programmes in the land.