The ground rules for human beings to be complied with in order to prolong their well-being as age catches up, particularly from boyhood stage onwards don’t seem to be beyond the grasp of anybody, literate or illiterate. Moderation in the matter of food consumption, as prescribed by the wise, the apparently simple-to-follow rule has hardly any takers, given the current scenario of proliferation of restaurants and eateries offering dishes that beckon all sections of society making a beeline to their favourite joint, as in Mysuru like anywhere else. The other prescriptions for safeguarding one’s health, namely regular exercise, adherence to personal hygiene, avoiding habits that hurt well-being, keeping vigil on symptoms of even common illnesses, adequate sleep, not to burst in anger when provoked, patience while facing tough situations, minimising wants and so on also don’t have many takers in the age bracket of moving to middle age. French novelist, Victor Hugo (1802-1885), considered to be one of the greatest and best known French writers, author of the famous novel Les Misérables, has thoughtfully observed that Forty is the old age of youth, fifty the youth of old age. 

The land’s ancient pundits are known to have emphasised disciplining the mind towards achieving a balance between wealth and health, both complementing each other. Their lifestyle, unlike that of people at present times, didn’t depend on medical practitioners and hospitals which are integral part of a system in which health lost can be regained to a considerable extent.

Factors hurting people’s health in the urban spaces and those impacting the well-being of rustics are in stark contrast. The residents of India’s villages with an estimated headcount of nearly 80 crore have neither the wherewithal to pay for the medical attention nor access to medical facilities unlike the urbanites. Diseases, unsafe food and pollution of ambient air seem to be in competition to threaten the wellness of urban population to an extent and on a scale with no signs of mitigating. In an economic study that analysed data across 132 countries to measure the relationship between well-being and age, according to a report published in a section of the press, peak unhappiness is reached at the age of 48.2 years in developing nations.

While the society has to carry the burden of ill health bugging the vulnerable sections, the imperatives of pro-actively complying with the aforementioned ground rules to prolong well-being of economically productive sections in the nation’s population cannot be overemphasised. The idiom “Healthy mind in a healthy body” succinctly connects well-being with well-feeling.