17/04/2025
I was wondering why I struggle with fitness so much.
And then it hit me - I come from a culture that never taught me my body matters.
Middle-class homes don’t raise you to be healthy. They raise you to be safe. To be obedient. To be employable. Not to be strong, ambitious, or mindful. We were taught to save money, not save our knees. To protect our reputation, not our posture.
Our childhoods were full of lectures on marks, manners, and marriage. But no one told us how to breathe when we’re anxious. No one taught us what real sleep feels like. Or that sugar is a drug. That gut health is real. That skipping breakfast isn’t being busy but being neglected.
You eat what’s cooked. You sit where there’s space. You rest only when you’re sick. That’s how we’re raised. Rest is laziness. Exercise is timepass. Health is something you deal with after something goes wrong.
Got a headache? “Balm laga le, thoda so ja.”
Got a backache? "Moov laga le, thoda let ja."
Bad throat? “Haldi doodh p*e le, subah tak theek ho jaayega.”
Feeling weak for a week? “Exertion hai. Kal ki chutti karle, theek ho jaega.”
We didn’t grow up in homes that believed in prevention. We grew up in homes that feared diagnosis more than disease.
We’ll pay for term insurance, life insurance, two health policies but won’t spend on mental therapy. Or a fitness coach. Or a nutritionist. We’ll go to a hospital only when things are out of control and then say, “Pehle kyun nahi aaya?”
We’ll travel 20 km to eat Chole Bhature, but won’t run 5 km after dinner. We’ll argue over MRP at a chemist, but spend 600 bucks on cold drinks and namkeen for guests.
And this neglect is justified with pride.
We wear fatigue like a medal. We talk about acidity like it’s a family member. We think waking up tired is just part of adult life.
The irony is brutal. The same middle class that saves every receipt, every rup*e, every old shaadi card forgets to save the body that holds it all together.
We build careers. We raise families. We tick every box that society gave us. But the body we carry through it all? Ignored. Until it screams.
And by then, it’s already too late. The slip disc. The borderline diabetes. The insomnia. The stubborn weight. The breathlessness on stairs. Pain in joints. We have health issues because they sent warnings we never heard.
Maybe it’s not willpower we lack. Maybe it’s vocabulary.
Instead of “Thoda thak gaya hoon,” say “Mujhe break chahiye.”
Instead of “Baad mein dekh lenge,” say “Abhi dekhna zaroori hai.”
Because health isn’t an expense but your first investment.
And fitness isn’t indulgence but survival.
If we don’t change this script now, we’ll spend our entire savings on a body we never learned how to care for & leave the next generation with body debt.
