Calories, cameras and the great Indian waistline tamasha!

Raju Korti
It seems weight loss counts, matters and acquires moral authority only when celebrities lose weight. That they keep throwing it around every few years is another story. The latest to make waves is Aamir Khan, who claims to have lost 18 kilos. This, of course, is not merely weight loss. It is a national event.

Each celebrity weight loss story comes with an eminent rider. They have discovered a magic diet. As if lesser mortals eat only to stuff themselves and bloat, and have never heard of salads, portion control or the word discipline. As if we all wake up every morning chanting, “Aaj thoda aur phool jaate hain.”Once a celebrity sheds weight, the spotlight shifts automatically to the dietician. Suddenly, the dietician becomes a cross between a saint and a scientist. What did the star eat. What did he not eat. What time did he breathe. What time did he sleep. Somewhere, an ordinary Indian chewing on a cucumber wonders why his own dietician only tells him to stop eating everything he likes.

We are, after all, a country obsessed with celebrities and their lives, whatever their quality. We know what they eat, what they wear, how much they weigh and when they lose it. We do not know the names of our neighbours, but we know the protein intake of actors we will never meet.

If you believe that successful weight loss needs more programming than willpower, here is my repartee. There is a huge emotional quotient attached to it as well. And I do not mean emotional background music with violins.

Stock pic: Representational 

The immediate provocation for this argument came years ago, when Anant Ambani, son of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, reportedly shed a whopping 108 kilos in eighteen months. During IPL matches, especially those involving Mumbai Indians, Anant was a regular visual. He would occupy a broad sofa all by himself. Every time the camera panned on him, I saw people sigh in disbelief at how anyone could bloat to that extent. Fact, as they say, is stranger than fiction.

Ask me whose weight loss was noticed by just a few, compared to the national headlines Anant made.

Many believed the Ambani weight loss story was promotional. Money speaks, they said. Possibly true, given the super-rich, glossy ecosystem the family lives in. But credit where it is due. The boy went through a rigorous diet and a gruelling workout schedule. That takes sustained effort and control, especially in an era of junk food and doting parents who would do anything to keep their child happy. No amount of money can jog on a treadmill for you.

Excess exercise, however, is often counterbalanced by excess hunger. The famous phrase is “working up an appetite.” Very few can resist it. For the vast majority, weight loss through exercise alone is a flawed option. The body is far smarter than our good intentions.

Anant lost about six kilos a month, if my arithmetic serves me right. I roughly lost the same amount in three to four days. We are different case studies, but we threw up similar numbers.

In Anant’s case, all credit to him and his advisers. I did not have any. Nature ordained it for me. After a debilitating bypass surgery, I developed complications that landed me in hospital three more times. In the first instance, I dropped 18 kilos because I had stopped eating and drinking (Permissible fluids, of course) completely. Being diabetic, the only thing I remember is alarmed doctors telling my relatives to stuff me with Fruity and rasagullas because my sugar levels had dipped to a dangerous 50.After three days of continuous monitoring, I had dropped from 70 kilos to 52. Nothing to admire there. So bad was the situation that I could not stand on my feet. Circumstances had cut me to size, quite literally.

Two factors tempted me to compare Anant and myself. The weight loss in both cases was phenomenal and within a comparable time frame. He went through an excruciating schedule. I went through the knife. But the emotional quotient was identical. What is peripheral, yet revealing, is this. He made national headlines and became a figure of admiration. I managed only sympathy from relatives and friends. These are the wages of social dynamics in India.

I have thrown weight around. Now I do not have any. The powerful Ambani son can still afford to do it even after shedding those heavy-duty calories. There is no comparison here.

Except this. In India, weight loss is not about health, struggle or emotion. It is about who loses it, how famous he is, and whether a camera is watching.