Healthy 038; Wise Young

But why give up what Ayn Rand describes as the 8220;power to tame fire between two fingers8221;? 8220;The reason may seem a little skewed, but my fa- ther was a chain smoker till it landed him in the ICU four years ago. Even today we have an emer- gency oxygen cylinder at home. I didn8217;t want to end up the same way,8221; says Ashish.

This quitter, for all the good reasons, is not the only one to wake up to his health. Pune-based Shreyasi Mukherjee has her alarm clock set for 5.30 every morning. Early, isn8217;t it? Not for those who like to gym for at least an hour every morn- ing. A final year engineering student, Shreyasi shifted toexercisingathome whenherhecticcol- lege life did not allow her time for gymming. 8220;I make it a point to exercise every morning and if I cannot, I make up for it in the evening,8221; says this 22-year-old.

In a glitzy city like Pune, social life does catch upwithyou onceinawhile, leavingyouwithlittle or no time to take care of your health. Shreyasi has an answer: 8220;There are times when the body tells you that it is too tired. But I don8217;t only rely on exercising; I team it up with a bit of yoga and have also done the basic course of Art of Living. So when I don8217;t have the energy for physi- cal exercise, I do a breathing routine and that is just as refreshing.8221;

Not so long ago, youth meant a cavalier disre- gardfor yourhealth.Notany more.Theyoungto- day don8217;t need to fall seriously ill to realise that they have to take care of themselves. Instead, they work in the reverse8212;not taking any chances. For them prevention is better than cure. When Mehak Bambrah, a 26-year-old banker, started practising yoga in school, she looked at it as just another compulsory activity. Something she, thenjust 12,thoughtwasa partofherboarding school life. So the first thing she got rid of after she left school was yoga. It did not take her more than a year to realise that something was missing inher life.8220;Ifeltweak, lackeddisciplineandthere was this general loss of concentration. It was not something to be wildly worried about, but I wanted to be my 100 per cent best,8221; says Mehak.

Now even with her high-stress job, Mehak ensures she does a bit of yoga every day.8220;Even if I hit the bed at two in the night, I still wake up early for yoga to rid myself of whatever fatigue is there,8221; she says.

From hectic work schedules to a cluttered so- ciallife, the20-somethingstodayhave itallinlife.

They have high-paying jobs, which demand that extra hard work and zillions of friends, which means that many more parties. So what do they do when there is absolutely no time. Leave healthcare for later in life?

No. Just sleep right and eat right. That8217;s the mantra Ashish Gupta, a Mumbai-based assistant HR manager for Radio City, lives by. He is 27 but has followed the rules for long now. 8220;My office is on the fifth floor so I get the best exercise by climbing the stairs every time. I don8217;t have tea, coffee or aerated drinks and, yes, I generally avoid oily food,8221; says Ashish. He ensures that sprouts are included in his daily diet and also fol- lows the fast dying concept of my eight hours8217; of sleep.8220;I8217;m not doing it for when I turn 45; I want to be healthy right now,8221; says the HR manager.

Mental fitness is also another area that Gen- Today refuses to ignore. 8220;I follow the Art of Liv- ing exercises regularly as I am not only keen on my physical health, but my mental and emo- tional well-being as well. I get it from the breath- ing exercises and yoga that I practise every day,8221; says 25-year-old Kunal Jain from Bangalore. A software engineer, Kunal, has completed the ad- vanced course of AOL and knows what he defi- nitely does not want in his life. 8220;Lifestyle dis- eases, I don8217;t want.8221;

So if you are young, and swear by caffeine and cigarettes,maketheswitch now.Givejoggingand fruit juices a chance. And begin to live the rest of your life from tomorrow.

RAHUL BOSE, ACTOR A healthy lifestyle is commonsense. It is great if the young today choose to stay away from cigarettes and drugs. You don8217;t miss much simply by following a healthy regime. Since your body enjoys a healthy routine, you will enjoy it too.

SOPHIA, VJ Definitely the young today are more conscious of their health. Being healthy doesn8217;t mean that you stop living; it is essential that you strike just the right balance.

VARUN BAHL, FASHION DESIGNER I think the young today are a little too conscious about their health. They miss out on enjoying their life and restrict their habits so much that their body becomes fragile. Later if they have to indulge themselves, their body cannot take it.

NARAIN KARTHIKEYAN, F1 RALLYIST Today, health consciousness among youngsters is a very metrocentric phenomenon. But because I was into racing from a very young age, staying fit was a necessity. Other youngsters of my age were never very serious about health.