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Approaches to wellness, health, medical research and pharmaceutical studies in India have been showing a measure of commendable excellence. The Ranbaxy Science
Foundation recently honoured six scientists and five science scholars for their extraordinary contributions in the fields of medical and pharmaceutical sciences for the year 2008. At just about the same time, Spas India announced that it was going to set up a rash of 30 spas across the country, doubtless many of them in Bangalore where stress levels are stratospheric.

Was it coincidence that this author was blissfully under a medicated oil drip, a 5000 year old wonder of Ayurveda, called Shirodhara, at just about the same time? And only the other day, we read that spicy Indian food can keep H1N1 at bay. It is a great time for masseurs, doctors, herbalists, aroma therapists, reiki healers, colour crystal practitioners, acupuncture specialists, Pancha Tanmantra and chi gong.

So there you are:the Ranbaxy Science Foundation (RSF)’s awards were presented (in the US) for identifying regulators and pathways that normally prevent cells from over-replicating their DNA, and how these molecules are disrupted in cancers to lead to genomic instability; for research into the metabolism of thyroid hormones; management of urologic diseases; innovative contributions in developing novel routes for synthesis of lead molecules in the areas of anti-asthma; and ditto for designing new anti-diabetic and anti-malarial lead compounds. It certainly sounds like big medical cheese.

Simultaneously, a study by federation of Indian chambers of commerce and industry (FICCI) has suggested that the Indian wellness industry is growing at a rate of approximately 20% annually and currently stands at Rs1,500 crore (all India, not just Bangalore). And this is wellness, mind you, not sickness and disease.

This is the kind of spending pattern that encourages lavish rose petal baths, fish that nibble dead cells on your feet (yes, in foot baths at a Lavelle Road spa) and massage scrubs of anti-oxidising sweet autumn peach essential oil, almond and jojoba oils followed by a fluffy, light and almost only-in-your-imagination melon and peach body soufflé wrap (yes, at a Miller’s Road spa). It sounds dinky, but truth be told, we certainly aren’t going to avoid the dreadfully tempting blend of green apples, wheat germ, cooling aloe vera gel and reliable old green gram powder in a facial to scrub away fatigue and all the worries of the world. Sounds like just what the doctor ordered.

And right across the street — well, maybe across the city — is the doorway to heaven with Panchkarma therapies for the body, mind and soul. Warm, medicated oil blended with honey and milk, dripping on to your forehead, nourishing and rejuvenating your body, ridding it of insomnia, stress, depression, hypertension, even mental retardation. In places like Soukya, Ayurvedagram, Jindals and the Karnataka Yoga Association — stress, skin care and severe joint pains are being taken care of through bitter gourd extract, pranayam, yoga nidra and a variety of enemas, hot and cold packs, baths, compresses and massages.

There are outfits that specialise in kidney packs, chest packs, spinal baths, hip baths, asthma baths and every other kind of immersion, spray, shower and irrigation. The wellness bazaar is piled high with variety, options, and confusing packages. Some spas and resorts even offer weekend packages, as if your medical condition can be persuaded to chill over a Saturday and Sunday. And who knows, handing them a green smoothie may persuade them to back off and take it easy.

Going by the proliferation of wellness spas, stress treatment facilities and therapeutic retreats, you’d think Bangalore was the original home of pain, despair, high blood pressure and general hopelessness. And maybe it is.

While it is great to be at the very centre of a flat world — you don’t fall off the edge easily — globalisation has led to an increase in lifestyle-related disorders. The young are unable to take the pressure for long and there is increasing anecdotal evidence to support the fact that professionals are seeking early disengagement from their careers.

But the truth is that we live in good times. Naturopathy, complementary, alternative and integrative medicines are no more fringe practices. If nothing they make life interesting. And at least Bangalore is lucky to have the best of both worlds: A horizon of opportunity that is constantly throwing up interesting job options and high pressure career moves, and a huge number of accessible health care and wellnesscentres. And if we need to balance our lives between one and the other, that too is, fortunately, a choice available to us.