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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 8:56:24 pm

The Woman Redefining Healthy Living

Part - 9 Name: Neha Ranglani Where: Mumbai, Maharashtra From social-media-fuelled health obsessions to lifestyle disorders, US-trained integrative nutritionist Neha Ranglani is helping thousands, particularly youngsters, understand their bodies, embrace healthier lifestyles and lead more fulfilling lives. Bombarded with information on social media, Gen Z is more health-conscious than ever. From fitness fads and wellness trends to calorie-counting and restrictive diets, youngsters are...

The Woman Redefining Healthy Living

Part - 9 Name: Neha Ranglani Where: Mumbai, Maharashtra From social-media-fuelled health obsessions to lifestyle disorders, US-trained integrative nutritionist Neha Ranglani is helping thousands, particularly youngsters, understand their bodies, embrace healthier lifestyles and lead more fulfilling lives. Bombarded with information on social media, Gen Z is more health-conscious than ever. From fitness fads and wellness trends to calorie-counting and restrictive diets, youngsters are constantly chasing the ideal body, often at the cost of their physical and mental well-being. But this pursuit of physical perfection can become an obsession and take a toll on health, cautions Ranglani, 39, a functional medical practitioner with nearly two decades of experience. “Gen Z is definitely more aware of health and fitness, but sometimes it goes too far. Social media influences their choices, and the desire to be healthy can become almost obsessive,” she observes. Her advice to youngsters is to steer clear of ‘quick fixes’ and learn to listen to and understand their bodies. “First, I identify the root causes; then the treatment becomes easier,” Ranglani told The Perfect Voice and Vruttamanas on her ‘art of healthy living’ strategy. Rather than recommending fancy diets or indiscriminately adding or eliminating foods, she focuses on individual needs and identifies underlying problems. She then helps people build healthier habits that nurture physical and emotional well-being. “I strongly believe that the human body is a wonderful creation; it has an innate capacity to heal and restore balance when given the right support. Balanced nutrition, regular physical activity, stress management, adequate sleep and attention to nutritional deficiencies can all contribute to better health. Where necessary, I provide personalised nutritional support that can help bridge identified gaps, alongside appropriate medical care,” she elaborated. So far, Ranglani has helped more than 40,000 people worldwide on their journeys towards better health. Her clients range from children as young as five to senior citizens aged 85, with concerns spanning obesity, diabetes, thyroid imbalances and other lifestyle-related conditions. For Gen Z, seemingly caught in a perpetual hurry to achieve quick results, her message is particularly relevant: resist the lure of instant transformations and unrealistic expectations. Instead, cultivate self-awareness, patience and consistency to achieve sustainable results. Ranglani emphasises that the ultimate goal is not lifelong dependence on wellness programmes or supplements, but the ability to make informed lifestyle choices through greater health awareness and discipline. “By helping people understand their bodies and adopt healthier habits, I try to empower them to take greater ownership of their own fitness and long-term well-being,” she declared. “My message to the current generation is simple: there is no perfect formula for health. Instead of fighting your body, learn to understand it, nourish it and give it the right environment to repair itself and thrive. The results can be wonderful, not just for you but also for those around you,” concluded Ranglani with a smile.

The Great Blue Exodus

Writer: Waleed Hussain
Waleed Hussain
3 hours ago
3 min read

So it has come to this. Mahela Jayawardene, the man who once turned Mumbai Indians into a trophy-hoarding machine with the clinical efficiency of a Swiss watch, has mutually agreed to bring in a “fresh perspective.” That’s corporate for “we’ve decided the perspective of three IPL titles is looking a bit stale next to four wins and a ninth-place finish.” The announcement landed with all the drama of a polite email marked “FYI.” No dramatic press conference, no slammed doors, just the quiet understanding that the five-time champions have spent the last couple of seasons performing an extended interpretive dance of mediocrity.

 

Let us pause and appreciate the comedy. Jayawardene returned in late 2024 like a beloved chef summoned back to a kitchen that had somehow managed to burn the water under Mark Boucher. The franchise needed stability. They needed the man who delivered titles in 2017, 2019 and 2020. What they got, after a respectable playoff run in 2025, was 2026: four wins, ten losses, and a dressing-room vibe that reportedly ranged from “mildly unsettled” to “someone please check if the oxygen is still working.”

 

The 2026 campaign was a masterclass in how a team of superstars can collectively forget how to be a team. Jasprit Bumrah, the franchise’s eternal trump card, spent large portions of the season looking like a man who had misplaced his magic. Suryakumar Yadav, coming off an MVP-level 2025, produced the kind of numbers that make statisticians reach for the “are you sure this is the same player?” button. Hardik Pandya captained with the visible strain of a man trying to herd cats while the cats were busy arguing about the batting order. Injuries arrived with the reliability of the Mumbai monsoon. Home games at the Wankhede, once a fortress, turned into polite invitations for opposition sides to help themselves. Five home defeats. The fortress had become a rather expensive Airbnb with excellent sea views and no defence.

 

And through it all, Mahela remained the picture of calm. The same calm that once orchestrated three title runs. The same calm that made owners and players trust him enough to bring him back after the global performance role. Only this time the calm looked less like strategic genius and more like the quiet resignation of a man watching a once-great recipe slowly curdle. For a franchise that once collected trophies the way other people collect stamps, finishing ninth is not a result.

 

The satire writes itself. Mumbai Indians, the team that once redefined dominance, spent 2026 rediscovering the lower half of the table with the enthusiasm of a team that had never heard of their own history. They rotated players like a particularly chaotic game of musical chairs.

 

Now the franchise wants a “fresh perspective.” One can only imagine the shortlist. Perhaps someone who has never won three titles with the same franchise and therefore brings the exciting novelty of not knowing what success looks like. Or maybe they will simply open the window and hope a new philosophy drifts in on the Arabian Sea breeze. The interviews are apparently happening soon. Somewhere, a hopeful coach is polishing their PowerPoint on “how to stop finishing ninth while fielding half the Indian T20 side.”

 

Jayawardene’s departure ends more than a coaching stint. It closes a long chapter of association that stretched across two head-coach tenures and a global performance role. He leaves having delivered more silverware than most coaches will see in a lifetime, and having also supervised one of the more thorough dismantling of aura in recent IPL memory.


The fans, of course, will do what fans do. Some will thank him for the glory years. Others will note that the second act ended with the team looking like it had been assembled by committee during a power cut.


So, Mahela walks away, hands clean, record intact, reputation only mildly bruised by the latest chapter. Mumbai Indians will appoint someone new, promise a return to the glory days, and then spend the next auction trying to buy back the magic that used to arrive free with the blue jersey. The rest of the league will watch with the quiet satisfaction of people who have spent years hearing about the MI machine and have now watched it spend a season coughing politely into a handkerchief.


(The writer is a senior journalist based in Mumbai. Views personal.)

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