DATA IS THE NEW OIL

India's holistic healers are using data science and technology from around the world to provide wellness solutions.

- By Prasad Ramamurthy

The rising air pressure had my ears blocked. I could barely understand what the nurse on the other side of the glass was saying to me. I signalled I'm okay. I was at Fairmont Mumbai, trying out the hyperbaric therapy chamber—a pressurised metal pod inside which you breathe pure oxygen. It felt a lot more like being on an airplane than trying out a hotel's wellness facility. That experience pointed to a seismic change in India's wellness scene.

Even three years ago, I'd only find options such as Ayurvedic abhyanga, aromatherapy, and Swedish or Balinese massages on offer at hotels. The extent of technology rarely exceeded a mechanised massage bed or a dry sauna. Today, technology-based practices rooted in science—once the preserve of wellness clinics in the West—are increasingly visible across India, being championed as instruments for healthier, longer lives. “Initially we only had expats coming to us because they'd experienced services like ours— IV drips, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, cryotherapy —overseas,” says Rishabh Jain, cofounder of The Wellness Co., a new-age wellness chain that's gone from one spot in Gurugram in 2021 to 14 centres across eight Indian cities.