Priyali Dhingra

We went undercover to investigate the booming market for Mounjaro, an injectable that apart from type-II diabetes, can also be prescribed by specialist doctors for severe and complicated obesity. Effective for weight loss, it is not meant for everyone and should not be used without medical advice. But, as we found, the prescription-only drug is available on tap.

Saloni Khera, a social media manager in Mumbai, gained 30 kg in just six months after the Covid-19 pandemic. A combination of factors were at work. She had long Covid, a condition in which the virus leaves behind a trail of health problems. She was pre-diabetic and also had a hormonal disorder. She weighed 153.5 kg. Her attempts at losing weight through multiple diet regimens – even drinking only water for a week – had failed. “If I lost 15 kg, I gained 25 kg back,”she said.

“The question that I have in my mind,” said Arundhati Roy, strolling around Jantar Mantar on Monday, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi dropped his education minister to quell youth anger, “is that does Modi know what was being said about him or is he protected from it?” What began as a protest over an examination paper leak in May had turned into a raging storm last week after Delhi Police used lathis and pellets against youth protestors.