In past I have been taken to a few Amway meetings and gatherings by some friends who are its members, but fortunately or unfortunately I could never convince myself to join their network. Before I went for this seminar I was not aware of the company or its products though the callers had told me that they were into wellness and health industry.

As I am always attracted towards health and fitness related programs, I decided to invest 2 hrs out of my precious Saturday holiday. This was not much different, though I had expected that they would talk of some franchisee business opportunity.

In terms of luring the attendees their presentation was no different as they too tried to give attractions of foreign holiday travel, good extra money, more time for family, self-dependence, fast rise in income, and flexible work timings. But with the kind of products they showed they are into and the kind of huge benefits their products provide to the users, it seems they could be quite successful if they try to act as honest consultants to the prospects.

India is a country with more than 80% of literate population suffering with some kind of body diseases or ailments and more than 80% of these ailments are due to reasons pertaining to diet and lifestyle, or rather lack of a proper one.

The underlying issue is that of awareness as to how diseases can be prevented. Most of us in India or rather in most countries including developed ones, people tend to wait to fall sick before committing themselves to a proper lifestyle and eating habits. We hardly work towards leading a lifestyle where diseases can be prevented from striking us.

Thus the future of wellness industry hinges on the awareness factor. No doubt even an illiterate person will tell you he or she doesn't want to fall sick, but he or she doesn't really know how to or what to do to acquire a healthy life.

On the other side, the sickness industry is thriving. More and more new drugs are coming to the market and more and more new medicine companies are setting up bases. They are also helped by our cultural orientation where being healthy means being fat and bulky and chubby. And our regional delicacies are so heavily laden with butter and spices, they always induce mouth-watering temptation. People find it more convenient to eat Potato Chips and drink Coke, rather than eat Salads and Sprouts and drink fresh fruit juices. Since the consumption volume of junk food items is very high they are much cheaper naturally as compared to a health food or drink.

Unfortunately for us, celebrities like our cricketers and film stars get handsome money to endorse a non-healthy food brand.

Lets hope we have better awareness and concern towards our health and we commit ourselves towards building a healthier future generation. This will lessen the burden on our hospitals who are already lacking funds and infrastructure.