When Comfort Became a Cage: India’s Vitamin D Collapse
- Madhukar Dama
- 9 hours ago
- 9 min read
INTRODUCTION:
Sunlight is abundant in India.
Vitamin D is free.
Health should have been obvious.
Yet, today, India has some of the highest rates of Vitamin D deficiency in the world.
This is not a minor irony.
It is a civilizational symptom.
It points to something far more fundamental than diet or disease:
It shows a society losing alignment with the basic forces of life.
This essay examines, realistically and deeply, what this contradiction reveals about India’s modern development, culture, economy, and psychological condition.
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PART ONE: THE FACTS
Vitamin D deficiency is not an isolated health issue anymore.
In India, it has turned into a widespread public health crisis, cutting across age groups, genders, economic classes, and geographical locations.
Let’s understand the real scale of this issue with clear facts:
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1. EXTREMELY HIGH PREVALENCE
Studies show 76% to 90% of the Indian population has insufficient Vitamin D levels.
Deficiency is not limited to poor or rural populations — it is rampant even among wealthy urban populations.
In some surveys, over 93% of Delhi’s urban population was found deficient.
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2. DEFICIENCY STARTS EARLY
A shockingly large number of newborn babies and infants are Vitamin D deficient at birth.
Pregnant women in India often have severe Vitamin D deficiency, passing the problem to the next generation.
Children in schools, even those attending expensive private institutions, are showing chronic low Vitamin D levels.
Teens and young adults, despite access to education and resources, have increasing rates of deficiency.
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3. NO SAFE AGE GROUP
Middle-aged adults (30–60 years) — who form the backbone of India's working economy — are severely affected.
Elderly populations, who already have weaker bones and immune systems, suffer even more devastating effects when combined with Vitamin D deficiency (fractures, infections, weakness, falls).
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4. WOMEN ARE MORE AFFECTED
Indian women are disproportionately deficient compared to men due to:
Cultural practices (covering more skin),
Indoor domestic lifestyles,
Beauty standards favoring fair skin,
Poor dietary habits during childbearing years.
Deficiency in women leads to higher rates of osteoporosis, autoimmune diseases, infertility, depression, and chronic fatigue.
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5. URBAN-RURAL GAP IS SHRINKING — IN A BAD WAY
Traditionally, rural Indians who worked outdoors had sufficient Vitamin D levels.
Today, even rural areas are showing rising deficiencies due to:
Mechanization of agriculture (less manual work outdoors),
Migration to cities,
Changes in diet (processed foods entering villages),
Increased indoor entertainment (TV, smartphones).
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6. ECONOMIC CLASSES ARE EQUALLY AFFECTED
Rich people are not protected — in fact, many urban elites have higher deficiency due to:
Air-conditioned living,
High-rise apartments,
Personal vehicle dependence,
Sunscreen overuse,
Full-time indoor jobs.
Poorer populations suffer deficiency differently — from:
Malnutrition,
Poor healthcare access,
Polluted environments,
Chronic indoor occupations (factory workers, domestic help).
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7. ASSOCIATION WITH OTHER DISEASES
Vitamin D deficiency is now scientifically linked with:
Weaker immunity (higher infections, slower recoveries),
Increased risk of diabetes,
Higher blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases,
Higher cancer risks,
Mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, cognitive decline,
Bone and muscle weakness (osteopenia, osteoporosis, muscle pains),
Higher rates of obesity (and obesity worsens deficiency).
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8. POST-PANDEMIC WORSENING
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns forced people indoors for months, drastically reducing natural sun exposure.
Increased screen addiction post-pandemic has further deepened the deficiency crisis.
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9. LOW DIAGNOSIS AND POOR AWARENESS
Majority of Indians with Vitamin D deficiency are unaware of their condition.
Routine health checkups rarely include Vitamin D testing unless specifically requested.
People self-diagnose tiredness, aches, low mood, and infections without realizing the underlying Vitamin D issue.
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10. INEFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS
Sporadic use of supplements or fortified foods without lifestyle correction has not reversed the trend.
Healthcare systems still treat Vitamin D deficiency as a "minor" issue compared to more visible diseases.
No nationwide governmental policy exists to mandate Vitamin D fortification across staple foods like milk, rice, or flour at scale.
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PART TWO: ROOT CAUSES
Let’s strip away all superficial reasons and go deep into the actual systemic causes.
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1. THE CULTURAL DIVORCE FROM NATURE
Urbanization taught Indians to idolize buildings, vehicles, and gadgets — and view direct contact with sun, soil, and open air as "primitive."
"Modernity" was equated with staying indoors, air-conditioned spaces, covered bodies, and fair skin.
Schools, media, and society subtly but consistently devalued rural, outdoor life and overvalued urban, indoor life.
Result:
The generation that once worshipped the sun (Surya Namaskar)
now runs away from it.
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2. DISTORTED BEAUTY STANDARDS
Fair skin obsession led to a mass avoidance of sunlight.
Sunscreen, skin creams, umbrellas, and fear marketing were sold aggressively.
Girls especially were discouraged from playing outdoors or working under the sun.
Result:
Sunlight, the very source of life, was treated as an enemy of attractiveness.
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3. TECHNOLOGICAL IMPRISONMENT
The smartphone, laptop, and TV era ensured that children, adults, and elders spent the majority of their lives staring at screens indoors.
Physical outdoor labor was replaced by desk jobs, delivery apps, and digital entertainment.
Even exercise became indoor gym culture, cut off from natural sunlight.
Result:
Human biology still craved nature, but the modern lifestyle locked people away from it.
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4. INFRASTRUCTURAL DESIGN
Modern cities were built vertically, not horizontally.
Tall buildings blocked sunlight.
Streets became congested and polluted, making outdoor movement unsafe and unpleasant.
Public parks shrank or were poorly maintained.
Walking, cycling, gardening — all natural outdoor behaviors — were systematically discouraged.
Result:
Even people who wished to get sunlight had no safe, accessible spaces for it.
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5. POLLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
Air pollution from vehicles, industries, and construction dust blocked UVB rays in many Indian cities.
Even on a bright sunny day, the sunlight was chemically filtered before reaching human skin.
Result:
The atmosphere itself became hostile to the fundamental process of natural health.
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6. ECONOMIC PRESSURES
People worked longer hours indoors to survive financially.
Children spent more time in tuitions and classes.
Lower and middle-class families prioritized survival and education over health and outdoor living.
Result:
Sunlight became a luxury that very few could afford — despite being free.
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PART THREE: WHAT THIS CONTRADICTION REVEALS
The sunlight deficiency is a mirror of a deeper human deficiency.
It points to:
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1. LOSS OF NATURAL INSTINCTS
Humans are born with the instinct to seek warmth, light, movement, and outdoor activity.
Modern systems systematically trained people to ignore, distrust, and suppress these instincts.
Vitamin D deficiency is simply the biological consequence of a lost biological wisdom.
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2. RISE OF ARTIFICIAL DESIRES
Instead of following simple natural needs (sunlight, open air, movement), people now chase artificial needs:
Career ambition
Academic scores
Skin tone perfection
Gadget addiction
Air-conditioned comfort
Virtual identities
Result:
The body suffers because the mind chases illusions disconnected from real biological needs.
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3. FAILURE OF DEVELOPMENT MODELS
India copied Western models of development without adapting to its own natural advantages.
Instead of creating sun-harmonious cities and open living cultures,
India created Western-style boxed cities — skyscrapers, malls, closed communities.
Result:
A country with free abundant health resources (sunlight, open land, biodiversity) ended up replicating the illnesses of colder, less sunlit nations — but without even their compensations (like systematic food fortification or environmental management).
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PART FOUR: THE WAY FORWARD
Solving vitamin D deficiency cannot be done through tablets, injections, or pills alone.
It requires a civilizational re-alignment.
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Real solutions must include:
Revaluing sun exposure as a fundamental human need, not a cosmetic threat.
Rebuilding urban designs with open spaces, walkable roads, and rooftop access to sunlight.
Reviving outdoor activities for all age groups, not just as "fitness trends" but as default life patterns.
Reducing dependency on screens by encouraging real-world interaction.
Changing education patterns to include outdoor schooling hours, gardening, and sun-based curriculums.
Public health campaigns that promote sunlight responsibly and systematically.
Decentralizing cities to reduce pollution and congestion.
Reclaiming indigenous cultural respect for natural forces like sunlight, soil, rain, and seasons.
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CONCLUSION:
Vitamin D deficiency is not an isolated disease.
It is a signal that humans have exited the natural flow of life.
In India, the tragedy is sharper — because nature is still generous here.
The resources exist.
The sunlight shines.
The land is fertile.
The seasons are rhythmic.
Yet the people suffer — not because nature failed them,
but because they failed their relationship with nature.
Unless India recognizes this loss of instinct and rebuilds its behaviors and infrastructures,
the future will only see deeper illnesses masked by more expensive treatments.
The answer is simple:
Go back to the sun.
Go back to the soil.
Go back to the real.
Before even free gifts become unattainable.
---HEALING DIALOGUE:
"The Sun Is Still Waiting"
CHARACTERS:
Madhukar – the Hermit guide
Grandfather (Raghavendra) – 72 years, brittle bones, often sick
Grandmother (Savitri) – 68 years, exhausted, arthritis
Father (Shankar) – 45 years, overweight, diabetic, indoors most of the time
Mother (Anjali) – 43 years, thyroid issues, vitamin supplements daily
Son (Kiran) – 18 years, addicted to gaming, pale skin
Daughter (Meera) – 15 years, obsessed with beauty creams, hates sun exposure
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(The family arrives at Madhukar's mud hut, nestled in an open sunny clearing. They look awkward in the strong afternoon sun.)
Madhukar (smiling):
"You all look like you have not seen real sunlight in years."
Father (half-joking):
"We see sunlight every day through the car windows, sir."
Madhukar:
"Glass keeps out the rays.
Your skin doesn't drink the sun anymore.
It’s like staring at food and expecting to be nourished."
---
Grandfather (weakly):
"My bones hurt all the time. Doctor said it’s age."
Madhukar:
"Age is natural.
But falling apart like dry leaves at 70 — that is not natural.
Your bones are begging for sunlight, not more pills."
---
Son (looking at his phone):
"But we get vitamin D supplements, no?"
Madhukar:
"Supplements patch the symptom, boy.
The body needs the real thing to wake up its life-force.
You cannot bottle sunlight into a pill.
You must step into it."
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Mother (defensive):
"But outside it's so dirty and polluted!"
Madhukar:
"And so you decided to stay inside —
where the pollution of inactivity, isolation, and slow death is even worse?"
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Daughter (whispering):
"If I go out, my skin will get dark."
Madhukar (gently, but firm):
"And what is darker?
A healthy, sun-kissed skin...
Or a pale, sickly body hiding under makeup?"
---
Grandmother (tearful):
"We didn’t know it would get so bad."
Madhukar:
"You knew.
Your body told you.
Your exhaustion told you.
Your infections, your sadness, your slow forgetting — they all told you.
You chose to listen to advertisements instead."
---
Father (sighing heavily):
"But our life is built around indoors now.
Jobs, studies, safety… Everything."
Madhukar:
"Then your illnesses are also built-in.
Modern life traded convenience for vitality."
---
Mother (quietly):
"Is there still time to undo?"
Madhukar (smiling deeply):
"The sun has not closed its doors.
You have.
You can open them again.
Start small.
Sit outside for 20 minutes daily.
Eat real food, not packets.
Walk barefoot sometimes.
Let the children play under the sun without fear."
---
Son (reluctantly):
"But I’m used to my games…"
Madhukar:
"Which game is more thrilling, boy —
running across fields with blood in your legs and wind in your face?
Or tapping at a dead glass screen while your body rots behind you?"
---
Grandfather (straightening his back slowly):
"I used to work in the fields for hours...never needed pills."
Madhukar (nodding):
"Because you lived in alignment with nature.
Not against it."
---
Daughter (hesitating):
"People will judge my skin if it gets darker..."
Madhukar:
"Better a healthy dark skin than a sick pale corpse.
Remember, true beauty is when you glow with health — not when you hide behind layers."
---
(The family sits silently for a long time.)
Madhukar (gently):
"The sun is patient.
It waits for your return.
Life itself waits for your return.
But it will not wait forever."
---
(The dialogue ends with the family quietly stepping outside the hut.
They stand blinking in the strong sun —
awkward, vulnerable, but for the first time in years — alive.)
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"The Sun Was Always Free"
the sun was always free,
but they chose four walls,
blue screens,
and the fake smile of convenience.
the skin, the bones, the blood —
they begged,
they screamed,
they whispered —
"give us the light,"
but the people had more urgent things:
a job to chase,
a fairness cream to buy,
a promotion to die for.
the children traded the fields for consoles,
the women traded gardens for whitening lotions,
the old men traded the earth for hospital beds,
and the young —
they never even touched the grass.
they thought they were living.
they were only wilting.
the sun still burned outside,
generous, unasked, free,
but the humans had already
drawn the curtains,
closed the doors,
swallowed the pills,
and called it civilization.
the sun was always free.
they were the ones who chose chains.
---
(End.)
