The good life

From struggling to run a mile to becoming one of India’s leading wellness curators, healthcare scion and entrepreneur Upasana Kamineni Konidela discusses her food and fitness evolution and how she’s advocating for India’s medical services.

- Aditi Bhimjyani

When Upasana Kamineni Konidela was a twenty-something student in London, she decided, on a whim, to run the London Marathon. “I was 90kg and running ad hoc. I ended up injuring my knee,” says the gen-next entrepreneur from the Reddy family of Apollo Hospitals fame, one of India’s largest healthcare enterprises. “I was easily influenced by ‘influencers’,” she says of her days as a management student at Regent’s University. “This was when I realised how important it was to have access to the right information and professionals in the field of health.” The 34-year-old has come a long way since then, becoming one of the leading wellness curators in India’s burgeoning health sector.

We catch up over a Zoom video call on a rainy afternoon with iffy Wi-Fi. She patches through, radiant in the plush living room of her Hyderabad home, in a simple white T-shirt, her hair lustrous. She has never been busier. Her days are spent interacting with COVID-19 front-liners and her nights are often sleepless—a problem solved by her nutritionist’s magic insomnia-combating brew: nutmeg, poppy seeds, saffron, black raisins and almond milk. Kamineni Konidela is at once an agony aunt filled with wellness remedies and the boss of the boardroom, whipping the health industry into shape.

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