New Delhi: Namita Thapar created quite a buzz when she extolled the “incredible health benefits of namaz” for circulation, flexibility, digestion, and more in an Instagram post last month. The Emcure Pharmaceuticals executive director and Shark Tank India judge, who posted the video after celebrating Eid with a friend, got 66,000 likes but also plenty of criticism for framing an act of faith as a fitness routine.
But Thapar is one of a growing number of India’s CEOs using social media to talk about staying fit, both physically and mentally. They are signalling from the top of the corporate ladder that taking care of the body and mind is essential to leadership today. Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath has been posting about his stroke recovery and the gaps in health insurance. Mamaearth’s Ghazal Alagh has warned women against 4 am hustle-culture routines. Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal shares new-fangled ideas such as the role of gravity in health.
Thapar’s own posts cover a wide range. In one, she spoke about restarting her fitness journey at 48 while dealing with perimenopause.
“I’m 48 and have been struggling with perimenopause the last 3 years, no one warns you about how tough this is,” she said in the video while using different gym equipment. “My lovely ladies, be selfish, take care of yourself and invest in that muscle mass that gets so depleted with age and wreaks havoc on our health.”
She also posts about mental health. In another video, she spoke about restlessness, overthinking, and trouble sleeping after a hectic day at work, then shared the rituals that help her slow down.
“It’s 8 pm & I had a super hectic day at work, this leads to restlessness & overthinking & trouble sleeping. Sit in silence. Then try chanting & breathing, 2 of the best ways to calm your mind, trust me on this 🙂 I’m prone to anxiety & these are 2 of the best tools you can have to deal with this,” she said.
While some of the 200-odd comments focused on her mispronunciation of words in the Gayatri mantra (‘bhur bhur’ instead of ‘bhur bhuvah svah’), many also offered their own experiences of chanting and similar rituals.
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‘Mental health is foundational’
Ghazal Alagh, co-founder of personal care brand Mamaearth, has been sharing her health and weight loss journey for several years now, from before-and-after pictures in 2023 and tips on eating more protein and less sugar to a candid breakdown last year of how she got health back in check after falling sick for 20 days.
“Losing weight especially after pregnancy wasn’t an overnight thing for me. People often ask me to share some quick tips or easy hacks. But the truth is, it’s all about making small, consistent choices every day,” she wrote in the caption to an Instagram reel where she shared tips such as eating home-cooked food, getting in movement every day, taking supplements, and getting blood tests done regularly.
Apart from her approximately 20 kg reduction in weight over time, what she increasingly talks about is that fitness is incomplete without mental wellbeing.
“As a founder, I’ve learned mental health is not optional. It is foundational,” she shared on X last May, along with a bunch of actionable tips.
As a founder, I’ve learned mental health is not optional. It is foundational.
You can’t lead a team, raise a child, or build a company when there are ten tabs open in your head.
Here’s what helps me stay grounded:
• Mornings without screens, just books and breath
• Making… pic.twitter.com/niCD0cscaS
— Ghazal Alagh (@GhazalAlagh) May 26, 2025
She has taken her health discourse to LinkedIn as well, asking in one post: “Ever thought of taking your mind to the gym?” She connects mental strength directly with how people handle challenges, stress, and growth.
Sleep is another one of her pet topics.
“The 4 AM wake-up routine almost burned me out… and I don’t advise it to anyone, especially women,” Alagh said in one of her LinkedIn posts.
Instead of chasing rigid routines, she follows what she calls a “6 to 9 before 9 to 6” approach — using her mornings for movement, mindset reset, skill-building, and family time.
“Productivity shouldn’t come at the expense of health. It’s not about when you start your day, it’s about how you use the 24 hours,” she added.
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Different prescriptions for health
Nithin Kamath, CEO of Zerodha, doesn’t stop at posting gym selfies. After suffering a mild stroke in January 2024, the 46-year-old turned his fitness content into a running conversation about health insurance, medical inflation, and awareness of symptoms.
He has repeatedly urged people, especially those under 50, not to ignore warning signs and to act within the critical 4.5-hour “golden hour” in case of a stroke.
The idea that “nothing will happen to me,” he warns, is a dangerous myth, and one that often delays action when it matters most. He also advises his followers to take health insurance more seriously.
“Genuinely surprised by how many people have never bought a personal health policy because they assume their employer’s group cover is enough,” Kamath said in a recent X post.
He pointed out that most corporate plans are negotiated for cost, not comprehensiveness, and that a Rs 5-10 lakh cover that seems sufficient in one’s 20s erodes fast when healthcare costs are rising at around 14 per cent annually in India.
Genuinely surprised by how many people have never bought a personal health policy because they assume their employer's group cover is enough. So I had a conversation with @ShrehithK from @HelloDitto about how employer health insurance actually works and what is most important for… pic.twitter.com/ztbDmN3uPD
— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) March 24, 2026
In another post last month, Kamath turned attention to rising obesity and lifestyle-related risks, pointing to how sedentary habits, poor diets, and stress are quietly compounding into long-term health issues. As is typical in many of his posts, he backed his contentions with data.
“Yesterday was World Obesity Day. I hate to be the guy who complains, but the numbers are scary,” he wrote, also posting Economic Survey Data and a graph about the ill-effects of ultra-processed foods.
Yesterday was World Obesity Day. I hate to be the guy who complains, but the numbers are scary.
Here are some stats from the recent Economic Survey:
23-24% of Indians are already overweight or obese (in 2019); this number was ~10% twenty years back. I am guessing it must have… pic.twitter.com/1yhQ2NrsoG
— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) March 5, 2026
Others are approaching wellness from very different angles, sometimes accompanied by a promotional pitch. Deepinder Goyal of Zomato has been working on Temple, an AI-powered wearable device designed to monitor brain blood flow in real time. It’s supposed to be placed on the forehead.
“In a 2024 study measuring heart rate at four body sites simultaneously over 13 hours of real-world activity, the forehead was the most accurate site tested,” he posted on Instagram. While Goyal has earlier posted about his 15 kg weight loss between 2019 and 2023, his recent interest areas are more esoteric. Last November, he posted that gravity might hold the secret to longevity.
“I’ve spent years optimizing my health and performance. I’ve tracked my blood. I’ve fasted, trained, meditated, submerged myself in ice, sat in hyperbaric chambers, and taken countless supplements. Staying healthy is hard. It takes too much time,” he wrote. “One day, I wondered if there was a leverage point that humanity had missed altogether… And then, a word surfaced in my mind. Gravity.”
How did I come across this?
I’ve spent years optimizing my health and performance. I’ve tracked my blood. I’ve fasted, trained, meditated, submerged myself in ice, sat in hyperbaric chambers, and taken countless supplements. Staying healthy is hard. It takes too much time.
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 15, 2025
Meanwhile, Ritesh Agarwal of OYO takes a more lifestyle-oriented route, blending high-intensity workouts with yoga.
“While I’ve recently shifted to HIIT workouts, yoga still plays an important role in my fitness routine,” he wrote in a post titled ‘My wife got me into yoga’.
This is the third part of a series tracking what India’s CEOs are saying about changing workplace trends, dynamics, and lifestyle.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)