Deepak Patel works in a government job in the police department. He points to a Diwali photograph from around the time of his wedding and says something quietly about it. He is standing at the very edge of the frame.
Looking at it, he says it feels as though his weight alone equals everyone else's combined.
The numbers going the wrong way
In 2013, he was around 132 kg. Walking had become difficult in a way that is hard to describe to someone who has not experienced it.
He made attempts. Some weight came off, helped by genuinely heavy physical work at his duty posting. Then his knees began hurting.
And then diabetes was diagnosed.
His description of what that word means in a village is worth reading carefully. If people hear that someone has sugar, the assumption is immediate and total. It sounds like there is nothing left for that person.
The chicken
When asked what contributed to the weight, he was straightforward about it. He would eat more than a kilo and a quarter of chicken or mutton at a sitting.
He is also honest that this alone does not explain everything, which is the correct answer. Weight gain is rarely due to one thing.
25 kg, and a wife going the other way
Once he started properly, twenty-five kilos came off in around four to six months. The change was fast enough that people commented on how different he looked, and not always kindly, which happens to almost everyone who loses a large amount.
The detail he mentions about his family is the one that made the session laugh. His wife was following the programme to gain weight, not lose it, and has put on five or six kilos. She is not satisfied yet.
His daughter's habits changed too.
Why this one matters
A policeman's schedule is not friendly to any of this. The hours are unpredictable, the food is whatever is available, and the physical demands vary wildly from one posting to another.
Deepak's diabetes, his knees and any medication he takes are matters between him and his doctor. What he can say is that a body he had given up on turned out to be capable of far more than he expected, at a weight most people would consider a point of no return.