My daughter’s classmate at college quit midway to join NDA. At 6 ft 7 inch, he was someone that the entire batch at NDA had to look up to. Incidentally, he was not eligible to become an IAF pilot, as there are minimum and maximum height norms based on a fighter jet cockpit ergonomics. One year into the course, he realises that even army life is not for him. He has started developing stress fractures at his ankles – and looks like he will be quitting soon. 

We all tend to believe that bigger is better, especially in the vertical direction. Here is an excerpt from an NIH Article. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071721/ )

The average height before the 20th century was about 4 inches shorter than today, and there were fewer heart attacks then. During the second half of the 20th century, the people living the longest included the Japanese, Hong Kong Chinese, andGreeks – all being shorter and weighing less than northern Europeans and North Americans. The biologic reasons for the lower longevity of larger bodies include more cells subject to carcinogens and the using up of cell-doubling potential (∼50 doublings maximum) to achieve larger body size as an adult. 

At 5 ft 9 inch, I always felt that I could have been happier with a couple of inches more. Now, I wonder if a few inches less would have been better.  

If tall is not so good for humans, what can we say about the recent leaps that our cities have taken to grow vertically? One perceived benefit of occupying the higher floors of tall buildings is an unobstructed view. Cleaner air and less noise are other benefits. But amongst all these pros, are there some hidden cons? Does living in skyscrapers impact the health of the folks who live in the higher floors? Will quote my friend, Dr Kalyanasundaram, who has done some basic work in this area.

We did a study of the reasons for the medical bill increase for people from Mumbai from 2004 to 2014 approx and the factors which caused  them. This was a limited study to around 490 significant sample cases.  We also did some correlation with entomological studies. Age, food habits, veg/ non veg , gender, exercise, habitat change, What we found was that habitat elevation change going from 3rd floor to the 20th floor was a significant factor in causing  medical bills to increase.  

Now to entomology for verification of the finding: if you take insects as they go higher, their average life span decreases drastically. Therefore trees don’t grow beyond the point that insects can reach !!!) Therefore if you wish to live longer, stay as possible to ground level but never taller than the tallest tree. 

Last week I was invited to stay over at my business partner’s new flat. She has shifted from a bungalow to the 10th floor of a 11 storey building in Nagpur. There is a lovely view from the 10th floor – you can see the entire green agricultural college complex. The house is right next to a canal, where water flows for a few months a year. The rooms are spacious – with a 11 ft slab to slab height. In spite of all this, the building is non-liveable in summers without ACs. There are ACs installed in every room by every occupant. And there are equally tall buildings on both sides of her apartment, which have gone the same way. The whole area becomes a heat island every summer.

I have changed my life philosophy as a result of this 3 day stay. Redevelopment work had almost been started in our building, before we ran into some legal troubles. The family had been contemplating which floor to stay on – and we seemed to be gravitating towards the higher floors. I have changed my mind now. Would rather stay in the greenery than above it.  

Ajay J – I was one of the people who wasn’t in favour of redevelopment of your society. I remember telling you that at the moment guests don’t have to worry about parking. There is ample space to breathe. You can walk down a few steps and are in contact with the earth.

Mak S – Atul, one research paper had concluded that every other thing being equal, a taller person will get paid more than a shorter person. I used to envy Anup due to his height (and hence higher pay). After going through your explanation Anup will now envy me!

Giri – don’t agree. no significant increase in medical bills of people living around us. our flat is ventilated..so no air conditioning required even in peak summer. zero mosquito menace. perhaps nagpur needs  air conditioning, even if you live in a bungalow.

all problems are related to population growth.

if all live, like cities in usa..you would spend a fortune in time and cost, commuting