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Category Archive: Drug Users
Stories of Recovery: Ravi the Driver
A Chance To Be Human Again!
At the Sankalp drop-in-centre at Mumbai Central, the mobile service van halts to a break and the driver, Ravi Chandrakant Patil, steps out after driving through the town from an outreach programme. Ravi regularly goes out on outreach programmes with Sankalp volunteers, where he meets street drug users and motivates them to discontinue taking drugs. As he narrates to us what he did today, he is interrupted by a mobile call from his wife, Manju. She wants to know if he has had his lunch. He smiles as he explains how concerned Manju gets if he doesn’t eat on time. Ravi is a happy man. He has a loving family and he is proud of working with Sankalp. But life had not been always so easy.
Deplorable financial conditions at home forced Ravi to leave school at the age of nine and join a watch-making factory. To add some extra income to the poverty conditions at home, he also got involved in bootlegging. Ravi turned to alcohol at a very young age. Domestic problems after marriage made him a heavy drinker and he would stay out of home for days on end. On one such occasion a friend added narcotic pills in his coffee and within days Ravi was hooked on to drugs.
Matters got worse when Manju found out about his addiction and threatened to leave him if he didn’t give up drugs. Thus began a series of lies. Ravi fooled both his wife and boss but this only pulled him deeper into the hellhole of drugs. The addiction worsened and his bloodshot eyes soon betrayed him. He even stopped bothering if others found out. Drugs were all that he could think of morning, noon and night. Drugs cost money and Ravi needed it badly. He was desperate and resorted to stealing. But the law soon caught up with him with six months of jail time. This was no deterrent. The first thing that Ravi did when he came out of prison was to visit the nearest bar.
Things looked extremely bleak. He began to feel miserable that he couldn’t fulfil his genuine desire to be a good husband and father. He wanted to be there for his family but he simply couldn’t let go of drugs. Finally, he decided to ask for help and in August 2004, landed at the Sankalp drop-in-centre. After 22 days of medical treatment and a 15-day detoxification camp, Ravi stayed cleared of drugs for more than a month, the longest time in years.
On one of visits to the drop-in-centre Ravi was asked by Eldred Tellis, Director of Sankalp, about his work experience. On finding out that he worked as a driver, Tellis gave him the keys to his car and asked him to check the engine, oiling, etc. Ravi suddenly felt the urge to drive and, in spite of not having the permission, took the car for a spin. But the director was impressed and soon offered him a job as his personal driver.
But the road to rehabilitation was not that easy.
Withdrawal symptoms got Ravi hooked on to drugs once again. For the first time in his life he resorted to intravenous injecting as well. He lost almost 26 kg weight over four months. “I was so much influenced by drugs that I completely forgot everything that Sankalp had done for me. I betrayed their trust and faith in me. So in spite of realising that I needed help I couldn’t go back. I just didn’t have the courage to face the Sankalp team again.”
But an almost fatal road accident, changed his mind and will and he went back for help, once again, to the Sankalp drop-in-centre. This time he was admitted to the Nivara Night Shelter at Islampura. He was counselled and groomed and in February 2005 was given the charge of driving the Sankalp mobile van.
The very fact that today he can walk with his head held up high and support his family financially and emotionally is a huge achievement for Ravi. Sankalp volunteers explained to Ravi’s family that drug addiction is a disease and it takes time for a person to overcome his disease. These counselling sessions helped him build a good rapport with his family.
“People respect me today. Sankalp has helped me to live a productive life with dignity.”
Ravi has also found friends in the form of other Sankalp volunteers who help him keep away from drugs. When he feels tempted to use drugs his friends act as a support group and provide him with strength and emotional support. But most importantly he has found the emotional will in himself. He reflects, “The temptations are still there. But so are the painful memories. When I remember, what these drugs reduced me to, I instantly stop myself.”
Today Ravi passes on the message of saying “no” to drugs to others. He has set an example to other hard-core drug users that with the right will and support, anyone can resist the temptation. With his typical infectious smile he says, “Sankalp gave me the chance to be human again.”!
Stories of Recovery: Ashok Ramakrishna
by Ashok Ramakrishna
I was staying in the area around Metro cinema in Mumbai along with a friend. I started noticing big changes in his friend. I stopped using drugs and started having a bath daily, putting on clean clothes, going for meetings etc.
After a few days of coming to the center, I was told to go and have a haircut. After having the haircut when I came back to Sankalp, the staff nurse, told me that I looked like a hero. This was the first time that someone had commented that I looked good. I felt so good that tears started flowing down my cheeks. That evening I went to the market and bought a pair of shirts & trousers for Rs.20/-. Then I went to the meeting in the evening wearing the new clothes. Many commented that I looked a changed man after having a haircut and wearing new clothes.
I started staying in a rented place at Colaba. I liked this disciplined form of life. I started feeling ashamed of rag picking in full glare of the public. I started getting up at 4 in the morning and by 6 in the morning my job was over for the day. Nobody could see me at those wee hours of the morning and I continued making money by rag picking.
The next stage of my life was when I got the job of a turner/fitter at Nalanda Industries, Andheri. I started drawing the princely sum of Rs.1000/-. I worked here for sometime and then joined PM Gymkhana at Colaba, washing dishes, and later joined a canteen.
I like working in food related industries. He sends me to fetch huge amounts varying from Rs.25000/- to Rs.50000/- from debtors. People come to me with their problems.
From being a drug user to someone who helps others to rid themselves of the drug habit-my life has come a full circle and I thank Sankalp for initiating this change in me.
Stories of Recovery: Mohammed Firoz
Mohammed Firoz, hailing from Dharbanga, Bihar, might have reached Mumbai when he was 12-13 years old. He was in Delhi for some time, getting trained and earning in ‘zhari’ work. He was getting Rs.70/-a day, but somebody told him that in Mumbai they pay high wages for the same work. He needs that as he was the eldest of the three siblings and there is also a step mother, apart from mother, back at home and father stay separately, doesn’t give money at home. It took him 2 years to get trained and earn at that level.
He was used to smoking, but with the new friends in Mumbai he got into ganja. It helped him to get away from the thoughts of home as well as the pain from the daily chores. His friends were seriously into brown sugar, but he refused for some time. Eventually he also got into the habit and even went into injecting.
Family extended help, sent him for treatment, but he was not ready. Gradually the deterioration started, lost the job, he was into petty theft, chain snatching etc. He still remembers the day he was caught red-handed and beaten by the public. Once he was taken into custody and he slept for hours. Then they sent him to Arthur Rd Jail.
Soon he was back on street and somebody introduced him to Sankalp. After some days the staff put him onto OST. He might have had it for little over than three months and suddenly family came down and took him home. His sister was getting married and he stayed back. In six months time he regained some health and family took the first opportunity to get him married. Now he is committed to his wife!!
Today he wants to live honestly, don’t want to hurt anybody, don’t want to put anybody into difficult situation. While using he thought that ‘nasha’ won’t leave him till the last breath and presently he wants to better the life.
Presently he is in Mumbai, thinking of starting his Zari work on his own and including other like himself. But finds it difficult that he doesn’t have enough money and so has decided to work with Sankalp and look for other opportunities until he can fulfill his dream.
Sankalp’s Stories of Recovery: Robin on Stigma
Sankalp’s Stories of Recovery: Shankar on Serving Others
Sankalp’s Stories of Recovery: Raju speaks about A Normal Life
Sankalp’s Stories of Recovery: Chandrikant on Family
Sankalp’s Stories of Recovery: Yatin on Discrimination
Art of Living Workshop
From Sankalp Newsletter, Prasad, Outreach Worker
After months of weekly meetings and not being sure of how to proceed, members of the HIV support group felt that getting an idea of the ‘Art of Living’ may be a way forward in Positive Living. Fourteen of us were present at the Art of Living Workshop conducted at our Support Group Premises at Grant Road. In four days, Meditation, Vajrasan, Pranayam, Bhrastika, and chanting of Omkar and Ram Nam were taught to us. The benefits of value based living and basics of ‘Panchthathva’ (Agni, jal, vayu, dharti and aakash) were explained to help us to turn to a positive way of living.
I tried to live with the principles in the day-to-day life. Gradually I could feel changes in the breathing and felt better day by day. As I slip into the meditation, I forget the existence and fall to a sleeping mode. There are no thoughts or feelings felt at the moment, but a vacuum. As I open eyes, it’s as if I’m waking up from a deep sleep and feel happy for the moment.
I benefited a lot from the workshop. I got over the tobacco chewing habit. Initially I used to feel a sort of headache before Pranayam; however, of late I feel I got a balance over my mind. I feel there is a change in perception to the life, from negativity to positivity. I feel confident now that I can give more to my HIV positive brothers in Sankalp. More than anything, I feel that I have come closer to my trust in God.
Children of Another World
From Sankalp Newsletter, Suseelkumar
Recently I had the opportunity to address two groups of people on different issues. One was a group of professionals who were getting sensitized for a social cause, and the other was a group of Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), participating in a detox camp organized by Sankalp.
I asked both groups to express what the word “Mother” meant to them… The group of professionals responded with words and phrases like “ she is the world”, “” she gives birth”, “ her other name is devi “, “ she nurtures us “, “ she passes on culture and tradition”, “she does puja at home” and “she takes care of everyone”
Five days later I asked the group of IDUs to undertake the same exercise. The responses were different. What did the word “Mother” mean to them? This is what they said: “she feeds, she cooks, sweeps, cleans us, gives us a bath, she sings lullabies, provides warmth, and represents love. She has a heart, we feel a tingling whenever we think about her. We have a feeling of yearning for her.”
It was clear that both groups had verbalized their perceptions differently. But was there a real difference in their perceptions or were their expressions a mere reflection of their experience and exposure to the outside world? I strongly believe it is the latter. When it comes to counseling and caring for IDUs and especially the kind of clientele served by Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust, everything needs to be perceived at a different level. The value system and the meaning for relationships amongst this clientele is entirely different from what we, living in a privileged society understand as value systems and relationships.
We cannot expect our clients to have middle class notions of morality, ethics and legality. Most of them haven’t had a childhood in its real sense and were therefore forced to equip themselves with skills for survival from a very early age. Many have had to rely on the protection of a stranger taking on the role of an elder brother or an adopted mother. Most are runaways, escaping the cruelties from step parents/sisters/brothers or estranged family members while a few try to earn a living in whatever way, to share the burden back home. Often the street is their only home.
Already used to smoking, and with new friends in Mumbai they get into ganja. It helps them to get away from the pain of homesickness as well as from the pains of daily chores. They don’t even remember when they got into the seriousness of chillum, and then to chasing and ultimately to fixing.
Sadly our society identifies them as psychotics, chronic cases of depression, mood disorders with suicidal tendencies, etc. In labeling them we conveniently forget that this is a group of kids, teenagers and adults who have migrated from the rural and urban outskirts of Maharashtra, U.P., Bihar and West Bengal, and who never got exposed to the wonders of education, whether in Marathi, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic or Urdu (forget English). Sucked into Mumbai’s mean streets, they tried their hands at everything – collected rags, sorted them out, cleaned toilets, washed vehicles, transported goods on handcarts or cycles, pick pocketed, snatched, looted, smashed or broke limbs / bones and some even worked for trafficking and bootlegging.
Their world is different and when we as social workers and counselors force them to abide by the rules of our world they find it so alien riddled as it is with diplomacy, corruption, jealousy, guilt, religious rituals, double standards etc.
In recognizing the challenges that face all those working with IDUs, Sankalp’s mission is to promote opportunities and an enabling environment to provide them skills, – occupational skills, socializing skills, behavioural skills and lastly spiritual faith. That will equip them to function productively in this world.