She used to wake up with Kirtan now with Heroin, confession of a 21-year-old
She used to wake up with Kirtan now with Heroin, confession of a 21-year-old Confession of a 21 year old heroin addict in Punjab A 17 year old that would wake up in a happy family, do kirtan, eat with the family members and laugh her early years of youth and the end of teenage. A girl who would pray to god for a beautiful life; a life where she wanted to be kept away from all “bad things,” her life became a labyrinth sooner than she thought. An open book that teaches us of more than we have learnt, a confession that takes a lot of courage and a hope at the end of the tunnel- such is the story of a drug addict who lied, sold household products to get her dream fulfilled - heroin intake. We have heard billboards, newspapers, social media and various digital news portals talking about the number of deaths Punjab has witnessed in the last one month, the number of youth who have given in to Chitta. Here’s a story from one of those, of the “same lot” trying to save her life from the pain of either going to jail or eventually dying on the streets of Punjab like the rest. Her ambitions turned into nightmares of heroin, her kirtan and path were soon chants of H E R O I N. Her family turned nothing for her, for all she would see was drugs, all she would breathe was the air that 200 other drug addicts around her released. A foil and an injection, her story had finished the first day she saw how another girl consumed drugs. She began too. Special Correspondent of PTC News, Daljit Singh asked her how she got into the habit of Chitta when she belonged to such a good family and had everything she needed. The 21 year old replied, ‘Getting into chitta has nothing to do with the family you belong to, who you are and who you want to be. I was a simple girl, who would do path and Kirtan, my family was proud of me. Then one day something happened in the family and I moved out.’ ‘I started staying away from my family and home. I met new people in Punjab, people who corrupted my thoughts. I wouldn’t say someone forced me to consume drugs or ever put it in my mouth. I saw a friend of mine consume heroin one day and I tried too. After that there was no looking back,’ she added. They say your company define you. It defined this young girl too. It’s been 6 years today since she has been consuming Chitta, living in a group of about 300 people who wake up with Chitta and sleep with the intoxication too. Where and how do you get Chitta? asked Daljit Singh, to which she said, ‘You name a place in Punjab and it will sell you Chitta. Not a single area in the state where people don’t sell it. We think it’s only the youth, but it’s more. The old, the young, the rich, the poor, the educated and even those who sleep on footpaths consume chitta and sell it too.' ‘There was a time when heroin wasn’t easily available and it would be sold for 8000, then it was sold for 6000 but today as it is easily available, drug smugglers and peddlers fear they will not have enough ‘clients’ and so they sell it for 1500 to 2000 also,’ the 21 year old added. 6 years since you have been doing heroin, you know it is harmful, you know your body is giving up, you want to leave it too but why haven’t you left it till date? She replied, ‘Jado torr lagdi aa, hor kuch nai yaad aanda’ (When there is a need of heroin, its intense. And at that moment nothing matters) ‘I started waking up with heroin, stated looking for nothing but heroin. My life began at drugs and I thought it will end at this. But now I can’t let it ruin me. I can’t let drugs take charge of me. All that I have got in these years is – hate, no body believes me anymore, I have lost my family’s faith in me too and above my health and identity.’ When you know all this why don’t you leave it then?, she answered with her raised eyebrows, 'Because drug addicts are hopeful that they will find it easily. The only way out is – drugs not being available this conveniently in the state. Nobody fears police, when you do drugs all that matters is its consumption.’ ‘My life at one point had almost come to an end as the Mohali police caught hold of me and that’s when it all changed. I was scared. Instead of throwing me behind bars, they helped me. They took me to the Gurdwara sahib, they brain washed me and told me that it’s not good for me. They reminded me I have a family, my youth and all my life to live,‘ the girl confessed. ‘The female constable would spend time with me; they took me to a rehab too. I stayed there for a while. I came out and I stopped consuming drugs. One and a half month my life changed, I was free‘ ‘One fine day, I met my friends, one of them filled an injection and started injecting in front of me. I couldn’t resist. ‘Torr lag gae c fer bus’ (I had to do it then), she said. ‘Instead of holding back other people from consuming drugs, drug addicts indulge you in consuming them,’ she said talking about the thought process of a drug addict. 'Today I want to quit Chitta- I want to be happy and healthy again. My body is giving up. There are two routes for me now - death or the jail. But i have found a third one- to release myself from the world of drugs,' she said. -Written and Edited by Nimrat Kaur for PTC News
