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When you think of young men and women at a party, you are likely to conjure up an image of unabashed drinking. But you will be surprised. More and more young people are now kicking the bottle, mostly after years of overindulgence.
Anubhav Kalra, who drank heavily for more than a decade, gave up alcohol three years ago. He had good reason to want to quit. “I lost three jobs, money and self-respect because of excessive drinking. Now I choose not to touch the bottle anymore,” says the 29-year-old Delhi-based insurance manager.
He was a successful salesman when he found himself drinking more and more. Soon, he had no control over his personal life and career. “I lost the trust of my family. I was arrested for fighting with strangers. I fled my city in order to run away from a Rs 5 lakh debt. But one day, when I realised that I couldn’t live a dog’s life anymore, I gave up drinking,” says Kalra.
There was a time, not so long ago, when doctors were being consulted by middle-aged Indian alcoholics seeking professional help. Now the young throng de-addiction centres. “Earlier, people, mostly above 45, used to consult us,” says Dr Anju Dhawan, associate professor, National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC). These days, over 1,500 patients — half the number of those visiting their clinic every year — are below the age of 30. Ten years ago, about 800 new patients visiting the centre were below 30.
Many of the young people seeking help are those who picked up the habit at a very young age. Siddarth Vij, 25, was barely 13 when he got addicted to alcohol. His parents sent him to rehabilitation centres five times, but in vain. Then one day he decided on his own that he had to quit.
“Every time I was out of a rehabilitation centre, I took to the bottle again. Though I seriously tried to break this cycle, I could not. Then I gained the mental strength to give it up once and for all,” says Vij, who has not had a drink since November 2008.
Five years ago, Vij dropped out of a Pune law college because of excessive drinking. “I mortgaged my furniture. I started living in slums so that I could cut down my living expenses to pay for booze,” he says.
Now Vij is studying law again. “I walk into my house confidently. My younger sisters, who once avoided me, look up to me,” he says with a smile. Vij has joined de-addiction group Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which motivates him to remain “clean”. Six out of 10 members at Delhi’s AA chapter are between 25 and 35.
Many youngsters are turning away from cigarettes as well. According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey – 2009-2010, published by the Union ministry of health and family welfare, more than 10.3 per cent of males and 0.8 per cent of females in India smoke cigarettes.
But the good news is the number of former smokers. The survey finds that 12.1 per cent of men and 16.2 per cent of women who once smoked don’t do so anymore.
Jitendra Bajaj, 27, is among them. He started taking a puff or two when he was 12, graduating to 50 cigarettes a day over the years. “At times, I drove 50 kilometres at midnight for a pack of cigarettes.” A chronic cough prompted him to chuck the habit two years ago. “Now I feel irritated even if I see someone smoking,” says Bajaj.
Gen-X, though more health conscious than their parents, has been taking to addiction earlier. Now it is notching up another record — by giving up addictions at an early age. It has been there, done that — and now it wants to call it quits.
Almost all reformed alcoholics and smokers say they needed a good reason to kick the habit. It could be something serious — like losing a job — or something relatively easier to handle — like gaining weight. Samrat Choudhury, 30, turned teetotaller four months ago when he realised that alcohol, with its high calories, had added kilos to his weight.
“I decided that I should give up both smoking and drinking because one led to the other. I have had my share of fun but now I choose to live a disciplined life,” says Choudhury, who works at a call centre. “It is always easier to stay away from alcohol among non-alcoholics. But my real test is when I choose to sit with an energy drink while everyone else around me is drinking,” he says.
Of course, what worries experts is the fact that the number of quitters is far less than those who are being drawn into addictions. “If one person is abstaining from alcohol a day, four others are joining the club of alcoholics,” says Johnson J. Edayaranmula, executive director, Indian Alcohol Policy Alliance, a non governmental organisation which monitors drinking habits.
According to a 2003 report published by the World Health Organization and the Bangalore-based National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Indians have started drinking at 19, compared to 29 some 15 years ago. The National Family Health Survey III says that 32 per cent of Indian adult males and two per cent of adult females consume alcohol regularly.
There are no national figures on people quitting, but doctors say there has been a steep rise in the number of people saying no. And many are women. “Women in the age group of 25-35 years are coming to us in large numbers,” says Lillee B., a member of AA, Calcutta. “We have also set up a separate group for women.”
Sakshi Talwar, who once had no qualms walking into a liquor shop and picking up her favourite tipple, is one woman who has successfully kicked the habit. “I stole money from home. I abused my mother — all for alcohol. I was thrown out of work thrice because I misbehaved with colleagues,” recalls Talwar, 30, a Mumbai resident.
But life has now changed. “Though there are times when I feel like drinking, I choose not to. I am happy that I am in a position to make a choice,” she adds.
Not every story is a happy one. Aparajita Dey, 35, a graphic designer from Calcutta, gave up drinking two years ago, but her life is yet not back on track. “The mental gap that alcohol created between my husband and me is yet to be bridged. He has decided not to have children till he is absolutely sure that I am not going to drink again,” says Dey.
The fear of relapse, experts say, is real. “In more than 85 per cent of cases, people get back to drinking again. It is quite a challenge to remain a teetotaller,” says Deepak Yadav, medical social service officer, NDDTC.
Some of the former alcoholics confess that sometimes they are assailed by a strong urge to drink. “I am not a saint. I do feel like drinking at times but I stop myself when I think of the previous suffering,” says Choudhury.
People have their own way of coping with such urges. “When I go to parties, I ask myself if I am there to have fun or to spoil the evening,” Vij says. “I get my answer, and choose not to drink.”
The choice, the experts stress, is yours.
