Altaf was busy when I first met him nearly four years ago.  This was at the Shelter, a facility run by Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust for drug users in need of medical and other support.  He was making paper bags and seemed to be doing a...

I am Ashok Ramakrishna, and this is the story of my life, the story of a drug user who managed to change the course of his life. I was staying in the area around Metro cinema in Mumbai along with a friend. We were both drug users but...

“You are like a son to me. Can I see you off drugs, even if it’s just for a few days?” A few kind words of concern from our counselor at the “Drop-in Centre” at Mumbai Central worked its magic on Farman, and hardcore drug addict for the p...

“I only need love and acceptance, without discrimination for my history with drugs,” says twenty-four year old Ramzan Sheikh. Ramzan went to the municipality school on Dockyard Road in Mumbai for a short time; he didn’t learn to rea...

Khayuum, age 30, ran away from his parents’ home in Vikhroli at fifteen years of age and took to the streets of Mumbai. It was not long before he began using drugs, throwing him into a vicious cycle of addiction. Eventually, he started u...

Meena walked in, dressed in white, her long black tresses tied back in a ponytail, carrying an assortment of files, folders and registers. 18 month old Armaan was at her knee giving her an imploring look. “I hope he wasn’t too much tro...

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 programm. Ravi regularly goes out on outreach programmes...

Reema came from a very poor, orthodox family in Calcutta. Her misfortune was being born a girl. She sensed early on, as children do, that she was a burden to her family. And as she grew up, she was made aware of it in no uncertain terms....

Shaukat Ali Sayed is an educated man, well-traveled, and married with two young sons age 10 and 12. His wife works at large department store in Kalyan. At one time, he had a prosperous shipping business, an office, and 12 staff members...

“All my life I was a slave to my addiction. I lost relationships, friends, ruined my marriage, my passion and my career.” The Rising Star Captain of the Trombay Sports Club Cricket team and winner of the inter club cricket league at ...

Suleman, a young man of 29, began using drugs at the age of fourteen when his father passed away and his family’s financial situation took a turn for the worse. After years of injecting brown sugar and two unsuccessful attempts t...