Spotlight

Farshid Alam

Four freshmen in our university cafeteria discussed the recent hot issue in town. They got into a debate that 'drugs made Jimmy Hendrix what he was and not his musical talent'. I sat beside the ones who opposed it and shared my experience with my band's drummer.

Tarek (not the real name), was an 'A' class drummer and I use to boast about him to other musicians that he's my drummer. About a year ago he joined my band, when he first came out from the rehabilitation center and such a nice and friendly person he was before he started drugs again.

We never found why he was late everyday at the jamming session or why he couldn't play long in a four hour session. He would ask for money even before we got paid from the shows and would become so arrogant if we couldn't pay him. I finally got to know when his father telephoned and told all of us to boycott him and he's going to rehab again. And since then, he has been living there and his life is as good as being in a coma.

I headed towards the bus and thought about the boy in one of the lounges in Dhaka who was of the same age of those freshmen.

I noticed the boy the moment he entered the lounge. A very well dressed up young man with a face as numb as a 'zombie'. When he waved to the waiter I saw several cuts on his wrist and I knew his story. I watched him constantly as he talked to the waiter. It took him several seconds to think what he wanted to say, at least 5/10, and then another 5 to get it out of his mouth.

The same waiter came to me and I asked about him he said- 'Oh he's no problem but we often find him passed out down stairs'.

As I got in the bus I thought about the Jimmy Hendrix debate the freshmen had and how people overlook that drug is poison. For a moment, I wish I knew the feeling.
But no! I want to live longer.

(Student, Department of Media and Communication, Independent University, Bangladesh)

However, this mesmerizing experience comes at a heavy price, the result being fatal if some mode of control or abstinence is not implemented.

Why do we say no to drugs? It does provide us with the sensation of ecstasy, numbness and relaxation. It makes it easier to deal with personal traumas, enables us to derive pleasure from everything and anything in short, it makes us feel good. So why say no? Why do parents, teachers and anyone who gives us their time of day drone on about staying away from drugs? The answer is simple and blunt: Because it is harmful and such a waste of valuable time and money.

The youngsters of the cream of the society often complain about the lack of available entertainment. True that we are deprived of a good movie theatre, true that we have sad excuses for open spaces to exercise our athletic potential or even enjoy a stroll in the open air, and the fact that the establishment does very little to improve such a scenario is a truth that we have accepted a long time ago. These are just a few among the vast list of reasons why youngsters take matters into their own hands and engage themselves in settings where drugs play one of the leading roles, that are not only harmful to them, but tarnish their futures with an irremovable black mark.

We have been given the power of freewill which enables us to make choices. We must be compassionate to our own body and mind in order to make the right choices. The temptations to succumb to drugs are great, but before surrendering to such a lure and indulging ourselves, we must ask ourselves as to what could be gained. Parents and teachers can only go so far with their teachings about why we should avoid drugs at all costs. But at the end of the day, we must walk down that long and difficult road alone and make our own choices and learn things our own way, and while we're at it, it is essential that we remind ourselves that we must put our foot down and resist the power of the destructive seductions of drugs because there is no doubt that it is not the answer.

(Student, Department of Media and Communication, Independent University, Bangladesh)