Nasha Naam Nashkari

[Rekharani Sharma]

In Uaipur, we visited Anganwadi Centre in Upla Chotiya village. When we went there, SALT meeting was going on and some 12-15 villagers from the age group 12-70 years were present at the centre. There we met Veni Ram jee. He is 60 years old and active member of the village. He says that before HealthRise came to his village he loved consuming tobacco. In his words, ‘tambakhu bahut achcha lagta hai. Ye andar jata hai toh Gale mein rahat pahuchata hai’ (I like tobacco, it soothes the throat on ingestion).
But when HealthRise team came in 2018 in their village and he attended SALT meetings, he was stimulated to quit tobacco. He says it was difficult for him to quit tobacco. But after understanding the harmful effects of tobacco and because of his strong will he has quit tobacco since a year. He gave us this jingle “Nasha naam Nashkari” (Addiction is synonym to destruction)