#SayNoToDrugs: Anindya Chatterjee celebrates 15 years of a ‘drug-free life’

The actor is also an inspiration to many simply because of his journey from a substance abuser to a coming back to a normal life

Anindya Chattopadhyay

Birthday is special to everyone, full of wishes and grandeur. But for actor Anindya Chatterjee, the day comes twice a year: one is his legal birthday and the other is the day when he came clean from a prolonged history of drug addiction.

Anindya enjoys a huge fandom due to his acting and appearance, including his numerous women followers. But he is also an inspiration to many simply because of his journey from a substance abuser to a coming back to a drug-free life. He came back to the mainstream of life on January 23 and by his admission, ‘it is not an easy thing’. He considers this date to be the day of his reincarnation.

On January 22, Anindya posted on Facebook, “Today is 22nd. Tomorrow is my birthday. This is the birthday that is closest to my heart. This is the 15th anniversary of my staying away from drugs. My biological birthday is December 29. But tomorrow is way more special to me.”

The Gaatchora actor reminisced about his past days, “This day of 2008 is still clearly visible to me. I had to return to rehab after appearing at the Bankshall Court. I had to go to Habra by the Bangaon Local. I had some brown sugar, cotton, and a spoon so that I could have a shot for the last time. In the rehab near Habra Station, I started fighting for my life. Previously, I went through 28 or 29 detox and rehabs. I relapsed on the very day of getting released. In our terms, it is called chronic relapse. It was a circle that lasted for six or seven years. either I was an addict outside or staying well inside a locked room. I did not believe that I would ever get well. No one believed me.”

His family went bankrupt due to his addiction. What did he do? Anindya said, “A middle-class family has limited abilities. My mother's gold jewelry and my father's bank savings got drained. Then utensils of iron, aluminum, etc, which were precious to me as gold. It took three minutes to open the lock of any car. A Nokia mobile meant two or three thousand in cash. I felt that I would not survive towards 28 years of age at this rate. I got scared seeing four of my using partners die one after another. I was so devastated that I had no option other than going to rehab again and getting imprisoned within four walls.”

From those dark days, Anindya travelled a long way to the golden time of the present. Now he is accompanied by autographs, camera flash, etc. But none of this would be possible if he did not want it. What did he do? “No one believed that I would get over my addiction. The beginning was really tough. Addiction was the love of my life, I wanted to live with drugs and it wanted to kill me. That day I was defeated. And perhaps because I was defeated, today I won,” he wrote. He also said that his father saw him cured before he breathed his last. He used to be proud of his son. Anindya’s sister is proud of her brother.

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