This is the story Pema Gyatso Bhutia who was 12 years old when a friend introduced him to Spasmo Proxyvon (SP), a painkiller but an addictive pharmaceutical drug.
Bhutia, now 30, recalled a period when his family ill-treated and distrusted him, his sister was embarrassed to acknowledge him on the streets, and friends who did not use drugs stopped including him in their plans.
Bhutia checked into rehab in 2006. After treatment, he spent most of his time with friends from Narcotics Anonymous—a non-profit fellowship or society of former drug users who meet regularly to help each other stay clean—who suggested that they form a football team and participate in an upcoming local tournament.
“I had never played football before but the other guys taught me. It was probably the first time I experienced pure happiness,” Bhutia, a lean man with an angular face, recalled with a smile.
Bhutia is now the goalkeeper of Unicorn FC, a football club comprising 22 players, 17 of whom are former drug users. In the day, Bhutia works as a supervisor in a government-run water treatment plant, but in the early mornings or evenings, he is in Palzor Stadium in Gangtok, practicing his skills with his teammates or playing a tournament.
Read more of this in a report by Sarita Santoshini in LiveMint....
