Punarjani(Re-Birth)
Charitable Trust FOR DE-addiction &
rehabilitation
Reg no 217/2004,
POOMALA P.O.
Thrissur 680581,
E-mail:
punarjanipoomala@yahoo.com
www. punarjani.org
Ph.0487-2201332, 09747201015.
A New Venture for Recovery from Alcoholism
Punarjani means the rebirth, yes, really it
is a rebirth not only for its founderer, Managing Trustee DR. Johns K.
Mangalam, but also for more than 1000 alcoholic addicts and for their whole
family members.
This is really a miraculous achievement for
an NGO, which was formed by a group of Ex-Alcoholics, who were victims of
Alcoholism, some persons affected by this malady and few humanists who have
real concern about them.
Punarjani is at Poomala, a sleepy village 16
km away from Thrissur town near Mulamkunnathukavu. This organization is distinct from any other
organization due to its peculiarities. This initiative is led by DR. Johns K. Mangalam, who has several distinction to this credit like
two first ranks, a Ph.D. Degree in Philosophy,
a short term teaching experience at Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur
and was a practicing Advocate .He was a severe Alcoholic for twenty years
but come out of it nine years ago.
Poomala which is the home village of DR.
Johnson also has the history of wide spread Alcoholism because in the early
days of migration about 60 years back, the predominant population here had been
relying heavily on alcohol to pep up their spirit in their struggle for
survival amidst harsh weather, attack of wild animals and disease like malaria
Most of the first generation migrants used
to consume illicit liquor from their childhood. Many of them lost their lives
prematurely either due to suicide and diseases like liver problems or by
accidents -all linked to alcoholism some way or other. But even though DR. Johns belongs to this
group, by the grace of God he recovered from it after many admissions and
discharges from a number of De-addiction treatment centers.
It
was a chance realization for DR. Johnson that, Alcoholism is a disease and from
it anybody can recover through adopting a new life style and through prompt
knowledge about the nature, reasons, effects and methods of recovery from
it. When he recognized that his efforts
to get away from liquor were finally successful after innumerable failures, he
tried to influence his friends and others to recover from the disease which is
being wrongly called as a bad habit.
Together with his friends who had also
recovered from Alcoholism and with the help of some humanitarian friends they
started an organization with the goal to recover and rehabilitate Alcoholics
and their families and also educate them
about the evil influence of alcohol.
Through out the last three and half years
they have been conducting Seminars, creative discussions between the experts in
this subject and the public. They also
conducted various awareness camps and classes about the problems faced by the
alcoholics and the reasons along with solutions for the condition of
Alcoholism. Now they are conducting an
experiment with their newly innovated means and methods to release an Alcoholic
from this condition.
Punarjani produced an audio-video CD about
Alcoholism by the same name Punarjani and conducted the screening of the said
documentary at many places, in order to create awareness about this
disease. They distributed hundreds of
copies of the said documentary in the CD form through out Kerala free of
cost. Through the tireless efforts of
volunteers of Punarjani they could act as a catalyst for the recovery of a
large number of alcoholic addicts within a very short span of time.
Meanwhile they purchased one acre of land at
the beautiful and tranquil area adjacent to Poomala Dam. Now at the said site in two small sheds they
are conducting a de-addiction center by the name Punarjani Retreat Centre
through which they are experimenting and implementing some newly generated
ideas about the means and methods of recovery from Alcoholism.
They emphasize the fact that alcoholism is a
family disease which not only affects the mind, body and soul of an Alcoholic,
but also affects the whole family. Thus,
they begin by motivating the patient along with proper counseling and education
for the family members who had also become mentally ill due to the impact or
after effects of Alcoholism on a person whom they depend. In fact, they are the
scapegoats of Alcoholism.
Alcoholics
usually resist undergoing any sort of treatment due to two reasons. The formally accepted methods of treatment
which restrict the total freedom of an Alcoholic by imprisoning him in a
De-addiction Center for a very long period of time, and the use of heavy doses
of medicines, are not accepted by them, because they fear to loss of the
freedom which they used to misuse for a very long period of time. Most of them fear the use of any sort of
medicine for recovery from Alcoholism because from their experience they know
very well that it may create physical and mental problems for them after
treatment, i.e. If they continue to consume liquor , in most cases it may lead
to death or paralysis of the patient.
The possibility of the chance for failure in
the treatment and consequent withdrawal of moral support and sympathy from the
kith and kin, while undergoing expensive treatment, may cause loss of morale,
especially if he does not recover completely from Alcoholism even after the so
called rigorous treatment at any De- addiction
It is in this respect that Punarjani differs
from any other recovery centers. Alcoholics are united to join a combined
effort to recover from their condition by living and sharing together for a
period of 21 days at Punarjani, which has no walls and gates and at which
they will not be compelled to consume any medicine or follow any specific
religion. They even advise the patients
to come voluntarily for the recovery, after consuming a last peg.
A total change in the attitude of all the
members of the family of the patient and of the society towards the Alcoholic
and the recovered Alcoholic is an essential pre-requisite for recovery and long
endurance of the newly obtained sobriety of any Alcoholic. Unconditional moral, financial and other
support is inevitable for the sustenance of the new state of life of a
recovered alcoholic
PUNARJANI- THE NEW APPROACHES OF PURNARJANI FOR RECOVERY FROM
ALCOHOLISM AND WHY IT IS NEW?
The most important hindrance to solve the
problem of Alcoholism is that Keralaites even though they may be highly
educated and literate, are not properly aware of the fact that Alcoholism is a
disease from which anyone can recover by adequate means and methods.
The other important
hindrance to achieve and fulfill the objectives of the TRUST, Punarjani is that
all the family members of an Alcoholic will, in due course, become the victims
of the same disease, and all the members
of the family become prey to Alcoholism . The mental, social, financial
and family life of an addict will make adverse impacts upon the mental, social,
financial life of the whole family and will create complex problems in all
spheres of their life.
The fundamental principles
or Axioms of Punarjani about Alcoholism are that Alcoholism is a disease,
Alcoholism is a family decease and there is no Medicine which can offer
recovery to the disease of Alcoholism.
However, we can recover
from the disease, Alcoholism by some other means and methods and so Punarjani
advocates that a true awareness about the real reasons and nature of Alcoholism
as a disease is the most important thing in order to get rid of this disease.
Unfortunately even though
we are very proud of our high rate of literacy and educational status, proper
awareness about the causes, reasons and the true nature and means of recovery
from this disease etc, are very low, especially among the so called highly
educated people of Kerala, even today. The awareness about this fatal disease
Alcoholism is inadequate, especially among the poor.
Punarjani believes that
ignorance about alcoholism in its various aspects as a disease is the basic and
most important reason for Alcoholism in India, and especially in Kerala with
people – working hard and earning money
to spent on lifes enjoyments and
living with unbearable quantity of
tensions and worries .
The salient features and factors, which differentiate the
approach of Punarjani from other De-addiction Centers, are that
There is No Medicine for the recovery from this disease
of Alcoholism
All attempts for the recovery from this disease should be
voluntary and with the consent of the Patient and thus unnecessary and
heavy Medicine should not be prescribed.
Denial of freedom to an
Alcoholic by imprisonment is the most important hindrance for making him aware
of the true nature of his disease and
its impacts up on his family .So dont curtail the freedom of Alcoholics by
imprisonment.
Provide adequate opportunity to reveal
the broken heart of each Alcoholic to anybody who wish to listen and can
understand the circumstances and emotions of an Alcoholic, at any time,
anywhere.
Offer the help of recovered Alcoholics to motivate, to create
awareness of the damages caused by it to each of them and to provide chances
for them to inter act with many other Alcoholics without discrimination of
caste, creed, education and social or financial status.
Provide the healing touches of natural love as the Medicine for
Motivation and Recovery
FREEDOM
Freedom from unnecessary
bondages is very important for an Alcoholic, because he, as an Alcoholic is the
person who lavishly enjoyed and misused freedom by virtue of his disease or as
a symptom of his disease.
So Punarjani believes
that whenever he is compelled to restrict his freedom, he will not co-operate
with the means and methods or attempts of recovery from Alcoholism.
Restriction of his freedom by imprisonment will generate a
rebellious attitude in the minds of Alcoholics and thus their minds will not
listen to what he may hear about his disease.
An intellectual
conviction about the true nature of this decease, its symptoms, reasons,
remedy, means and methods of recovery are essential for the recovery of an
Alcoholic. Unfortunately, while the patient is under the state of imprisonment
and restrictions he is not able to co-operate with the persons who can impart
the required knowledge about Alcoholism and the successful means and methods
for recovery from it.
Thus PUNARJANI has no
gates for its De-addiction Centre. Instead anybody can enter and if he wishes
to go, he can do so without any restriction except sympathetic persuasion to
continue the stay .Thus the impulse to escape from Punarjani in order to have a
drink can be overcome by a patient. All they
have here is a communal living together, which enables the patients to
learn from the life experiences, losses, hopes, achievements and expectations
of other Alcoholics through open sessions of personal, family and group
counseling which are totally different from closed, artificially created, time
bound and officially recognized and accepted modes of counseling. Both
recovered and recovering patients participate in these modes of counseling with
out any prejudice or reservation but with wholehearted involvement.
There is a typical
language for communication between Alcoholics. The languages of sophisticated counselors are mostly alien
and not acceptable to alcoholics. Therefore, a lesson or message expressed by
an Alcoholic in his own language could reach at the understanding faculty of
another Alcoholic or in other words, an
academically qualified, technically educated counselor may not express the same
lesson or message to the reasoning faculty of another Alcoholic as another
Alcoholic, whether recovered or not. He may try to impart his ideas and
thoughts through his sophisticated language and style, but that may not create
the expected result to an Alcoholic. For
the life and distinct experiences of an Alcoholic are very different and
distant from that of a Non-Alcoholic, however empathetic or sympathetic he may
be.
Punarjani believes and experiences the fact that, the healing
touches of love, sympathy, compassion, protection and care etc will produce a
tremendous impact up on the life and thoughts of an Alcoholic.
With dedication and care,
we can build up confidence and courage in the shattered, dejected and confused
minds of Alcoholics. Moreover, the intervention of many recovered Alcoholics
will motivate, and inspire with the required determination, will power, hope
and self-estimation an Alcoholic who is fallen to the state of hell, misery and
defeat. A very short span of time spent with the inmates of PUNARJANI will
make tremendous impact upon the life of an Alcoholic and indirectly that of the
family, his society and on succeeding generations.
Alcoholics can recover from their disease through self-awareness
of the reasons, symptoms, impacts,
means and methods of recovery of Alcoholism. They can achieve this here,
through self -effort and with the help and assistance of other recovered
Alcoholics. However due acceptance of recovered Alcoholics, by their family and
society as a whole, is very essential for the sustenance of the recovered
sobriety of any Alcoholic.
The net work of the
family members of Alcoholics, who happen to get a chance to stay at
PUNARJANI for a period of 21 days, will act as the supporting group for
every newly recovered Alcoholic .The intimacy and affection expressed among the
similarly aggrieved and suffering patients will have a strength stronger than
that of any other group. Thus, in fact each and every person who under goes
this recovery process at PUNARJANI will become a healer of other Alcoholics.
Thus, we can feel the wonder created by the intervention of WOUNDED HEALERS
upon the patients at PUNARJANI
Alcoholism is not a sin.
Moreover, the grace and intervention of the unseen power that we call by
different names such as Jesus, God, Allah, Ram, and by other numerous names, is
inevitable for the permanent recovery of an Alcoholic form his disease. At
PUNARJANI, everybody is free to choose his own Deity as he himself conceives
it. Because PUNARJANI believes that, in order to fight and defeat the
disease Alcoholism, we need the help of a power that will be stronger than
Alcohol, which has already defeated us. The belief and prayers offered by an
Alcoholic and his suffering family will reap its fruits, for his recovery and future prosperity, through
the unexpected interventions of God, for
which we may not have adequate and reasonable explanations.
By sharing, we can
increase happiness and by sharing, we can decrease sadness. The feelings of
helplessness, worthlessness, rejection,marginalization etc will be reduced and
even eliminated.
By the same process of
open and voluntary sharing of thoughts, experiences and hopes, among the
inmates of PUNARJANI, we can impart hopes and expectations, energy,
confidence and the will to achieve and escape from Alcoholism and to win the
fight against the disease of Alcoholism.
A total, voluntary and
unconditional surrender by the patient is essential for his recovery because
the important and primary symptom and characteristic of this disease of Alcoholism
is EGOISM, which is baseless and false.
Renovation of the life of
an alcoholic through counseling, Meditation Yoga, Hypnotherapy, Faith, Change
in values, Life style, Beliefs and Relationships is also a very significant
requirement for complete recovery and sustenance of recovered sobriety of an
Alcoholic. It is only through the unconditional help, assistance, and
acceptance obtained from the family and society an alcoholic can recover
permanently from the disease of Alcoholism.
Thus for the
recovery of an alcoholic, the participation, involvement and change in the
social, mental, financial and spiritual spheres of the patient and his family
along with revolutionary changes of societys approach and attitudes towards
Alcoholics as Patients is very essential The public is the foremost enemy of
any Alcoholic.Those who may attempt to assist
the recovery of an Alcoholic may not be treated as a Good Samaritans
.Because,most of the consumers of alcohol and social drinkers are not in agreement with the idea of a
Retreat Centre for the recovery of a person from the habit of regular
consumption or abuse of alcohol. Most of the addicts of Alcohol will not even
accept the fact that he himself is now become a patient of the disease
Alcoholism and in order to recover from this fatal disease he needs external
help and assistance including medicine and counseling.
Punarjani Charitable
Trust is doing a very great service in this field by making people aware about
the adverse effects of alcohol and the truth that alcoholism is a disease and
also about the proper means and methods to be followed in order to recover from
Alcoholism and to sustain the sobriety of a recovered alcoholic till his death.
PUNARJANI is also doing selfless services and exemplary
works in the field of rehabilitation of alcoholics and their affected relatives
to live and recover their lost mental, social, economical and spiritual status
and also to heal the psychological wounds and all sorts of losses caused byto
his disease – Alcoholism. It is an attempt to recover the lost dignity and integrity of a person,
who happens to be an addict of alcohol for a long period .It is very difficult
for our social mind to accept an addict even if he totally recovered from his
habit or disease,which was actually an illness of body, mind and spirit.
It is an accepted fact that, in its complete sense only about 10
% persons among alcohol consumers may became Alcoholics. They are totally
helpless by themselves to recover from their illness and they need external
assistance for their physical, mental and spiritual renovations in all spheres
of life for their complete recovery. Nevertheless, the other 90% of alcohol
consumers firmly believe and propagate that they can start, control and stop
the habit of consuming alcohol at their will at any point of time. It is true
for them, for these 90% of alcohol
consumers but not for the other 10% of alcohol consumers who become addicts by
that time.
Unfortunately, one among
the many symptoms of Alcoholism ,the false ego prevents them from accepting and
admitting their present position that they are slaves, victims and addicts of
alcohol. Thus without demarcation both the addicts and social drinkers are not
willing to accept the fact that Alcoholism is a disease.
Let us consider the
general opinion or views of the pubic about Alcoholism. They are generally un
aware of the fact that Alcoholism is a disease and as for any other disease it
also needs adequate means and methods of treatment for the recovery from it.
Moreover, to them an alcoholic abuser is a social outcast and an anti-social,
unfit to be tolerated, a burden to the
community and family, a bad man, an irresponsible liar without any promptness
in action and word. For them it is a
futile effort on the part of PUNARJANI to start and run a Retreat
Centre for De Addiction & Rehabilitation of Alcohol-Addicts and thus they
are least interested in becoming involved with the projects of PUNARJANI.
The persons who are in
need of and who are eagerly waiting for the actualization of this project are
the adversely affected persons i.e. Alcoholics and their dependents. They are
beings suffering directly and indirectly from the disease of Alcoholism. The after effects of Alcoholism, such as,
black outs, hallucinations, fluctuating moods, humiliation, cruelty and
losses in all spheres of their life, in due course etc will make each of them a
victim of alcohol and make them mental patients. However, a son, brother or
spouse can by themselves can do very little to help an Alcoholic, because their
capacity for that will be lost by constant association with an alcoholic who
may be their Bread Winner.
We can see for ourselves
by a simple visit to PUNARJANI at Poomala, the silent village 13 Km away
from Thrissur town, that the efforts of this very small organization has
created vast changes in the lives of more than hundreds of Alcoholics and their
family members with in a short span of time and with in-adequate facilities or
essential requirements.
But Definitely we can
predict that PUNARJANI will change the lives of thousands of Alcoholics
,their family members and next
generations .Thus punarjanipoomala@yahoo.com .
Ph.0487-2201332, 09747201015.
Please Visit Our Site
www.
Punarjani.org
And promote us by all possible means
Mr .Santhosh,Thrissur