When I was just nine years old, my world began to unravel. My parents, once a solid foundation in my life, started drifting apart. In an attempt to shield me from the tension, they sent me to live with my grandparents. It was a difficult time, and I found solace in my studies at Poddar for two years before being moved to a boarding school at the age of eleven. I hated it there. I was a closed-off child, struggling to fit in, and the loneliness was suffocating. The only thing that brought me joy was music. Yet, after a painful audition at school where I faced rejection, I buried that passion deep within me, vowing never to try again.

Eventually, I returned to Bombay and enrolled in a small school with just six students in my class. It felt like a fresh start, but one fateful day changed everything. During a school event, I stole some money from a drawer and crossed the road to buy my first beer. That moment marked the beginning of a downward spiral. I began stealing from home as well, and soon it escalated. When I reached college, the newfound freedom overwhelmed me. My friends and I would spend our days drinking at a pub across from Nationals. To fund my drinking habit, I resorted to stealing larger amounts from my mother.

I got caught multiple times and was sent to see a therapist. For a while, I managed to stay clean, but it didn’t last long. I found myself drinking alone and stealing more frequently. When my father remarried, I stole my stepmother’s jewellery and sold it for next to nothing—only to be caught again. My parents tried to regain control of my life by removing me from college, but by then it felt too late; I had already begun experimenting with drugs.

As time passed, my drug use escalated from smoking weed with older college students to taking anti-epileptic tablets. What started as half a pill turned into an insatiable need for 30 pills a day. Eventually, I turned to cough syrup containing opium—and that’s when I truly became hooked.

During this chaotic period, my mother stopped giving me extra money. Desperate for cash, I dropped out of college at eighteen and found a job. I had a girlfriend who cared deeply for me and tried tirelessly to pull me away from this dark path, but her efforts were futile. Music was still in my life; I was part of a band until drugs forced me out of it too. My mother remarried and moved to Dubai while I remained in Bombay as a paying guest. My addiction led to being thrown out of three different PGs due to stealing and drug abuse.

At twenty-one, I hit rock bottom. My mother flew down from Dubai one day and pleaded with me to check into a rehabilitation centre. Reluctantly, I agreed and enrolled in a facility just outside Bombay—a decision that would change everything for me. For fifteen months, I was given the freedom to write and explore my passions again. It was there that songwriting became my lifeline.

Returning to Bombay after rehab was daunting; fear loomed over me like a dark cloud. For the first year back, I poured all my energy into work. I earned a diploma in Sound Engineering and worked with Channel V and Web 18 while nurturing my music career on the side.

After years of hard work and sending out demos relentlessly, I finally had my breakthrough—I got the chance to sing two songs for a movie! Since then, there’s been no looking back.

Now, after 13 and a half years of sobriety, I can say it has transformed my life completely. Sobriety is the reason for my happiness today; it fills me with gratitude for the family who stood by me through thick and thin—especially when loving me was incredibly difficult.

Today, I’m living my dream as a musician and am engaged to the woman of my dreams—someone who embraces my past without judgment but instead offers unconditional love.

My message? Drugs are not cool; dependency can destroy your life. It’s never too late to turn things around—don’t worry about what others think because those who truly love you will be there no matter what. That love is all you really need on your journey back to yourself.

If you, too, have an inspiring story to tell the world, send us your story at mystory@5w1h.media