Swati CA

Swati_CA column in The Hindu Business Line

Monday, July 03, 2006

What is the medicine for the drug fear?


How can parents be sure that their children aren't getting into drugs?
On Thursday evening, my colleague Vasanti insisted that I accompany her to the beach. It had drizzled in the afternoon and the weather was pleasant, so I agreed. The evening was gradually turning to darkness. And Vasanti was unusually silent. "How is your son?" I asked, remembering that her son, the only child, was in college. "I have been worrying about him... " her voice trailed. "Studies?" I asked. She shook her head. "He seems to be doing well in class. Of late, he has been remaining aloof from me." I laughed, "A girl, perhaps!" Vasanti's face turned sombre, "No, Swati, I am anxious that my son doesn't get into drugs!"

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posted by Swati CA @ 1:48 PM  

17 Comments:

  • At 1:57 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    From email
    ----------
    >Dear Swathi,
    > It is worth appreciating that the topics you bring up for discussion
    >these days reflect the modern trend in which the society is evolving into.
    > It is not only your friend who is concerned about her son's behavior
    >but there are dozens of parents who unable to spot even the change in
    >behavior of their own kids. And by the time, they realize the change, the
    >kids are deep into the habit that any action to prevent them results in
    >heart burns and troubled relationship which starts affecting the life's of
    >both the parents and the kids.
    > The reason is I see for a situation like this being the strenuous
    >lifestyle that we are engaged in which leaves us very little time to share
    >with kids at home.
    > Few moments of time spents with kids like engaging in pillow fight or
    >playing the good-old hide & seek, even though it seems silly, will go a
    >long way in strengthening the parents-child relationship. This may be
    >useful whatever be child or parents age group.
    > Worth a try, isn't it?
    >
    >with regards
    >Sriram Kannan

     

  • At 1:58 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    >Dear swati ,
    >
    > this is sathish from salem in tamilnadu and it is the firstmail i'm
    >sending u .
    > Recently i used to go through your articles and thid was first time i
    >read it.
    > strightly coming to the topic why many young guys move towards the
    >drugs the main reason being there is lack of care given to the young
    >guys.
    >
    > particularly in metro cities , where both parents are employed and
    >these pupil have enough money to spend in their pockets .
    >
    > one more reasons due their official life ,both the parents don't have
    >time to spend with their childrens and also at hte wekends they don't stay
    >home when their parents at home. Becuase of arival of media and other
    >enterainments they have enough time for diversified various habits.
    > i come across many small guys who used to smoke at the age of 12.
    >
    > moreover there are many happenings in their family which leads to
    >cultivate these habits.
    > the parents should have a control over their kids but that should be
    >a coercive one, where it ultimately leads to these habits.
    >
    > To conclude i can put this in simple terms
    >
    > " IT IS OUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES OUR
    >
    > ALTITUDE" .
    >
    > I hope this would be a simple but a reality point to b considered.
    >
    > thanking you
    >
    > with regards,
    > sathish.

     

  • At 2:02 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    >FROM
    > AYYAPPA RAMALINGAM
    > 50 G.S.NORTH STREET
    > MANNARGUDI
    > Hello SWATI
    > i am a regular
    >reader of your articles for quite some time. you dealwith variety of
    >problems and create public awareness against the odds through your
    >articles.an yeoman service indeed.regarding drug addiction it is not a
    >problem of your friend vasanthi"s son alone, all parents are facing the
    >same. prefer to remain in isolation, loosing temparament without any logic
    >or reasoning not freely mingling with other family members are a few
    >telltale signs of drug addiction.in this competitive world parents are mad
    >after earning money.no doubt money is essential for life but money is not
    >everything in life.parents should spare some time to spend with their wards
    >and try to understand their problems and guide them in the right
    >direction.educatinal authorities should think of introducing lot of changes
    >in the curriculam right from primary school to college level.science is
    >important, much more important is moral science.
    > alongwith mathematics aesthetics should also be taught.our culture and
    >traditional values nurtured by our forefathers are highly valuble.we have
    >miserably failed to imbibe them to the children. net result is the drug
    >addiction,sexual harassement/exploitation'onslaught.it is high time to pay
    >proper attention to the moral values.
    >
    >

     

  • At 2:03 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    >
    >it is a fact that this is one of the major problems facing the parents and
    >elders, more particularly in major cities. india, unfortunately has become
    >an important conduit in the global drugs/narcotics trade.the present system
    >of policing, civil and criminal system, is not going to help in this
    >regard. swift and severe punishment is required, which should have
    >demonstrative effect. if that is done,like as it happens in some other
    >countries like, singapore, middle east etc, the availabity will come down
    >and the youngsters taking to drugs will also reduce.
    >
    >pending that, the impact of drugs/narcotics can be brought in the school
    >syllabus may be around 8-9th class itself, so that at adoloscent stage the
    >children are aware of its impact. for those who have taken to drugs,
    >counselling/rehabilitation is the answer. but the present set of
    >counselling centres are woefully inadequate. more centres need to be set
    >up. the addicts need to be handled with care and they should not be equated
    >with the drug peddlers/routers. unfortunately, indian system equates both
    >of them. the parents also sometimes need counselling, in handling these
    >kind of addicts, once the fact is known. unfortunately indian parents are
    >not capable of handling these situations, which messes up further.
    >
    >
    >krithivasan

     

  • At 2:03 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    Dear Swati garu,
    >
    >If parents await tell-tale signs of drug addiction on their offsprings, it
    >will be too late for them to correct the situation, because once their
    >children tangle in the vicious circle of drug addiction, it is almost
    >impossible for them to come out of it and their end is imminent.
    >
    >Hence the following precautions should be taken by parents to keep their
    >children back from drugs:
    >
    >-Parents should bring home to their children the
    > modus operandi of drugs.
    >-Children should not be subjected to any tension
    > regarding ranks/grades/marks or domestic
    > affairs.
    >-Frequent calls at their children's college/
    > university/hostel will go a long way in preven-
    > tion of drug addiction.
    >-Parents should be in contact with the friends
    > of their children and make discrete enquiries.
    >
    >Yours sincerely,
    >
    >P.V.SUDHAKAR RAO.

     

  • At 2:03 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    >SunflowerSwati,
    >
    >Tips for parents whose children are already into drugs......
    >
    >Both sons of a friend of mine were drug addicts. Putting them into
    >de-addiction centres was only a temporary cure, for on discharge they would
    >get back to drugs again.Doctors advise was that once a person takes drugs
    >he cannot be brought out of it .
    >
    >Finally we came up with a remedy of relocating the boys.After a short
    >duration at a de- addiction centre,we forcibly sent one boy to the middle
    >east , since the stuff is not availiable there and also got him a small
    >time job there.For a few months it was difficult for him to adjust, even
    >his maintenance expenses were met from here. Today it is almost two years
    >since he has left and he is back to normal.
    >
    >The other boy was admitted to Dare Foundation at Bangalore.For one year he
    >was treated.Then they arranged for him to attend part time study
    >courses.Today he has an employment and also counsels other drug addicts.
    >
    >RELOCATION WOULD BE THE BEST CURE.
    >
    >Best Wishes
    >
    >nitin j shetty
    >Chartered Accountant
    >Past Chairman
    >Mangalore Branch Of ICAI.
    >Karnataka.

     

  • At 2:04 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    >human beings indulge when they feel they are neglected. they turn to
    >smoking, drinking or drugs
    >initially as an experiment, then turn more and more daring for the kicks
    >they derive. sooner rather
    >than later, they are enslaved by the habit and then there is no going back.
    >
    >in my opinion to minimise chances of children falling into this trap,
    >parents need to spend time
    >with them, understand their need to be heard, give them the discretion to
    >distinguish between the
    >right and not so right, be their friend and last but not the least be
    >patient with them.
    >
    >although it is easier said than done but i suppose prevention is better
    >than cure - parents can
    >avoid being worried about children getting into trouble and children are
    >empowered to live
    >healthily.
    >
    >regards
    >
    Mamata Hardikar

     

  • At 2:05 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    >HELP for addiction:
    >
    >please try to include that Narcotics Anonymous, a worldwide non profit
    >fellowship might help those with desire to give up using drugs. For more
    >info on NA (Narcotics Anonymous)
    >our worldwide link :
    >http://na.org/
    >URL for our Chennai Area of NA
    >http://www.angelfire.com/in/chennai/
    :"NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for
    >whom drugs had become a major problem. We . meet regularly to help each
    >other stay clean. ... We are not interested in what or how much you used
    >... but only in what you want to do about your problem and how we can
    >help.There are no social, religious, economic, racial, ethnic, national,
    >gender, or class-status membership restrictions. There are no dues or fees
    >for membership;"
    >
    >
    >Hope this mail would be useful in any little ways. Pl feel free to revert
    >if i can help in any ways.
    >
    >thanks,
    >
    >Sridhar

     

  • At 2:06 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    For more information on drugs in Singapore and what parents can do, please
    refer to our website under Drug Education- Anti-Drug Support.
    Alternatively, you may access the information here:
    http://www.cnb.gov.sg/antidrug/index.asp

    Regards,
    CNB Feedback

     

  • At 6:42 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    I WANTED KNOW EVERY THING ABOUT NIIT INSTITUTE, I MEAN TO SAY THAT WHICH TYPE OF CARRIER OPPORTUNITY THEY GIVE US,AND WHICH TYPE OF STUDY WILL REQUIRE FOR THEIR ENTRANCE EXAM.AND ALSO THE FEES STRUCTURE OR PROCEDURE AND ALSO THE WHICH TYPE OF COURSES THEY PROVIDE.WHICH TYPE OF BOOKS E HAVE TO STUDY FOR THEIR ENTRANCE EXAM,WHERE THESE BOOKS WIIL AVAILABLE. AM STUDYING IN BCOM|3RD.SO IHAVE TO PREPARE MY SELF TI THEIR EXAM.I HOPE THAT YOU PEOPLE WILL HELP OR GUIDE ME.AM EAGERLY WAITING FOR YOUR REPLY TO ME OR IN PAPER(HINDU TIMES)PLEASE GUIDE ME SIR .

    my name is baadari narayan galgali
    state:karnataka:district:karwartaluk:haliyal city:DANDELI

     

  • At 6:43 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    I had a call today from Yashika, from Synygy.
    I am wondering how is the company and its package for software support specialist?
    ï¿¿
    how i got ur mail ID? i was just searching for blogs on synygy.
    Hope u dont mind giving me a honest tip abtmy query.
    looking forward for a honest reply!

    thanks
    -pats

    "It is not our abilities that show usï¿¿ï¿¿
    what we truly are; it's our choices."
    Pats Patil

     

  • At 6:44 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    State Bank of India,
    Commercial Branch,
    B.M.Apartments,
    Ramakurivari Street,
    Santhapet,
    Ongole - 523 001.

    Dear Swathi garu,

    The following measures should be initiated to renew our farmers' faith in life :

    -Large scale cultivation should be encouraged by
    facilitating co-operative farming and corporate
    farming.
    -Cost of cultivation can be lowered and yield can
    be increased by using manure and herbal powder
    instead of fertilizers and pesticides respecti-
    vely.
    -Agricultural inputs should be subsidized.
    -Power supply to farmers should be gratis.
    -To release the farmers from the clutches of
    money lenders the procedures in banks should be
    farmer-friendly and advance value of gold should
    be fixed high.
    -Storage facilities such as godowns and cold-
    storages should be set up and produce loans
    should be sanctioned liberally lest the farmers
    should resort to forced sale.
    -Support prices should be fixed.
    -Government should insure the crops under master
    policy to save the farmers from irregular
    monsoons, drought, floods, etc.

    Yours sincerly,

    P.V.Sudhakar Rao,
    Deputy Manager.

     

  • At 6:49 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    A few years back I attended a meeting of an NGO among those invited to talk on the future direction of the organisation was a farmer from a distant village. During his talk, he mentioned that, 'this invitation matters a lot back in my village, regardless of how significant a work we do, that we get invited to the city for a meeting, that perhaps some times our name appears on the newspapers or that a farmer has been interviewed on the radio or newspaper means a lot in the village, people will recognize me, my value goes up and many even listen to me in my village now'.



    The agrarian crisis in which we find ourselves in is not merely about financial limitations or 'access to credit' as many would like to portray. It is the systemic indifference and ignorance of the farming community as being of any value to the larger society. Since long we have limited recognition of any person involved with farming in the larger society unless it is a scientist or a politician. M.S. Swaminathan and Sharad Pawar are not farmers, but, perhaps the most frequent faces associated with farmers in this country. The vast majority of farmers are unfortunately neither technology success stories nor politically aligned to anyone, nor can they access urban sanction as the farmer friend mentioned in the meeting. Majority of our farmers are happy to be left to do their job like many of us and till a few decades back it used to be a profession of pride, where a certain social status was guaranteed.



    Today the status is gone, the tough regulation of the government means that they are the only producers who cannot do a costing on actuals for their production in this country, technical 'advances' (many times failures on the field or leaving a long term negative impact) promoted reduce their knowledge on their own vocation to a negligible little, added to such an insult such technical advances being promoted by government (or well to do research establishments or private agencies) means that the access to credit is limited to embracing such time bomb technologies, market forces have now joined to dictate the prices for the produce based on its cosmetic features which would have been ridiculed only a decade ago. If these changes in their vocation has repeatedly abused and insulted them, there is the social pressure, educated children of farmers never want to enter the vocation and in many cases farmers agree with them, in many parts of the country it is difficult to find a bride for a young farmer or a farmer's son, people of wary of the capacity of a farmer to manage a home successfully. A night watchman job outside an ATM in the nearby town or the job of usherer in front of a restaurant, showroom or petrol station is considered lot more lucrative in many villages today.



    As a nation we have failed to understand the psychic and social stress that is wrought on a significantly large percentage of our society, if anything our handling of this situation has been callous.



    The mind of this country that makes decisions cannot any longer relate to its villages or villagers, it cannot particularly relate to the farmer. There are hardly any political, social (or even spiritual leaders) who live in villages, among ordinary farmers in this country. They have all migrated to the city or the place they dwell have become cities. The less said about bureaucrats the better, carrying the colonial dictat that the higher echelons of bureaucracy is mandated by knowledge of English and English education, getting urbanized is the only route to reach there and once having reached there it is impossible to relate to the farmer. Our media too is urbanized and despite the inroads made by technology there is hardly any media that has a rural soul. Their dependency on commerce implies that they need to promote consumerist urban attitudes, lifestyle and jobs and thereby indirectly denying the value of a simple rural life or farming as a vocation. Attending to the immediate causes because of farmers suicides is a very short sighted approach at the policy level.



    Many of us city folks who don't care whether our rice comes from thiruvallur or Thailand, who don't think that extra second before picking up 'tropical' fruits processed and packaged in countries far off from tropical countries, will not really care if tomorrow all of the Indian farmers commit suicide and die. In fact it would make for one less tragic news headlines and we would be happy about it, it doesn't touch our lives enough for us to change our lives, to do something except write and give speech and perhaps be part of meaningless exchanges (including this one) that don't add up to change things. We deserve a nation of less farmers or even no farmers, the farmers don't deserve to live with insensitive folks like us, we are powerful they are not. So they die while we live. That is the bottomline.


    ram
    05/07/06
    ----------------------------
    Buddhi' now: Those actively identifying and 'solving' bottlenecks are often within a bottle themselves.

     

  • At 6:51 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    Hello Swati,

    Your column in Business Line which was titled, "Are we doing enough to renew our farmers faith in life" was very interesting.

    We have linked to the column from the www.unodc.org/india website. It is right on top in the "News and Events" section above the 26 June events section.

    We have another initiative - SARNet ( South Asia Regional Network ) www.wesouthasians.org , which would benefit with contributions like yours.

    UNODC has launched an initiative to address the concerns you have brought out. It is the "I decide" campaign and is managed by project G86. Pratik Kumar is the co-ordinator and Arshiya Sethi is the Communications consultant to the project. It would be very nice if you could start a discussion on this topic on the discussion forum of the UNODC ROSA site - www.unodc.org/india

    Look forward to your comments on all this.

    with best regards
    Tushar


    Tushar Sampat
    Web Consultant
    UN Office on Drugs and Crime,
    EP 16/17, Chandragupta Marg,
    Chanakyapuri, New Delhi -21
    visit us at: http://www.unodc.org/india
    Tel: 091-11-42225018
    Fax: 2410 4962-63
    tushar.sampat@unodc.org

     

  • At 6:52 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    it is rather unfortunate that the suicides by the farmers occur without any
    break for many years now -m let it be a.p., tamilnadu, now maharastra.
    appropriate noises, with due apology to everyone involved, are being made by all
    concerned and then all the assurances are consigned to dustbin as usual. the
    political parties inpower and in opposition make a mountain out of these issues
    depending upon the way they look at it. in a vast country like india, it is not
    difficult to protect the interests of the farmers on a longterm and sustainable
    basis. it is a pity still many of them are in the clutches of money lenders,
    despite the overall growth in the banking sector. first of all, the farmers
    should be brought under organised sector to meet their credit requirements.
    there is also a pressing need to improve various issues/practices concerning
    agriculture. short term palliatives wont do



    krithivasan

     

  • At 6:52 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    Dear madam
    The issue which you raisedin the latest column is commendable.The
    issue is much more serious than it looks prima facie.After witnessing
    deaths due to shortage of foodgrains we are made to witness the
    suicides by thier producers.This shows the kind of attention and
    senstivity the government shows to our agriculturist.The reasons for
    these unfortunate incidents are political,social and economic as
    well.The government adheres to its adhoc policies evident by the
    recent announcement of the debt waivors by the PM.Well said in Bible
    "If u give a fish to a hungry man he will be fed for a day but if u
    teach him how to fish he can be fed for his life."So the ultimate
    solution is to drag the farmers out of this malice. To make it happen
    we need to have some concrete agricultural policy at the top and
    support at the ground level .

    with regards!

    --
    Rajeev Saraswat
    IDBI LTD -Mumbai
    Cell- 09819116332

     

  • At 6:59 PM, Blogger Swati CA said…

    Dear Swati,

    I liked the phrase "Suicide Tourism". Your langauage depicts utter pain and helplessness but our thick skinned politicos doesnt care two hoots for ouir feelings.

    Politicians esp FM is more keen on upward movement of Sensex. I think PC should be awarded the most speculative FM of the century in the world.

    Viren Soni

     

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