He was charged with various criminal offences for which he served a two-and-a-half year jail term. Post-sentence, he would be called for intermittent enquiries any time there was a serious crime in the vicinity.
All this took such a toll on his psyche that Rahul Ramakant Jadhav turned to drugs, and severely at that. Almost on the brink of being admitted to a mental hospital, he turned to his mother for help who took him to Institute of Psychological Health (IPH) where doctors recommended detoxification.
Post-detoxification, the doctors advised him to get admitted to Muktangan Rehabilitation Centre in Pune where medication, right diet, counselling and proper sleeping pattern helped him recover his health. Physical health was not so difficult to regain but mental recovery was a long journey.
“To build a strong will power so that I keep away from drugs wasn’t as easy,” says Jadhav who now spreads awareness about drug addiction and ways to combat it. He recently completed an ultra-run from Gateway of India to India Gate, covering 1,475 km in the first edition of DeAddiction Ultra Run, over 20 days to send across a message about harms of drug addiction.
So, after finishing his 30-day rehab session, he looked forward to starting life afresh. He looked for job that would help him get back to normal life but to no avail. Further, the repetitive police enquiries and little acceptance among friends, family and neighbourhood demotivated him so much that he was almost on the verge of taking refuge in drugs when better sense prevailed upon him and he decided to live at Muktangan.
“During the counselling sessionsthey suggested that I indulge in physical work to drain myself so that I got sound sleep at night. I started working at Muktangan’s housekeeping department. I cleaned glass window panes, toilets, drainage pipes. Housekeeping cleansing was akin to cleansing my internal self and gave me a mental satisfaction. Apart from housekeeping, I did jobs on computer, sharing experiences and helping other addicts. The entire process of recovery from dependence took about four years,” informs Jadhav.
Ask him how difficult is it get the confidence back after an encounter with drugs and he says, “It is difficult but not impossible. Confidence comes when you believe in yourself or when you have a deep desire.
I had the desire to change myself, to recover and wanted to do anything and everything in my capacity to achieve my goal. I was craving for acceptance from my family, friends, neighbours and society at large. Work at Muktangan gave me the confidence about being a productive person. I started believing in my abilities to communicate, to do physical activity for hours and learnt computers,” he says. Simultaneously, Jadhav was also advised to take up running as a physical activity which increased his stamina and made him feel better as a person. “During my seventh session at Muktangan, one of the acquaintance suggested I try for a job at Morde Foods Pvt. Ltd. A meeting with owner Harshal Morde got converted to an instant approval to hire me without judging my past. I met many people who really boosted my morale and aided my recovery porocess,” he says.
So when and how did the idea of covering the distance between Gateway of India to India Gate occur?
“In 2008 when I was serving a term in jail, my mother wrote me a letter. she said ‘that it’s because of you we have not been invited to a relative’s marriage function and it’s quite a practise that relatives avoid us. The family is facing financial and emotional distress and social boycott. You are responsible for a damaged family fabric that we now carry. We have no respect in society.’ I often cried remembering her words. It was then that I decided that I would earn the respect back for my parents and family,” he says. But wasn’t finalising the logistics of the run – routes, stops, overnight stays, traffic, informing authorities – a cumbersome task?
“It started with sizing up my earlier long runs and calculating the kilometres I could run in a day. When I finished 324 km Mumbai Ratnagiri (60 km/ day) and then Delhi Stadium run of 87.7 kms in 12 hours, I gained confidence. I googled for the distance and divided it in almost equal kilometres by 17 days as that was the target I wished to achieve.
Jadhav now wishes to be the fastest marathoner at the international level. “Apart from that, I want to attempt stadium run and aim to be the fastest runner to cover over 200 km within 24 hours,” he says.