My maiden brush with mawa was about two years ago when some seniors in college asked me to just try it out. Now, I buy it regularly, spending just Rs 5 for a packet that lasts the whole day. Though I do not think that I am addicted to the substance, I do crave for it if I do not take it after a smoke or a drink.
When I go to my village I restrain myself from using it. But when I come back to college in the city, I go back to mawa.
In my view, mawa is not a narcotic. It does not give the kind of kick that one gets from alcohol or other drugs. All it gives you is a high. It is just betel nut mixed with a few other ingredients. A pinch of the substance can give you the high.
I am aware it is bad for health. For, I cannot keep it in the mouth for a long time. If I try doing that, I get mouth ulcers. So I spit it out.
Besides smoking an average of five cigarettes a day and drinking occasionally, depending on my financial position, I have not touched any other narcotic drug, not even grass.
I, of course, introduced some boys of my batch to mawa after I started using it regularly. Now, we do it as a group.
Though most of the students in my college know me as a mawa user - the reddish stains in my teeth are a real give away - my parents are not aware of my habit. I continue to do it because it is fun and it is cheap.
(As told to G Babu Jayakumar)