Nearly 70,000 school kids are addicted to drugs, according to the 2019 study published by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, AIIMS, Delhi. Gauging the gravity of the situation, Youth Forum of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), has made Anti-addiction as the agenda of their 9th edition of Udgaar-An Expression of Goodness and Joy.
A total of 15,000 people, including 12,000 youths from the colleges in Delhi-NCR, will be a part of this daylong event at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on October 6.
The aim is to create a record of the highest number of participation at an anti-addiction event, for which they have even applied to the Limca Book of Records.
HG Sunder Gopal Das, director, ISKCON youth forum, says, “We started this fest with 400 students eight years ago. In 2017, we did it for 2,500 students and last year, we had a participation of 8,000 students. But this year, we are starting an anti-addiction campaign. A study titled 2018 Cannabis Price Index reveals that the national capital is the third-largest consumer of cannabis in the world. So, we will focus on ‘addiction’ of anything that’s affecting the youth’s physical and psychological health. Be it drugs or social media.”
The event will begin with a one-hour talk on “success without succumbing to drugs” by motivational speaker Vivek Bindra. Then a quiz based on drug addiction.
“A total of 5,000 students had participated in the quiz we had organised in different colleges of Delhi-NCR. Now, six shortlisted contestants will participate in the final at the stadium. The event will also have a live sand art by Nitish Bharti, a theatrical show on ISKCON founder Prabhupada’s journey to America in 1966, and lyrical hip-hop - all based on addiction and it solutions,” says Das.
A dance performance, Dashavtaar, by Prince Dance Group and mantra chanting by Madhavas Rockband will take place during the last leg of the event.
Das believes that one-day event is not enough to deal with a problem prevailing at a large scale. “But this event is an ice-breaker to inspire youth to deal with the addiction,” he adds.
About what leads youngsters to drugs, Das says, “It’s the lack of awareness about the level of harm that drugs cause, stress in their lives, peer pressure and thinking that people who smoke and drink look cool.”
Post the event, weekly sessions will be conducted to help the youth connect with their issues at a deeper level. “In the 70 colleges of Delhi-NCR, we have set up Ethicraft Clubs, where we depute college ambassadors. We will start personality development courses at these clubs.”
Will the event have religious overtones? “No. We help children through counselling and meditation. If the problem requires doctoral intervention, we take help from experts. We help these children to believe in themselves because we want them to be high in life without falling prey to drugs.”