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| Johns K. Mangalam, Head of Philosophy Department, Kerala Varma College, Thrissur |
It was osmosis of liquor addiction that Johns K. Mangalam inherited from his father. Despite freewheeing life-style, he managed to get first rank in B.A. And that led to a rank in M.A followed by Ph.D in Gandhian Studies. But parallel to the academic excellence, his drinking habit was also graduating from occasional to full-time.
Marriage and fatherhood only exacerbated problems. It was then that he decided to end his life. But a strong kick on the ego by a doctor of a de-addiction centre was sufficient to deflate his self-assessment as a studied person with double post graduation, doctorate and degree in law.
With Herculian effort and angelic care he was able to overcame the withdrawal syndrome and further temptation. And true to the suggestion of the kind doctor, he decided to help as many addicts as possible to kick the bottle.
Punarjani was thus born to turn around drinkers. Johns knew very well that if he wanted to influence the drunkards, then he had to speak their language. Thus, he would advise the potential patients to come with sufficient stock of drinks for the day. Even extra quantity required for full satisfaction would be provided on the first day. However, on the next day, the visitor will be confronted by both guilty conscience and a group of ex-drinkers who had kicked the habit.
This will be followed by medicines and counseling. 3000 ex-drinkers are attestation to the effectiveness of the treatment.
And Johns K. Mangalam is now Head of Philosophy Department at Kerala Varma College, Thrissur. As a reminder of the forgettable past, he suffers from cirrhosis of the liver. Johns has written his autobiography. It is dedicated to his wife Raji who suffered untold labour pains to give a second birth or ‘Punarjani’ to him.
Courtesy: Santhosh John Tooval (text), Vanitha, December 1-14, 2012
