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Tuesday, August 26, 2014

man falling victim to addiction : Devadas to Paul Gascoigne

Every shop you see milling crowds ... sad state of affairs – poor spend whatever they earn here.... the TASMAC shops and sale of ‘quarter’ .... elsewhere the photo of a legend – now looking frail and weak carrying a bottle of gin and cigarettes is doing rounds.

We have all seen this story .... a feudal lord's son, falling in love with a poor girl  - not able to marry .... ends up spending life in frustration in the company of liquor.  Heart-broken he dies in front of her house singing as a destitute seated near a dustbin with a stray dog in company – the song ‘ulage mayam vazhve mayam’ of Ghantasala remains evergreen hit....  the film ‘Devadas’ – 1953 released in Telegu starring A Nageswarara Rao, made in Tamil too – based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Devdas. Samudrala Raghavacharya wrote the dialogue and screen adaptation. The film is listed among CNN-IBN's list of hundred greatest Indian films of all time.

Famous falling to disgrace due to their addiction is no new news ... still – the following makes a sad reading... remember this star attracting headlines frequently ...... Paul John Gascoigne – an attacking midfielder, famous for his technique and later for  off-field problems.  He began his professional career with local club Newcastle United in 1985. Three years later he was sold on to Tottenham Hotspur for a £2 million fee. He won the FA Cup with Spurs in 1991, before he was sold to Italian club Lazio for £8.5 million the following year. In July 1995, he was transferred to Rangers for £4.3 million, and helped the club to two league titles and two trophies. He returned to England in a £3.4 million move to Middlesbrough in March 1998. He made his debut in the Premier League in the 1998–99 season, having already featured in the 1998 Football League Cup Final. He switched to Everton in July 2000, and later had spells withBurnley, Gansu Tianma (China), and Boston United.

A man famous in the European continent for his flair, he earned 57 England caps.  He was part of the England squad that reached fourth place in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and was famously reduced to tears after receiving a yellow card in the semi-final with West Germany, which meant he would be suspended for the final itself had England won the game.

It is very grim to read that Paul Gascoigne is in trouble. Addiction is a relapsing illness - families of addicts become wearily familiar with the pattern: a period of abstinence raises the hopes – perhaps with a commitment to treatment, firm promises of change and agonised apologies for past betrayals; but it's only a matter of time before those hopes are dashed again, when the sufferer has a "slip", and crashes off the wagon yet again. Most English press has carried out news and photos of Gascoigne in emergency detox after latest hospital drama.   

The legend referred to in first para as looking frail and weak carrying a bottle of gin and cigarettes in the town centre of Bournemouth is none other that Paul Gascoigne who recently had been kept in hospital for  emergency detox to help him recover from his latest alcoholic breakdown. Reports state that the former footballer was hospitalised after he collapsed outside his home in Sandbanks, Dorset, clutching a bottle of gin. Friends of Gascoigne have said he is desperate for another stint of rehab, but following a string of failed business deals has no cash to check himself in. The Sunday Mirror reports Gascoigne had been left depressed after he was rebuffed by several television channels he had approached in hopes of working as a World Cup pundit. He was also said to be upset at not being offered the chance to appear on any reality TV programmes.

As could happen to any addict, misery is heaping on – as reports further suggest that he could be homeless in just 10 days after being told he must quit his £3million rented penthouse apartment. A man who was probably the idol of many youths – is in a wretched condition due to alcoholic breakdown.  In the most shocking chapter yet of his long and often very public battle with alcoholism, onlookers had dialled 999 after finding him slumped tearfully against a wall with his head in his hands – and that should be a lesson for many.




With regards – S. Sampathkumar                                                                                  26th Aug 2014.

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