One morning he opened the door of his house and sent his son out on a bike ride. He never returned.

Grief can be a painfully numbing experience. It could push people to become unrecognisable. Sai took to alcohol to drown the excruciating pain. Lost in his head, he began to dissociate with everything around him, even his wife and his daughter. He had been a practicing lawyer with a command over his work, his colleagues and his clients. But now, he could only watch his old life sink rapidly, before him.

Sai’s daughter had been watching her father drink himself away. With time, as the fear of losing him grew stronger within her, she reached out to him. She requested to have her old daddy back from the mental prison he had locked himself in.

It was as though Sai was jolted awake. In that moment, he realised that he was not the only person grieving. His wife had lost her son, but would stay strong before him, to not affect him further. His daughter had lost her brother. He realised that it was now his job to be a father and brother to her!

He joined the Amura program in an attempt to find himself back, for himself and his family. Despite his addiction, he followed the program with sheer determination and integrity. It wasn’t easy. At 7pm every night, he would feel the urge to drink again, as was his routine till then. However, the medical protocol that he had been put in, supported his neurotransmitters, and made it easier for him to snap out of the need to depend on alcohol. Also, the constant support and encouragement from his personal health coaches and doctors helped Sai take back control from alcohol dependency. The disciplined food intake, in turn, disciplined his life. Today, he speaks highly of this, of healthy eating and even fasting, and even recommends it to others! He stands testimony to the fact that if you want to get over an artificial dependency, you can!

Like lemon salt soda and everything new, this program and this lifestyle did feel uncomfortable to him at the start. But as he began to reap its benefits he grew closer to his family, his friends, and himself and further and further away from those three blurry years.

Instead of a past, Sai has shifted his focus to the present and the future. Sai has lost a significant amount of weight, has recently reached a 100th count in blood donation, and despite being at the age of 57, does not want to stop! This excellent lawyer has now started practicing law full-fledgedly again! He also wants to start a trust in the memory of his son to feed people in need. He also wants to start a Gowshala, for the cows on the street.

Love works in strange ways. It is incredible, how gentle and ruggedly strong it could be at the same time. It has the audacity to make itself heard, to reach the unreachable, melt the frozen. It can give, and keep giving. It is beautifully contagious. The love and support that Sai received from his family and his family in Amura, has inspired him to give the same to those who need it too.

Sai Kumar is living his second, glorious life at the moment. He is unrecognisable again, but this time, for good.