As a dental student, I always aspired to make money. However, during the third year of my graduate program at a community-based camp. The most vivid clinical case etched in my mind from my undergraduate years was of a 13 year old child suffering from oral cancer caused by chewing of tobacco in the form of Gutka which was easily accessible, being sold in flashy packets just outside the school gates on a bicycle in a nearby village. The young child had no clue as to the consequences of consuming such conveniently attainable cancer causing substances and on being asked he replied, “I knew it was a bad thing but I didn’t know it would take away my life.” That was it. This marked my turning point and inspiration at the same time. I started on my social work journey and volunteered for more than 6 organizations learning about the ways of social work and altruism on ground level. In mid-August 2014, with me, my husband and a couple of friends who had faith in my inherent goodness; ATTAC -Aim to Terminate Tobacco and Cancer was born.

A step forward … Tobacco, by far, is the most widely sold legal drug in the market. Smoking tobacco contains over 60 known carcinogens and smokeless tobacco has over 30. My fight was against tobacco and its widespread addiction, and dishearteningly out of the many addicted people whom we counsel, only a handful successfully quit tobacco while some leave therapy mid-way, never to be seen again. De-addiction counseling isn’t always successful. We deal with so much failure everyday but it’s a fight worth fighting for even if a single person emerges de addicted, it’s worth all the effort. I started ATTAC because we were ready to hold the patient’s hand and be there even when they fail and to provide health checkups, cancer screenings and tobacco cessation advice, all at people’s doorstep. Patients who are positive are guided for further treatment.