Muhammad was a lovely boy and seemed to have everything going for him except that he was apparently addicted to soft drugs and his parents were very worried and decided to get a full-time tutor for him. I arrived in Karachi to tutor him for three months in the summer holidays. 

I spent every waking moment with him for the three months; I never mentioned drugs or the fact that he had been taking them. It was clear to me that he had not taken any since I arrived. He was a bright student and we got on very well; he was not behind in his school work, but I pushed him ahead so that he would be ahead of the other boys when he went back to school for the next term. The rest of the time I played the sports with him that he enjoyed; we went for runs, long bicycle rides – every day was filled up with activities and studying, so Muhammad never had a spare moment. He seemed to be very happy – at least he told me that he was. I found him great fun to be with, but at the same time very studious. 

A serious drug addiction would have been a different issue. A real addict needs to be treated in an institution. Muhammed was far from becoming an addict and needed his attention directed to more productive interests.

His parents told me afterwards that he had nothing more to do with drugs. I had filled his days to the point where he never had any spare time to think about drugs and he apparently never took any again. Muhammad wrote to me a lot in the next months and said that his time with me was the happiest time of his life. GR