There was a time when Anuj Johri believed death would be easier than living another day. Addiction had stolen everything from him — his dreams, dignity, family, and future. But today, the same man who once slept on railway tracks and wandered homeless through the streets of Delhi has become a nationally recognised voice in addiction recovery and social awareness.
Born into a large railway family in Delhi, Anuj Johri was the youngest among nine siblings. His father worked as a railway babu, and the family later shifted to the railway colony near New Delhi Railway Station. From a very young age, Anuj became obsessed with cricket. At 14 or 15, he spent almost entire days at Karnail Singh Stadium and National Stadium, watching legendary cricketers like Kapil Dev and Chetan Chauhan practice.
He believed cricket would become his future. Instead of attending school, he would carry his bag straight to the stadium, helping players with kit bags and spending hours around practice sessions. He even played alongside talented cricketers and future achievers. But while many around him moved ahead in life, Anuj Johri slowly drifted into darkness.
By the late 1980s, bad company pushed him into severe drug addiction. What began casually soon became a deadly dependency. His friends abandoned him, his family lost trust in him, and he started stealing household items to buy drugs. After his father’s death in 1988, the situation worsened further. Eventually, he was thrown out of the house and forced to survive on the streets, in night shelters, outside Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, and even on railway tracks during Delhi’s freezing winters.
Anuj Johri openly admits that there was a time when he no longer wanted to live. Watching former teammates succeed while he battled addiction filled him with hopelessness. He consumed dangerous amounts of alcohol, charas, smack, injections, and dozens of Alprax tablets together because he genuinely wanted his life to end.
Yet one person never stopped believing in him — his mother.
She admitted him to rehabilitation centres and hospitals nearly 38 times, including Pant Hospital, VIMHANS, and Shahdara mental health facilities. Every relapse devastated the family, but they refused to give up on him.
A life-changing turning point came when Anuj Johri reached the Navjyoti De-Addiction Centre associated with former IPS officer Kiran Bedi. Recovery slowly transformed his life.
After becoming drug-free, Anuj Johri rebuilt himself completely. He learned to study again and passed Class 10 despite never attending school properly in childhood. He later completed Peer Support Counselling training, received professional guidance from Navjyoti, trained through India’s National Institute of Social Defence (NISD), and completed a UNODC-supported diploma in counselling, where he also received the Best Trainee Award.
Today, Anuj Johri works in the Health Department of the MCD while dedicating his life to helping people trapped in addiction. Even after long hospital duty hours, he regularly visits de-addiction centres to motivate patients through counselling, awareness sessions, music, and personal storytelling.
For more than three decades, he has worked extensively on addiction recovery, HIV/AIDS, TB awareness, and youth counselling through government and non-government organisations across India. According to him, nearly 50 recovering addicts mentored by him are now running their own NGOs and de-addiction centres.
His work has earned him recognition from social organisations, police officials, public representatives, and government departments. He has received honours including the Star Achiever Award, appreciation certificates from Navjyoti, recognition from Delhi Police officials, MCD Health authorities, and public representatives. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he continued serving tirelessly in hospitals and awareness campaigns.
Today, Anuj Johri’s journey is no longer just a recovery story. It is a story of resilience, redemption, and service. From sleeping on pavements to inspiring thousands battling addiction, he has transformed personal pain into a lifelong mission — ensuring that no young person loses their future to drugs, and that those trapped in addiction never lose hope of a second chance.
