Pooja Bhatt on how she curbed urge to drink after staying sober for 4 years

MUMBAI: Filmmaker Pooja Bhatt, who has successfully battled alcoholism in the past, says after a long time she wanted to grab a bottle and drink, but she managed to control the urge. Pooja adds that healing is a constant process.

On Wednesday, she took to Instagram and wrote: “Yesterday I had this great urge to drink. The feeling came out of nowhere, in the middle of the afternoon while I was watching a brilliant show on Netflix with my dog settled comfortably at my feet. I was in a truly happy place but yet, the palpable urge hit me like a tsunami threatening to drown all that I had built in the last four years. So what did I do?”

She allowed the feeling to sweep over her.

“Resisting would guarantee that I drown. I sat there and imagined popping open a bottle of champagne, pouring myself a glass and letting the bubbles course through my being like effervescent stars. It felt heady. Then the feeling passed. I got up, walked into my sun-soaked garden, rife with birdsong and exhaled loudly. This too had passed,” she added.

She said the story was meant to remind herself and others that no matter how far you are on the “road to recovery from anything that chains you, be it a substance, feeling or even a person, you are one step away from succumbing and landing up exactly where you started”.

“Healing is a constant process. It requires compassion not bravado. Which is why each day also provides a ‘win’ and summit to scale.. and believe me when I say, the view from the top makes the arduous task of climbing worthwhile. So plough on, scale on and DON’T look back while you’re climbing. Look back if you must, only from the summit and to see how far you’ve come,” she concluded.

In December, Pooja had celebrated four years of being sober. She had called the journey enriching.