As a young boy in school, Anuka remembers sitting by himself in an abandoned construction site, eating his lunch as tears rolled down his cheeks. He had few or no friends most of his growing years.
Anuka Chophy’s childhood was lonely.
At a tender age, Anuka felt loneliness many adults have never felt in their entire life. Naturally, this constant feeling of intense sadness began developing into depression. Around this time, he also fell in love with a girl but only received rejection after rejection. “I think that was my lowest point. I felt so lost and disconnected and couldn’t think rationally,” he said as he recalled feeling an avalanche of emotions at that time. This heartbreak along with the years of loneliness impacted his productivity. For years after the incident, he was unable to let go of the emotions and his work and daily activities took a beating.
Following what seemed like the trend in his life, he yet again had no one to share his feelings with. “It was the most devastating moment in my life.” But perhaps hitting rock-bottom gave him the push he needed. “I decided to become my own captain and started working on distracting myself,” said Anuka, as he recalled the various activities he took up to avoid feeling anxious and depressed. To his relief these activities did divert his mind, but he still felt an emptiness that just wasn’t leaving him.
Anuka gave into the urge of kneeling down and praying. He cried out to God, asking him if He was real, if He was listening. He asked God to harden his heart to all the heaviness he was feeling. “I felt so desperate, I was sweating and feeling weak as I spoke to God angrily. And suddenly at that moment I felt the heaviness from my heart lift. I felt my heart being armoured,” Anuka said describing the precise moment his life turned around as he realised God was real.
Realising that Jesus was his only close friend completely changed the way Anuka looked at his life. He realised Jesus was his father, his brother, his everything through thick and thin. “Jesus is like my friend, sitting right next to me as I speak to Him,” he said remembering the powerful song ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’. Today, even though he still has few friends, his heart is at peace. And when he goes through difficult times, or is faced with problems that seem too big for him to manage, he simply takes them to God in prayer. “I know that with the presence of God in my life, I am free.”
