Smoking – A No subtitle Issue.

Smoking is such a bizarre thing, you neither can advocate nor can avoid. Every smoker I met pretended not to be an addict to smoking. Everybody who smokes cigarettes has his/her own perception that he is smoking for mere time pass and he/she could give it up any time if determined. Chain smokers felt equally non-addicted to an occasional one.

As my eye surgeon gave me home custody for two weeks, I got more than enough time to think about reasons why people get into habit of smoking and how remnant make distance from it. As far as youngsters are concerned, when they leave their home for so called ‘carrier’, they are very excited. They find it very adventurous to leave home and to live with any unknown room partner. Most of them are excited to try new things, which they couldn’t before due to family restrictions. Now, this is the perfect ground for them to look at cigarette. You would ask why cigarette, and nothing else? Answer is obvious. Cigarette is very easily available and affordable thing in any city and you need to walk less than 100 meters from anywhere to get cigarette. In addition, extreme curiosity about experience of getting smoke into your body is the reason behind going for cigarette. Everybody wants to go through so said KICK. Some people never had any such curiosity, but they get into proximity of some smokers and get convinced about magical effect of smoking.

People who manage to keep distance from this habit are of two types. Extremely firm and extremely coward. Either they distance as their principles or they fear about its side effects. Beyond these two categories everybody smokes openly or concealed.

Every smoker appreciates those people who manage to give up smoking forever (before detection of any decease). One can notice most of regular smokers in perception of being safe physically. They look people around them succumbing to smoking, still they keep assuring themselves about giving up smoking within next few days and no damage will happen to them. But this never happens. For some days after they start smoking, everything goes smooth. Then one can feel byproducts of it, if keenly observed. Some people feel weak, some feel dull, and many become limp for hours after each round of smoking. Still they don’t worry about that. After all, they can see people around them, who are smoking for years, and are still unaffected. (One of my friend usually points at the story of 101 years old healthy smoker, who started smoking at his 20s.) Also the all time great theory - smokers dies so are non-smokers – proves helpful to make a blind eye towards side effects of smoking. Months passes and Smoking continues. Sometimes one gets into some physical problem and fears if it is effect of smoking. During this period he gives it up. Again, he recovers and laughs at himself for what he was thinking. He apologize his brand for departing and doubles the number of cigarettes. Another one decides to give up smoking for any emotional reason and can manage to keep apart from it for couple of months.

A well-known marathi writer Mr. P.L. Deshpande has written about habits and trends of dedicated smoker. During years, some patterns and steps need to get added.

Pattern no. 1.

Day 1 – No smoking forever.

Day 2 – No smoking forever.

Day 3 – Only 1 cigarette a day.

Day 4 - 1 cigarette in the morning and 1 in the night.

Day 5 – along with this, only 3^rd cigarette is allowed occasionally.

Day 6 – Will smoke for this week only. No cigarette in next week.

Day 7 – come on! This is last day of smoking. Today I can smoke as many cigarettes as I want.

Pattern 2

Day 1 – No cigarette forever.

Day 2 – lets smoke only while drinking.

Day 3 – Hello…! How are you? Its long time since we met.

Day 4 – can’t experience real flavor of cigarette while drinking.

Day 5 – will have only 1 cigarette a day and then only while drinking.

Day 6 – It will be lucrative for my physic to avoid drinking.

Day 7 – If I am not going to drink, I can raise number of daily cigarettes by 1.

Pattern 3

Day 1 – No smoking.

Day 2 – No…. No….. No………………

Day 3 – Will only ‘share’ if anybody is smoking.

Day 4 - what’s difference between sharing twice and having whole one?

Day 5 – Will take 1 and rest will share.

Day 6 – sharing increases number of cigarettes. Will have individually.

Day 7 – what’s the cost of 1 packet of Classic Milds?

Here is a good defense for every smoker. Some great person has said very well, “Cigarette smokes, I just suck it”.