I know it's a horrible habit. I know I need to quit. But the only reason I smoke is because of the incredible calm I feel sometimes, while dangling that lit cigarette between my fingers. Yes, mostly it's gratuitous, but there are times. Like phish describes in ashtray.
Sometimes...
I like smoke.
I like the feeling of breathing something different.
It's bad for me, but I don't care.
Peace of mind feels purer than healthy lungs.
What they're taking away is my coffee+cigarette, my beer+cigarette, my whisky+cigarette. What they're taking away is my right to choose. I understand it's bad for me. My health is not a priority. If it were, I wouldn't even be living in this city. Or working here. Or eating out because I don't have anything close to a kitchen in my rented apartment.
I don't smoke around kids or pregnant women. I don't smoke around my friends when they're sick, well, I try to not.
I don't litter any part of the cigarette or the pack, except the ash. If I have an empty cigarette pack, I don't even drop the ash. I haven't dropped cigarette butts on the street in about three years. I haven't littered anything in longer.
I'm not looking for a 'thank you for not littering', I'm just saying I'm aware of everything I do. Hell, if I had the option I wouldn't blow the smoke into the air. I don't like the fact that I pollute the air, but I can't really do much about that right now.
I'll quit smoking.
Eventually.
I know that for a fact. But I don't like being told what to do, and what not to do. I like making up my own mind. That's all.
I can't even hate the guy who's responsible for this ban. The other thing he's reportedly working on is legalising homosexuality. Which I stand for.
Again, my city is alienating me.
I felt that when I thought they were doing away with big English lettering on shops and restaurants, but I think they were only fighting for similar-sized lettering in Devnagari (have I spelt it right?). That's fine by me. But smaller English lettering would make it tedious for me to decipher.
But I digress. This is about the ban on smoking in "public places" in "Mumbai", and, well, the rest of the country. Yup, I can't smoke in pubs, coffee shops, restaurants, parks, my office balcony, or any similar places.
So where does that leave me, and every other smoker in this country? On the road. Ostracised.
4 comments:
Like Phish describes… Yeah, well this whole Marlboro Man piece of yours is very Phish-like. Maybe you read some of his stuff before writing this? Sometimes I do that before I write…to get my mojo going. I’m in love with his writing which I sometimes mistake for him, so if you added this style to your repertoire to include your uproarious humor pieces, the world and I would have it made. We’d no longer mind the ban because we’d all the more savor the times and places where a lazy cigarette can be enjoyed long and beyond belief :-)
missalister
Ramadoss has more important things to do.. Like perhaps ensuring certificates are issued to the right medical schools... While smoking slowly kills, so does the smoke from cars, the mosquito repellent, CFCs from the fridge, DDT.. the list is endless.. In this age we have more choices to die than to live.. I loved your post. Let people who smoke 'rest in peace' if it's their choice.. Pushing people around with sticks is idiotic.. I don't know how these activism fads pick up, animal activism, anti-smoking lobbies and so on.. gets illogical in no time..
MissA,
I had his piece in mind when I started. Now, of course, he's stopped smoking. Perhaps he'll find something else to write passionately about. Although, if you ask me, the man can write passionately of toilet paper, if he fancies it.
Gauri,
Looking at how things go in this city, I get the faintest feeling all of this will pass over. An activism fad, as you call it. Time will tell. Meanwhile, I stick by the rules laid down before me. I've started going and sitting in AC sections, stepping out for the odd cigarette. But yea, I have reduced smoking while outside. Strangely though, I don't think I've reduced it overall. Still smoke the same number of cigarettes.
I quit smoking on 27 January 1982when I was 31, after smoking unfiltered Charminar cigarettes and bidis. I am 58 now and off smoking, though I would still continue to describe myself as a tobacco addict.
Anyone can give up smoking, though the techniques to be used differ from person to person. Off smoking, your health improves dramatically. The effort to give up smoking is worthwhile.
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