Smoking for Style at the Cost of Life

Finding a handful few hanging-out in a corner and savoring their cigarette is a usual site at colleges, universities and corporate hubs. They clearly distinguish themselves, while in the act, from the rest. That’s how integral it is to their lifestyle. The youth of today are symbols of change, and this is a sad one.

See the different arguments put forward by a few smokers to defend their act. Some have explained it as a way of life, and for rest, they are helplessly addicted.

‘Smoking is Injurious to Health’ Yes, its on the pack!

“Smoking is injurious to health” - is one of those phrases that has been repeatedly used and never taken seriously. It is ironical to have this message on cigarette packs and all it gets is a ‘royal ignore’ from both old and new additions to the smoking fraternity. Why would such a ‘in the face’ message do no good to the educated population and the number of smokers increase by the day? Have these smokers been the told the reason behind the repeated use of this message in the first place? The reason is - Tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable death in India.

Most people know the many-many health risks of smoking, yet millions are still dying from the habit each year and many are getting addicted each day. Tobacco consumption is the key cause of diseases of the heart and lung, namely, heart attacks, strokes, tuberculosis, and cancer.

Then, what is the rise in the smoking population indicative of? And, most importantly what is drawing the youth of this country to the deadly stick?

They start early, an unthoughtful decision to fall prey to smoking..

Some smokers get hooked to the habit in their teens, when it doesn’t occur to them the number of health hazards they are exposing themselves to. At such a tender age, the decision is unwise and taken in haste purely due to external influence. The influence could be blamed on smoking friends, curiosity towards something that is prohibited and largely on the on-screen movie icons. It is an attempt to ape and their qualification to fit into the superior bracket amid their friends. Even if the health hazards of smoking is known to them so young, their frame of mind towards everything new makes them believe that they would be an exception to any such hazard spoken about. None stop to think about the future harm it may cause as they think adulthood is ‘ages’ always and by then they would have quit! However, it eventually doesn’t turn out like that.

Cigarette is a reward I gift myself at the end of it all..

Smoking is as much a psychological pleasure as it is a physiological satisfaction. As one of my ‘smoker friends’ explained, "It is not the taste that counts. It's that sense of satisfaction you get from a cigarette that you can't get from anything else."

Most of us are hungry for rewards. We want to be patted on the back. A cigarette is that reward and that pat on the back that the smokers can give themselves as often as they wish. When they excel at anything, for instance, they congratulate themselves with a cigarette, which certifies, in effect, that ‘we have been good boys’. They explain how they frequently promise themselves, “When I have finished this piece of work, when I have written the last page of my report, I'll deserve a little fun. I'll have a cigarette!"

That was about the psychological factor, but there is whole unexplained factor, a reason as vague as a girl being driven to color pink. Their reason is their emotional attachment, at the same time need, with the cigarette. The interviewed smoker said “It’s fun to watch the smoke. The clouds I puff out seem to represent a part of me. Just as most people like to watch their own breath on cold winter days, so they like to watch the cigarette smoke.” Most smokers revealed how their primary reason of smoking was the fascination attached to holding the stick, the puffs, the smoke and the satisfaction therein.

Smoker Argues Its perfect Relaxation, No Substitute Exists..

One shortcoming of our modern lifestyle is the universal lack of adequate relaxation. Many of us not only do not know how to relax, but would not even find out ways to ease out our daily stress. Smoking comes as an instant rescue to a worrisome and tense mind. A smoker explains, “Like music, every puff is rhythmic. And, like music, it shuts me out from my world of tensions, deadlines and worries.” Smoking is often used as a legitimate excuse to linger a little longer after meals, to stop work for a few minutes, to sit at home without doing anything that requires effort. Here is a nostalgic comment contributed by a strong defender of smoking – “After a long day's work, when I get home and sit in my chair and stretch my legs, then I just smoke a cigarette and think of nothing, just blow the smoke in the air. That's what I like to do when I've had a pretty tough day."

Therefore, the restful effect of moderate smoking explains why people working under great stress use more tobacco. Due to their work and personal life driven lifestyles, a few cigarettes start to control their lives and eventually shrinks it.

I will quit someday! Say them all..

Most smokers can be quoted saying how they wish to quit smoking someday, quite a few times in their lifespan, but just not then. They would like to believe in the existence of a tomorrow when they would free themselves from the addiction, but would always defer to a time in future they haven’t decided yet. While, they are at making fake promises to themselves and their near and dear ones, its unsaid, they are addicted for life. Some reasoned out – “I wish I hadn’t started smoking. Its so difficult to quit now. May be someday!”

This tomorrow, a future time and someday may never really come for real, as they may lose their life to the easily-avoidable addiction. If one wishes to quit for good, it has to happen now!

The Fact, It Kills..

Consumption of tobacco kills nearly 1 million Indians every year and has become one of the prime reasons of death in the age bracket if 30 to 69. It shortens the life-span of a frequent smoker almost by 8-10 years on an average. Nearly each day 55,000 children in India start using tobacco and put their life at risk.

*Halabol Karma Tip: If it is peer pressure that gets young adolescents into smoking then peer influence can also get them to kick the butt. Join the movement and share your suggestions as to how WE can together kick CANCER right on its behind!