He quit smoking, finally!

As a kid, I always wondered why is Baba carrying a box filled with white sticks in his pocket and occasionally will light these sticks up and put them in his mouth. Not knowing what exactly these apparent sticks were, I was more interested in how smoke keep coming out of his mouth every time he repeated the act. Not only he but his friends and many other relatives did the same thing. Well, when I actually understood what Baba used to smoke, he had already quit after being told by the doctor. But the others didn’t. One of them being a very close relative whose life would come to a standstill if he didn’t smoke for a while.

I am allergic to the smell of cigarette smoking and hence, keep myself away from the people smoking as much as possible. I make sure that they understand it’s disturbing and suffocating by using my facial antics and expressions. Sometimes it work and sometimes it doesn’t. More than they moving away from me, they ask me to move to a smoke-free place and wait until they finish. This leaves me insulted and ignored at times. With this particular relative of mine, I used to feel the same way until his wife came over one day and asked me to move away to the corner near the window.

Because of the disliking that I have for smoking and having already been told that it is harmful to your health, I really wanted to ask him, why don’t you quit smoking? How does smoking help you anyway? He replied, “I started smoking in my 20s to be part of the elite group and be part of the trendsetters and socialise. But it soon became a habit and now, an addiction. It is very difficult to move away or rather quit smoking for me. I don’t think I will survive even for a minute.” Well, it sounded like he had made up his mind not to quit.

Things, however, changed with time. I was visiting them on a weekend at the time when I had started working for the first time. I was writing for a healthcare knowledge processing company and had to read extensively on health issues. We had worked on a campaign against smoking and I had already mugged up the reasons why one should quit smoking. While I spoke elaborately on each of the reasons, he had his own reason to counter them. Say for instance:

1. You smell like smoke: Oh! Doesn’t matter. There are mouth sprays, chewing gums and perfumes to cover for me.
2. Your sense of taste and smell is go! : No. This doesn’t happen in literal terms. I make sure I do not smoke more than one ciggie before having food. And when you’re smoking for more than 45 years at a stretch, it seriously does not count.
3. You age pre-maturely and get wrinkles on your face: (chuckles) Well, I am happily married for the past 40 years. Does it really matter now?
4. People are now very conscious about second-hand smoking too. They will not even invite you for their social gatherings: Well, my buddies smoke and we are happy with each other.
5. You are exposed to infections of all kinds: There are ways to fight them back.
6. You are a danger for others around you: That’s why I have started smoking near the window or in the balcony where nobody is there to feel at danger.
7. Your physical fitness will go for a toss: I still go for morning walks every day and I am as fit as you think of.
8. You save so much money: I have earned enough to spend on this luxury.

Well, I wasn’t in the mood for a debate with him and chose to stay out of the conversation for some time. Although it was irritating and annoying to debate with him, the feeling of having failed to convince him to quit smoking was way more frustrating. I just kept asking myself, why can’t one quit smoking? What is that thing that stops them from quitting? How can they ignore the message “Smoking is injurious to health” written on the box so confidently? Why don’t they take the message seriously instead of being oblivion about it?

Photo courtesy: http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/VC/Views/Exhibit/visuals/antismoking.html

The next time I visited him, I felt some change in the house and him. Auntie looked at me and told me that he has something to tell me. I looked at him while he pointed to a cigarette box with 6 cigarettes in it kept on the showcase in their cabinet. I gave a questioning look, wondering what the message could be. It was, miracle has happened. He had quit smoking, FINALLY! And it was on the insistence of his daughter who gave him an ultimatum that either he chooses his life or meeting her and the grandkids.  His doctor had told him about the possible complications of having severe bronchitis if he didn’t quit smoking with immediate effect and face the adverse effects. He chose his daughter and the kids for good.

PS: It’s been already four years since he quit smoking and the box is kept intact as a memento. Now, that’s a unique one to cherish. He has less signs of Bronchitis and is fitter than ever compared to people of his age.