Smokers Die Younger, I saw on a packet of cigarettes in my third year and it appealed to me like Maverick did in Top Gun. Shelling out a hundred bucks spontaneously, I smoked half a pack at lakeside with a couple of my friends. 'A cigarette in my hand, I felt like a man', persists for the time when you are learning how to smoke. The times when you are trying to inhale deep, trying smoke rings, the longest fag competition, or some other showtrick in front of your wingmates or at staff canteen. Those are the times of fun. Being cool. Looking cool. And frankly, it does.
I had tried avoiding it for 2 years in IIT, but in the third year succumbed to it. Comeon, who can't be impressed by the coolness associated with it? With quotes like 'If you give up smoking, drinking and loving, you don't live any longer, it just seems longer.' One may say it was my choice to smoke.
What concerns me in this article is how early students have started smoking now. There was a sense of shame if in my first year I brought home a pack of ciggis, I would be scared to hell by seniors; now its a matter of pride to smoke in the corridors. Smoke before brushing has turned out to be essential for the early morning chores.
The trend in IIT has gone from bad to worse in terms of the highness required at any point of life, be it a wing treat, or a batch outing. Alcohol and smoke go hand in hand now a days. And there are no barries between juniors and seniors now.
Earlier, we used to avoid smoking with seniors, which is not the case now. In the craze, being a sensible and strong willed person, an iitian thinks he will never get addicted. He will try out the pleasure of smoking for a while and leave it for good. Coming from a lecture directly to Staff C, smoking away in glory with the sutta gang, is just an ordeal repeated everyday, where you gather information about the lectures, campus gossip, happenings, 'jugaads'. Attending meetings for the various organisational bodies at Shack, having the lovely morning snack at Kresit, now the juice at Bhavani, or the famous chay at Mahendar bhai (main gate) is inevitably accompanied with smoke flying off. The sutta brotherhood forms as soon as one is lighted, and the 'discussion' begins. A person who doesn't smoke obviously feels out of place among 5 of his smoker friends. He might venture for a cigarette just to be a part of the group. He continues smoking for a week wih just one ciggi a day, and he is roped in forever. The craving begins, and he walks all the way to staff c for one, gathering
those dificult Rs. 4 from his wing. It surely is a sight.
And when they can't get up in the morning without a cigarette, the reality
of addiction sets in.
Once while making fun of the whole habit, we were discussing how disgusting this habit has become and how addicted we all are (contrary to our earlier beliefs that we could never be addicted and we carry a will stronger than Skywalker), we realised that we smoked without sense or reason. Smoke before lunch, after lunch, before lectures, after lectures, before an exam, after an exam, with a chay, without a chay, in times of stress, in times of idleness, being happy, being sad, being with friends, being alone, blah blah.. Thats when I realised I hadn't learnt the art to smoke. I had become a chain smoker. A couple of packs a day was ruining my health, I was staying depressed all the while, was hardly socialising, sleeping off throughout, feeling drowsy all the time, and moreover not even growing. Not that I was using smoke to complete some stressful work like study for exams or complete assignments or stay awake for good.
We keep puffing away every waking moment of their lives without even noticing it. we grab a quick smoke in a hurry, we smoke when we are bored, we smoke while talking, while working, while doing something - smoking and multitasking: We smoke unconsciously, cigarette after cigarette, without even realizing it. Is it worth it?
I decided. Whenever I feel like smoking I shall stop everything and prepare myself for a 'meditative' smoke. Go to some quiet place where I can sit undisturbed, alone. Yes I must be alone. And when I do smoke, I shall only smoke – no multitasking. No more smoking with friends,with tea or coffee, no more smoking in the 'pyaara gang' feeling a guilt conscience that non-smokers don't like it, no more hurried puffs, no more mindless unconscious smoking. Only meditative, mindful, conscious smoking in glorious solitude, maintaining inner calm and tranquility, and total awareness.
I followed this religiously, and soon I discover that the number of cigarettes required to satisfy me have drastically reduced to a couple a day. My striving for quitting completely is going on. In the real world, (i.e. outside the campus), its gradually becoming cool not to smoke. In the object oriented lives with ambitions at stake, everyone is realizing the effect of smoking on the efficiency and lifestyle. Passive hazards are well known.
Many of us smokers sincerely want to quit. We know cigarettes threaten our health, annoy our acquaintances and cost an inordinate amount of money. It increases anxiety, decreases mental strength, leads to drowsiness and exhausts all the energy. Just find your non-smoking wingmate and compare his energy levels to yours, or just try to run to main gate and back, and you
will get my point.
Nobody can force a smoker to quit. It requires a personal commitment by the smoker. What kind of smoker are you? What do you get out of smoking? What does it do for you? It is important to identify what you use smoking for and what kind of satisfaction you feel that you are getting from smoking.
Many smokers use the cigarette as a kind of crutch in moments of stress or discomfort, and on occasion it may work; the cigarette is sometimes used as a tranquilizer. But the heavy smoker, the person who tries to handle severe personal problems by smoking heavily all day long, is apt to discover that cigarettes do not help him/her deal with his/her problems effectively.
When it comes to quitting, this kind of smoker may find it easy to stop when everything is going well, but may be tempted to start again in a time of crisis. Physical exertion, eating, drinking, or social activity in moderation may serve as useful substitutes for cigarettes, even in times of tension. The choice of a substitute depends on what will achieve the
same effects without having any appreciable risk.
Once a smoker understands his/her own smoking behavior, he will be able to cope more successfully and select the best quitting approaches for himself/herself and the type of life-style he leads.
Quitting smoking not only extends the ex-smoker's life, but adds new happiness and meaning to one's current life. Most smokers state that immediately after they quit smoking, they start noticing dramatic differences in their overall health and vitality. Also, while quitting take due care of the withdrawl symptoms by taking proper medication (Yes,
there exists such a thing!), or you might be ill for days on end.
Not just these two-smoking and drinking, there are always the extra strong substances to get 'highmax',
'Why drink and drive, when you can dope and fly..' The desire for feeling psychadelia or hallucinations, is a risky affair, and is increasingly handled frivolously among juniors, new entrants in the wing just to get along the 'so called cool seniors' or some bigtime 'rockers'. IIT has always has had students with such attitudes, with the kind of freedom provided in hostels, as well as outside.
The particular harm done by the organic ones is short term for a span of hours which fades out, but the chemicals might lead to affecting the psyche.
Unfortunately for all those stoners and drinkers out there, most brain cells don't regenerate. Illegal substances kill some of the nerve cells, thus decreasing the life span. It is observed that starting with the idea of 'trying everything out in life', in most cases leads to repeated doses. Although its a personal choice, it is better to know the ill effects of anything before trying it out. Frankly, trying it just to be involved in a wing treat or job treat is stupid. It just doesn't end there. 'You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave'.
Finally, my love for smoke:
'I phoned my dad to say I had stopped smoking. He called me a quitter.' :)
