to kill the smoke ---fan the fire

During my times ,apart from being tall and dark brown ( Indians only ) a man to be considered handsome had to wear a poloneck sweater or a cardigan patterned straight out of a PATONS & BEEHIVE  knitting guide  and   a cigarette dangling from his lips .used to be an added asset .

 The men in my family did not want to be exceptions to this rule .

Both my brother and my husband  were  chain smokers WHO gave up the habit as and when required .

My brother  discarded when  the doctor told him that if he wanted to live ,the smoking habit should die.

My husband sent the WILLS filter packet flying  out of the window  when some warm ash from his cigarette accidentally fell on his darling daughters dainty little arms .

Both these incidents told me that a habit as addictive as smoking can be discarded in one go when the fire to do so comes from within .No amount of statutary warnings or nagging wives can achieve this .

                           *******

Some tactics men used to give up this deadly habit ----

some people used to break their cigs in half and smoke them one at a time making one become two ---little did they know half or full they were all dangerous---probably the term PASSIVE SMOKING was not coined that time

then we had a doctor sahab who used to roll out his own cigarette when he wanted to smoke ---he would take out a pouch with tobacco in it  and some special kind of  paper then manufacture his own cig
he said he would gradually come over the habit because of the tediousness---but he didnt know that bad habits dont worry about the hard ;work people can go to any extremes .

then came the filter tipped ones ---supposed to be safer but --equally deadly .
                        **********
And with the anti-smoking movement  not popular  as today ;I do remember some nice perks which used to come our way when the men were smokers .

the cigarette tins (cans) were such lovely substitutes for measuring cups nearly every atta .daal.chaval.container had one inside it .

the same tins helped kids make the best toy telephones.

they were used for jam tin races

these tins were excellent for germinating seeds ( now adays we use polythene packets which are so harmful to the environment )

Gifts were so easy to select ---you gifted a fancy cigarette case on mens-birthdays .
                          ********
And just one more thing I always wonder ---why dont we go about so vociforously and ferrociously with campaigns to ban corruption and other social ills ----.We criticize our filmstars  and our movie directors for putting up scenes showing smoking on the screen because we think the common man or our youngsters will copy them ,emulate them ---are  our youngsters so naive so immature!!!???? I am sure they know what is right and what is wrong.

If movies could mould society we would never have any corruption or crime in society ,because  all our movies portray the triumph of good over evil .

Its the thought process which needs to be changed ---not movies --.

Moreover films , they say portray society.

History and sociology gather knowledge about days of yore from  movies, folk lore  and literature .

Any ways this is besides the point.

the crux of the matter is " to  put out the smoke we must fan the fire of our conscience ."


                              *******
a real life incident---- a joke from one of my earlier posts .

When Nagpur got its first outlet for pizzas--- SMOKIN' JOE'S.

People who were under heavy mental pressure with Ramdos's ban on smoking ---rushed to this place thinking it to be SMOKING ZONE
**********