Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Cigarette n' Marlboro @ IIT B

“Smokers Die Younger”// SMOKING KILLS- I saw this on a packet of Marlboro in my 1st year and it appealed to me like Maverick did in Top Gun. Check out any of my men in any Hollywood movie, you'll get only 2 brands Camel or Marlboro. This fascinates me like hell. 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! One may say it was my choice to smoke.

Every IITian begins by thinking he will never get addicted. Smoking at staff canteen post lectures is a daily ritual. Attending meetings for the various organizational bodies at Shack, having the lovely morning snack at Kresit, now the juice at Bhavani, or the famous chai at Mahendar bhai (main gate) is inevitably accompanied with smoke flying off. A nonsmoker obviously feels out of place and just to feel a part of the group, he starts to smoke, one a day. The craving begins, and soon, he finds himself walking all the way to staff-c for a smoke, gathering those difficult four bucks from his wing. It surely is a sight. And when one cannot wake up in the morning without a cigarette, the reality of addiction has set 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 realized that we smoked without sense or reason. Smoke before lunch, after lunch, before lectures, after lectures, before an exam, after an exam, with a chai, without a chai, in times of stress, in times of idleness, being happy, being sad, being with friends, being alone etc. Give me a fuckin’ break . It dawned upon me that I had become a chain smoker. It was ruining my health; I was depressed, hardly socialized, slept through the day and felt drowsy all the time. It was not as if I smoking to counter examination or project stress. One puffs away every waking moment of one’s life without even noticing it. One grabs a quick smoke in a hurry, to kill time, while talking, while working. We smoke unconsciously, cigarette after cigarette, without even realizing. Is it worth it?

I decided that whenever I felt like smoking I shall stop everything and prepare myself for a ‘meditative’ smoke. Go to some quiet place where I can sit undisturbed, alone. And when I do smoke, I shall only smoke – no multitasking. No more smoking with friends, with tea or coffee or no more hurried puffs. I followed this religiously, and pretty soon I discovered a sharp reduction in my intake.

Many smokers use the cigarette as a crutch in moments of stress or discomfort; the cigarette is sometimes used as a tranquilizer. But the heavy smoker who tries to handle severe personal problems by smoking heavily all day long, is bound 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.

Whatever!! I know am not a chain smoker not because every smoker thinks so because first of all I don’t even look at fag when I am home and 2nd I don't smoke cigarettes, I smoke Marlboro so if it's out of stock I am not a smoker. Smoke is just TP thing, it’s 4 am in the morning and you’re still up, staring at your computer, you haven’t changed your position in last 4 hours and you’re all fucked up, you need a break. Nobody else in your wing is up, what you got to do. Lit the darn fag up and get over the moment.

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