I was a chain smoker / by Syed Bux

" I was a chain . smoker " W ho says you can't give up smoking? it's supposed to be easier to overcome alco- holism and even narcotic drugs ad- diction than to give up confirmed smoking . But nobody can tell me this-because I did give up smoking, 18 years back, after being a chain smoker for almost 40 years. Tobacco should rightly be classed with dangerous drugs. it contains nicotine, a lethal drug. A pin dipped in pure nicotine can kill a dog within seconds. it keeps stealing on you un- awares. Yet smoking has been viewed for over a century as some- thing of a status symbol. Offering a cigarette was seen as instrumental in breaking the ice or as a prelude to pleasant talk . I was introduced to smoking in my early teens by a childhood friend as a mark of freedom and self-assertion . After the first two or three disas- trous experiences, I was on the road to becoming a regular smoker. Until I had graduated from high school, I was compelled to smoke surrepti- tiously in respect for social taboos. But once I joined the University col- lege in a distant city and lived in a boys' hostel, there was no restraint on smoking . I could smoke boldly and openly to my heart's content. Soon I became a heavy and regu- lar and at last a chain smoker, puffing away and burning ever-increasing amounts of money, heedless of the anger and remonstrance of my par- ents. In all this time, I never for a moment thought of giving up smok- ing . Why give up? it looked so natu- ral, like breathing. I had seen many of my friends giving up smoking doz- ens of times. Some took to sucking peppermint lozenges when they felt an urge to smoke; some used to chew cardamom and aniseed while others resorted to chewing 'pan.' All of them returned soon enough to that tawny weed, tobacco. However, in my case, there were two short breaks of a few days each time: once in 1932, when I had fall- en head-over-heels in love with a girl just out of high school. She very strongly insisted that I cut down on my smoking. "Not another puff if you really love me ; and you shall not buy or smoke another cigarette after now." I had to throw away the ciga- rette I was smoking. WORLD HEALTH, October 1988 by Syed Bux True to my word, I stopped smok- ing; but I felt completely lost and de- pressed. I seemed to have lost all in- terest in life. Within a couple of days, my love must have regretted what she had done to me. With a smile, one evening, she suddenly produced a packet of very costly scented ciga- rettes and said, " I can't bear to see you quietly withering away and look- ing so crestfallen and woebegone." In no time at all, I was my old jolly self again, puffing away like a chimney. Mr Syed Bux is a retired pro- fessional journalist living in Karachi, Rakistan. % "" The second interruption came five years later. I had found a very special friend in Naseer, the son of a rich landlord and silk merchant of my home town. He made me give up smoking. But he too relented in two or three days time and released me from my promise. This time my chain smoking continued up to the end of 1969. I strongly believe in the marvellous powers of the human brain and the human will . During the 1960s, I used to hold heated discussions on this and related topics with a friend in Ka- rachi . One evening we discussed in- grained habits and particularly smok- ing . As usual, our discussion soon drifted to other matters . But a germ of an idea had started to tickle my brain and fire up my feelings . I decid- ed to give up smoking once and for all, more as a test of will power than the desire to get rid of a bad habit. This time there was no outside influ- ence; no compulsion other than my own determination to do it. A few days later, when the craving got too strong, I bought a packet of good cigarettes and caught hold of a friend who was only a casual smok- er. I made him sit before me and smoke as many cigarettes as he could at a time. He agreed only when he was assured that it was merely as a test of my endurance and will power. Having mustered the strength to watch him smoke, and having enjoyed the familiar aroma in the atmosphere, I felt a sudden eas- ing of the urge to smoke myself. From then on, the urge gradually died down until at last, I began to dislike tobacco smoke. So, you see, I gave up smoking JUST LIKE THAT, after being a chain smoker for so long. Every one of you can do it if only you can summon the will to do so. As Socrates said : "Nothing is stronger than human determi- nation . " • 13 ci CO m Ol c CO "' c CO '=) (jj Q_ CO Q_ "' 3 <D c ;S ro <D .r:_ <D "' <D c :.c u <D ;S E _g c 0 0 t::: CO u