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Sunday, May 9, 2004 |
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Sunday, May 9, 2004 |
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Some laudable steps have been taken to ban smoking. For instance, the Indian Railways has banned smoking in trains. This is a welcome gesture because earlier the smoke emitted from a smoker’s mouth was more than then emitted from the train engine. Mumbai has also banned smoking in public places, something that is likely to give Shah Rukh Khan the jitters. It is also commendable that from May 1 all tobacco-related ads have been banned in the media. I have observed that in the film world and in advertising agencies, many people smoke openly. Most of these so-called creative writers and creative directors throw rings of smoke in the air while creating ad campaigns, even if the ad they are making is an anti-smoking one. Smokers pretend they are the best thinkers and creative persons, not realising that they themselves are willingly moving towards destruction. In this context, it is really appreciable that this Kochi institute, in collaboration with the WHO and National Public Health Institute of Finland, has announced awards for those who quit smoking. The prize worth $ 10,000 awaits the winner. In offices, a senior can always snub a junior for smoking but it is just impossible for a junior to reprimand his senior and say, "Sir, I don’t like smoking". A doctor warned his chain-smoking patient, "You will have to quit smoking forever." The patient said, "Doctor, that’s very easy. I have done that dozens of times." |
AMRUTHA
Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, has announced prizes for those who
quit smoking. Anyone who is above 18,and has been smoking for more than
a year is eligible for participation. This doesn’t mean that if you are
a non-smoker, then you should start smoking just to qualify for the prize
to be announced next year. According to an estimate, there are already
1.84 crores smokers in India. Smoking should be discouraged as there are
25 tobacco-related diseases.