Do, if you dare

I have seen lives ruin, homes shatter and promising futures dim out because of one deathly habit, yet I cannot understand the inducements it holds. The allurements of nicotine is strong and above rationality.

One of my very dear friend once asked me if I have to put my finger on one such habit in men that I really hate and beyond my tolerance which one would It be? I did not have to think long and the answer was straight and prompt: Smoking. (Being brought up in Indian scenario, incidences of women smokers is still not common and almost alien to me, and belonging to muslim community the evils of alcohol is equally remote).

My maternal great grandfather failed his lungs because of his addiction to beedi (a rustic form of cigarettes) and that heralded the downfall of his empire. I don't blame him for the consequences of his death, but he was a very commendable man and deserved a better death.

One of my aunt's husband was a chain smoker and died of lung cancer  within 13 years of their marriage. He was a very gregarious man and had thousands of colourful dreams. It took away his entire earnings and savings to try and save his life and in the end he left a void in his wife and two little boys lives, plus some really pressing and heavy debts. and I know how different their lives would have been if he had only kicked the habit and was still here.

My father's uncle invited Asthma on himself due to the same nagging habit of smoking, my mother's uncle died of heart failure because he couldn't kick the habit despite young with several family responsibilities and doctor's strict warning, and more recently one of my sister's brother-in-law suffered a nearly fatal gall-bladder infection as a result of his heavy smoking and had to have it chopped off to save his life.

If it did anybody any good, it was understandable, but God only knows what made man to invent such a nasty habit, and what hooks people to its horrible smoke! Of all thing I know, humans were and are better off without it.

A beautiful poem contributed by a wonderful friend I met recently, Jeanneclaire Probst.

And I do know a few men who won over it and whom I salute for their will-power and achievement.

My mother prides over her father who loved his family above himself, and when his mother-in-law showed him sense, on my mother's birth, to quit smoking for his better health and future, he took heed and never touched a cigarette again. Whenever he felt craving for it since then he looked at my mother and the innocent trust and love in her eyes steeled his will.

My uncle himself is so grateful for that one slap my father gave him when he was caught smoking for the first time. He says it was his wake-up call and he could not dare touch another cigarette for years after that and soon understood my father's care and his own good in that one slap.

Would love to read your thoughts on this post.

All those who smoke, just give this blog a serious thought and which is a better option for you?