The Last Puff
Sunday, August 16, 2015
There is an ad that makes us shudder each time when we see it
– the ad, which I have seen mostly in the Malayalam version and the way it is
rendered is literally annoying but blatantly cruel in the message. This is the
precursor to most of the movies and we mainly see that in the big wide screen
of a theater before that entertainer for which we happily are ensconced in our
seats for – yes, I am referring to the statutory warning about tobacco and the advertisement
to curtail the habit of smoking.
One of these days from office, I took a cab from work and was
talking with the driver generally about cabs and so on. Somewhere in the stream
of conversation, a mention of health slipped in and I was mentioning casually
of check-ups. He immediately deep dived into a dark tale of self-induced
misery, when he had a doctor’s appointment – the scene panned into the doctor’s
room:
“How many cigarettes do you smoke daily?” enquired the
alarmed doctor looking at the X-ray, the image of repentance.
“Two”, replied the patient.
“You must be kidding, this shows the lungs of a person who
has been continuously smoking till 45 years”
“I meant two packets a day”, the patient solemnly answered,
looking at the big dark splotches where his lungs were to be.
A big pause ensued..This was a turning point
– as he told me this in the cab, I could sense that his eyes were turning
watery. He was at a decently good job in the Middle East and this was a health
check for his new office, thus proving to be a rejection. He also narrated the
initial reactions he had with others whenever someone gives an advice, the
haughty arguments in favor of smoking. He
was tumbling into a well of self-pity and sadness.
As the cab was nearing my home, he hinted of his staunch
decision to curb – the day of the doctor’s visit was the last day of smoking
and he ended the habit in a dramatic way which I have heard from many smokers
too; smoking till the wee hours of the morning and call it quits. All in all, I
had mixed feelings while I stepped out and prayed and wished a positive life
ahead for him.
1 comments
What is that cruelty in that statutory warning ;) ?
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