Confessions of a Smoker

A person and his cigarette.

The cigarette - get rid of it.

Really begin to enjoy and discover the person you are.

Good reading.

Re: # 14

Great job! Not easy but u did it. Half the the battle is won when smokers stop defending the habit and decide they don`t want to be its slave anymore. The next half is hard but can be done, just as u say u did. Thank you, you`ve done your bit to reduce air pollution!

I was a smoker not too long ago. For 8 years, I tried every trick in the book but just couldn`t give up. Finally, after a pilgrimage to a South Indian shrine that I visit every year, I promised I wouldn`t smoke. I smoked for two days after I returned, but was disgusted with myself that I couldn`t keep that promise. The third day I kept off with great difficulty and the day following that with some difficulty. It was easier from the 3rd day onwards, today I have been off Cigarettes for almost 5 years and I have no intention of going back to smoking.

Ya...nice written smoke and other stuff, slowly and gradually kills from inside, but what makes things happens even when some one has to quite, basis on his own personal efforts. I`m not concern with the govt as the govt in my living at one side, earn the taxes and other side puts the lable on the pack.
Ok one more thing any one who reads my comments guide me i have to start writing over in (chowk) so can i get some help in what ever phase i need so.

‘pilloried by society generally and particularly by those who have never smoked a cigarette in their life.’
Those who don`t smoke are also non-smokers by choice, so to be forced to breathe in smoke generated by somebody else just because one may have to share the same space is simply obnoxious. Objecting to that is not pillorying but just standing up for one`s own choice. If smokers want to keep puffing away, sure do it but not where you are forcing it down some non-smoker`s nostrils and lungs. Sitting in the back of an aircraft/bus in so called smoking areas was just eyewash. Thank God the nonsmoking bans are finally working.
The article is well written and amusing, but the spectre of cancer and emphysema are not.

``Now after three and a half years i am still a smoker and sometimes feel sorry for what i have done.``(acid burn)

the way to quit smoking is not to dwell upon quitting --

remember the line -- baydhraQ kood paRa aatishes numrood meiN ishq -- close your eyes and pinch your nose and take a jump in the ice cold pool of of a bad habit -- it will be very unconfortable initially -- that is the second week -- by the third week your body temperature and the pool tempresture will start to equalize -- the urge the discomfort will start to dissipate -- and the lungs will start inching back to their former self --

they will still be black -- but the inflammation will go on subsiding to an almost normal state -- by the fourth week you will ba a Mr. Freeman...

the more you say -- `` I am seriously thinking about quitting`` -- you will never quit -- as I said before in a post -- take a sudden jump without thinking in the pool of self-preservation and live to see another 20 years added to your existing smokers life -- without stroke and without a heart attack.....without cancer and without a stoma in your trachea.....and without the joyless orgasm of a speech vibrator...

...just do it...

I smoked full-time for about 20 years. I first smoked a cigarette when I was 6, along with my best friend, we stole a cigarette from his father’s pack – it was Cavander (green pack). I vividly remember that after my first puff, I coughed for about 10 minutes. I picked up regular smoking in college – which means that I started buying my own Gold Leaf (one or two cigarettes at a time – at that time in Pakistan, it was possible to buy singles). Smoked for roughly 20 years. Tried quitting 4 times (3 times I went back to smoking in less than a month’s break). Fourth was the final time. It will be two years on September 7th – my sister’s birthday.

I tried Hypnosis, didn’t work, tried Zyban, didn’t work, tried Nicorrette, didn’t work, tried Zyban again (with some nicotine inhalers) and it finally worked. It’s not that hard to quit. And I disagree with those who think it might be too late. It’s never too late. The lungs start cleaning themselves the day you quit, and before you know it, you can climb a set of stairs without stopping to take a breath.

Good luck to those who are trying to quit.

I am a student of software engineering and currently doing intership in a reputable software company in Islamabad. I was always allergic to smoke and i disliked this thing so much that i even started hating the smokers. But in 2nd year when after seeing so many people arround me smoking and i started to get thrilled and thought i is a very cool style. Somking fire out of my lungs i din`t know that it was no style but i was doing slow poisoning to my self.Puffing in the begining my friends dared me to inhale and slowly i started inhaling. Slowly the number of cigeratts i smoked increased and i was not able to control in sometiimes when i was in money crises my friends did not supporting mefor smoking. Now after three and a half years i am still a smoker and sometimes feel sorry for what i have done. Making myself dependent on a burning stick. so any potential smoker please beware and do not go near this disaster.

Why do all interacts eventually turn into an attempted show of intelligence and debating skills? I wish people would simply read the article and whether they agree or disagree with the point being made, at least acknowledge whether the article was well-written and engaging or not. Mr Nadeem, wonderful writing style. Thoroughly engaging. Whether you quit smoking or not is entirely your call and frankly, whether you die with a cigarette in your mouth, hand or stuck out of your ass is not my concern but do keep writing because you do that very well.

Though my all predictions proved wrong so far but i have feeling that Nadeem Akram may not be able to quit smoking.
I feel so because I think he never enjoyed smoking. Really! He was too much aware of smoking and thinking a lot while smoking; distraction.
He was never satiated.
And we all know what satisfaction means to one. he was not the one.
I would like to know how his ``winning is quitting`` goes.

#4
[#1 I agree with nasah. That has to be the dumbest statement ever made on chowk. And that says a lot.]

You suddenly jumped to your own conclusion. That says a lot more.

I was talking about smokers not non-smokers. For non-smokers, I had cautioned them in my opening sentence.

But if somebody is a smoker and is unable to quit it anyhow, then he should atleast restrict himself to less than one pack per day. This is not my conclusion, but doctors` advice.

``quit smoking 12 years ago, and never touched it since.``(tahmed)

that is one hell of a favor you did to yourself 12 years ago -- tahmed -- for that you can go and kiss yourself in the mirror.....

#1 I agree with nasah. That has to be the dumbest statement ever made on chowk. And that says a lot.

Quit smoking while you still can, srikant khadiboli jee!! These damn things can kill you. (You are of course talking to a reformed smoker - quit smoking 12 years ago, and never touched it since.)

``But Cigs are not that deadly. One pack of 10 or less is normal. I would say 1/2 pack is healthy. 2 or 3 are troublesome, more than 3 /day is deadly.``(khadiboli)

what kind of stupid statement is that --``one pack of 10 a day is normal`` -- btw are you related to Dr. Kevorkian...?

``I guess it is about time for me to say good-bye to the old friend. It was good while it lasted, like all good things that must come to an end,``(author)

it is NOT about time -- it may be too late for you to say goodbye to a very bad habit -- and like any bad thing it should have ended long time ago --

i don`r know how old you are now -- but if you have been smoking out your pinkish healthy lungs since you were thirteen year old -- by now they must have turned charcoal black --

and they may have aged to where they are the lungs of an 85 years old while you may be around 26 years old --

you may like to know how much damaga your `good thing` has caused to your pair of lungs -- go to the doctor office and ask them to determine how much your lungs have aged comapred to your own age........and you will a parcel of not so good surprise....

however everything is not lost -- the day you stop smoking your lungs will start healing and may revert back to your normal age.....in six months.....so do it today...take a jump in the pool of self preservation -- and live 20 more years....

I am a smoker myself but I would like to tell others is that if you arent one, dont touch that stuff ever.

I dont remember why did I first touch it. I think during my days, the first thing the boys used to do after leaving school and joning college was to smoke a cigarette. Cigaratte was a kind of show of manliness. Some(50%) later continued and some discontinued. But I find these days in India, the smokers are in minority of 1:4 but others are addicted to more deadly Gutkaa and Paan is another matter.

But Cigs are not that deadly. One pack of 10 or less is normal. I would say 1/2 pack is healthy. 2 or 3 are troublesome, more than 3 /day is deadly.

There are few occassions where smoking can be a pleasure. For example ,travelling in a third class compartment and want to go for loo, then a cigarattee will make you get inside the toilet easily.

The best occassion is still on the the train. Travelling in an overnight train, get up at 5 am ,look for some chaiwala. When you get the chai cup, go to toilet ,clean your teeth with toothpase, have chai and then smoke a cigarattee. It will be heavenly pleasure.