What constitutes a public space is anybody's guess, so the life of a smoker remains clouded in confusion
What constitutes a public space is anybody's guess, so the life of a smoker remains clouded in confusion
He is busy with work, and his favourite smoking room is hostile now, flaunting a loud 'no smoking' sign. He sighs and walks down three floors, far away from his workplace just for a smoke. He stands there wondering if it's worth coming back after lunch the distance seems like eternity. For a smoker who in his younger days had a cigarette perpetually hanging from his mouth, his relationship with his cigarette is strained by forces he can't fight.
He used to hang around in a cafu00e9 to indulge in his favourite hobby. What better combination than a hot cup of coffee and a cigarette? Now he has to take a sip of his coffee and walk out of the cafu00e9 even to take a puff.
Very tiring, I agree, considering smokers are high on nicotine and low on stamina.
He is in a restaurant, satiated with delicious spicy food. What better way to end a meal than a satisfying smoke? Ask a smoker and he would smile and tell you it is a pleasure he won't forgo. But now he has to wait for his companions to finish their meal, bear up to the final goodbyes before finally walking out of the hotel just to light up.
She walks down three floors from her office for a cigarette break. The moment she lights up, there is a disapproving audience. The traffic slows and people stare in horror.
She takes her coffee cup outside the cafu00e9, and doubles the pleasure by lighting a cigarette. There are cops who are ordering every smoker to walk into the cafu00e9. They are as confused as the smokers didn't Anbumani Ramadoss grant us the permission to smoke on the road? A road is not a public place, we wonder. She is on the road smoking, scrutinised by many pairs of eyes, wondering if she will have a run-in with the Sene men. If a woman drinking in a pub is considered immoral, what about those smoking on the street? Will they have you arrested or will they send you packing to a detox place?
Those who hoped to breathe in fresh air on the street looked crushed when they saw a group of us sending out smoke signals.u00a0Considering that not every hotel is smoke free, a woman looked positively militant when she marched up to a smoker and announced her anger loudly and clearly, only to discover that the restaurant had a converted their open-air section into smoker's zone.
Every smoker respects the ban,u00a0 but the streets are clouded in a haze of smoke, and no one is complaining!
Some brave souls speak out.
"I have reduced smoking to some extent, I am too lazy to walk out often for every smoke," says Bharath, a software engineer
"The new rule on smoking has not really helped me curb the habit. I now smoke two cigarettes in one break, to avoid taking frequent and long breaks," says Thomas, a designer
"The no-smoking rule certainly has made the cafu00e9 a better place to hang around, but there are dozens of smokers hanging just outside the cafu00e9 puffing away. The streets are more crowded now, I don't know if this rule has helped anyone much," says Riya, a student and a passive smoker.
We wonder too!
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(The views expressed here belong solely to the writer and don't necessarily reflect the views of the publication.)
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