More than Active Smoking, its Passive Smoking that causes more damage! So, I wholeheartedly welcome this ban. Most of the things our Health Minister, Anbumani Ramadoss plans to implement looks so correct to me frm my point of view. Like the 1yr extension of MBBS course etc.(Will write a diff post on that) He should try and ban selling of cigarettes!

After I started working, i see that most of the people here smoke. And the reason they give.. Work Pressure, Tension, Relaxing! I welcome the ban bcoz i feel that the ban will be only Good for them as well as the others who are near them too

Here are some details of the ban:

• Penalty charges for smoking at in public places - Rs 200
• Higher penalties for hotels and industries
• Smoking prohibited in all indoor establishments
• Companies can no longer have designated smoking rooms

Public Places Defined:

So where should people smoke? In their own houses I guess or on the streets or in some designated closed space in a hotel. I don’t feel sorry for them. I don’t see why I should inhale passive smoke when it’s known to be bad for health. I have my rights.

Some people equate the ban to fascism and fanaticism:
What I don’t understand is why people are reacting with so much anger to this ban. For example, an article in the DNA has called this ban the work of fanatics! The ban on smoking in public spaces has been compared to bans against Valentine’s Day celebrations, Boys and Girls sitting together in public parks! What an odd comparison. I am totally against banning the above but I am all for banning smoking in public places as it physically harms others. I am against moral policing but I am all for the rules that will protect my health.

Another article (also in the DNA) by Pravin Nair says:

I just don’t believe it will work. Bans have never worked. Not on smoking…You only drive the problem underground and make it that much more difficult to deal with…

I am not worried smoking goes underground. If smoking goes underground, it is not my business. I just don’t want to get affected by it.

Is there any chance of this ban being overturned?
Anything is possible. The ban almost didn’t go through as tobacco giant ITC as well as the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI, the apex body of all hotel associations) have filed cases against it. Well, at least for now the Supreme Court is not listening. It shouldn’t. Commercial interest should never come before an individual’s interest.

I hope that the various tobacco and hotel lobbies do not pressurize the government to take back the ban.  Everyone of us has the right to breathe in a smoke-free environment and not get affected by the bad habits of others. And smokers and smoker’s lobbies and those whose business will be affected by the ban on smoking have no right to force us to inhale their poison! This isn’t about moral policing. It’s about the rights of non-smokers.

Well, I am not sure whether it will work, but I sure want to be on the right side of the law when I request someone to refrain from smoking.

I am often asked this question, so I thought I would answer the question here.

When someone asks me whether i would like to have a drink, My short answer is that “I don’t feel like I need it.” That’s good enough for some!

But it’s not as haphazard as that simple explanation makes it sound. I have given it a lot of thought. I kinda see it as something I’d need a reason to start doing, rather than something I need a reason not to do. I sometimes ask people why they do drink. The usual responses are “to fit in,” “to be social,” and “to let loose.” I think I do all right covering all three of these on my own.

There are a couple of reasons I’ve come up with through my own observations, that people either aren’t aware of or can’t say aloud. I sometimes see people using alcohol as an excuse to act a little dumber. I don’t mean that in a bad way. Consider the man who can’t get on the dance floor until he’s had a few drinks, or the boy who can’t go up and talk to a girl without a little liquid courage. I am not those people. I’ll dance when I want to dance, and I’ll talk to the women I’m going to talk to without needing any form of crutch.

So fine, it’s not a necessity for me. But it’s fun, right? Why not give it a try?

So, i went on to give it a try during one of the tours with ma college buddies. Well, i dont know whether you can consider that as getting drunk. Because, we drank only Apple Cider, its just a beverage(like wine) made from juice pressed from apples and its alcoholic content is the least among all. Only 7%!

That was in Manali. Myself, Kanthimathinathan and Hariharan were determined to taste wine/beer or something during this tour! We wanted to know the Mystery behind getting drunk! We had purchased 2 bottles of Apple Cider from the Factory Outlet of a Apple Winery on our way to Manali! Before buying we checked out the alcoholic contect of all types of alcoholic beverages they had in stock. Beer, wine, heavy liquor or any other spirit. Apple Cider had the least, so we went on to buy it. We reached Manali, and went shopping. After returning to our rooms, we prepared ourselves to get drunk. It was all so funny. Hari had bought himself a small bottle of 8PM(it has a higher alcoholic content) and Kanthi and Myself had one bottle of cider each. We started drinking. Yuck! It’s taste was so awful. I was wondering, if this cider(with its least alcoholic content) itself was so horrible, how would the other alcoholic beverages taste! And after finishing off the bottle, I was expecting that something would happen! It didnt make me dumber or do weird things as i was expecting! lolz! I was as normal as before! So, we started to prepare our beds for sleeping. Within sometime, Kanthi started vomitting all over the room. And so, Myself and Hari, went to sleep in the next room with our other friends, while Kanthi c***** u* t** m***(words removed upon the request of my dear friend Kanthi, who doesnt want to get insulted further!!! He called me up after seeing this post and asked me to remove his name and put in Mr.X! On further negotiations, we agreed to remove these words instead of the name!) and slept in our room. We still have all those photos and videos. It was all very funny and hilarious. From then on he got the nickname WINE KANTHI!

Eventhough i drank that day, I never really enjoyed the taste. I’d have to hold my nose to drink that, much to the amusement of my friends.

And now finally i’ve made a decision! I don wanna drink. Unless, someone does something to improve the taste!

I listed down some reasons that i could think of for making this decision. They are:

1.Because it Tastes bad.

I can’t stand the smell and taste of alcohol, and don’t understand what is appealing about chugging down huge quantities of what is essentially poison, into my body. And if ever, I want a drink in my hand, nothing beats a Pepsi.

2. I enjoy being in control.

And being sober around drunk people, I see what stupid decisions and mistakes that drunk people make all the time. In fact, that’s the best thing about being sober - you get to laugh at everyone else, and still be able to remember it the next morning.

3.Because I like to drive.

I can take my own car anywhere, leave whenever I want to, and not have to shell out money for a taxi or bum a ride off somebody else.

4.Because I don’t need to be drunk to have fun.

I’m glad I have at least experienced a lot of stuff so far in my life that I don’t feel like I have missed out on anything so far.

Well, this is my Personal Decision. I’d not militantly say everyone should give it up, or that anyone should aspire to follow my lead. I just wish more people could acknowledge that it’s a reasonable conclusion to have reached for myself, and let me have it.

I don’t think that’s too much to ask.