http://waternoice.com/2008/06/08/education-and-smoking-does-the-correlation-break-down-in-india/ Online magazine for Indian Americans in the Bay Area Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:00:13 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 http://waternoice.com/2008/06/08/education-and-smoking-does-the-correlation-break-down-in-india/comment-page-1/#comment-927 Geeta Padmanabhan Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:06:52 +0000 http://waternoice.com/?p=606#comment-927 Ah, the "cool" factor. India's health minister has mounted a campaign against film stars lighting up in public and on screen. He is convinced our young people take their cue to smoking from their screen idols. He wants a graphic picture of a diseased lung on every pack. One of his arguments: Two of Rajnikanth movies were hugely successful though they had no smoking scenes. Amitabh Bachchan has written a strong answer to this claim in his blog, I hear. In all this anti-smoking agitation, we seem to forget a few facts. One is the ad agency question: why doesn't the government ban tobacco production and sale? Then, how come cigarettes are so easily available in street corner shops? I mean, I watch a movie, feel it's cool to smoke like Shah Rukh Khan, come out of the theatre, and I can see cigarette being sold just across the street, next to my school, home, wherever. Cigarette is expensive, but I can afford it, man. Any idea what I get as pocket money? And finally, more than three-fourths of tobacco-related problems (mouth cancer from chewing is one) are because of beedi smoking. Among smokers the largest number (many are women) puff at beedis. They are labourers, farmers, construction workers and beedi makers. Do they light up because it is cool? What we need is a huge campaign spreading the effects of passive smoking. If non-smokers object in a big way, you might see a change. Absolutely relevant topic. Thanks for bringing it up. Ah, the “cool” factor. India’s health minister has mounted a campaign against film stars lighting up in public and on screen. He is convinced our young people take their cue to smoking from their screen idols. He wants a graphic picture of a diseased lung on every pack.
One of his arguments: Two of Rajnikanth movies were hugely successful though they had no smoking scenes. Amitabh Bachchan has written a strong answer to this claim in his blog, I hear.
In all this anti-smoking agitation, we seem to forget a few facts. One is the ad agency question: why doesn’t the government ban tobacco production and sale?
Then, how come cigarettes are so easily available in street corner shops? I mean, I watch a movie, feel it’s cool to smoke like Shah Rukh Khan, come out of the theatre, and I can see cigarette being sold just across the street, next to my school, home, wherever. Cigarette is expensive, but I can afford it, man. Any idea what I get as pocket money?
And finally, more than three-fourths of tobacco-related problems (mouth cancer from chewing is one) are because of beedi smoking. Among smokers the largest number (many are women) puff at beedis. They are labourers, farmers, construction workers and beedi makers. Do they light up because it is cool? What we need is a huge campaign spreading the effects of passive smoking. If non-smokers object in a big way, you might see a change.
Absolutely relevant topic. Thanks for bringing it up.

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