Times of India
18 February 2011
By Ankit.Ajmera

Kicking the butt is not so difficult. Keeping the resolve is. Mirror reader SAKET JHA talks about his battle with the life–consuming habit
Like everyone else, when Saket Jha smoked his first cigarette at the age of 16 in college, he thought he would never get addicted. The now 34–year–old, was of the firm belief that only people with weak willpower get addicted since they are too weak to control their desires. He knew his will was strong and was convinced that he would never get addicted. It was just one cigarette after all. Over a span of 18 years, he never realised how he became habituated to smoking a packet of 20 cigarettes a day. He still thought he wasn’t addicted.

How It Started
Coming from a small–town Ranchi in Jharkhand, Jha had just joined the graduate (honours) course at Kirori Mal College in Delhi. Life in the metro was fast paced and culturally way ahead of the one he had left behind. Jha was looking for a quick way to bridge the gap.

Being away from parental restrictions, he fell for smoking and cigarette became a symbol for freedom, independence and self expression. "I wanted to be cool. I wanted people to look at me and say ‘he is a cool guy" says Jha. "Smoking a cigarette was also a good way to get into the good books of seniors. While many fellow students chickened out at the thought, it gave an edge to those who took the risk. Seniors would often invite us over to hang out with them whenever they were smoking. It became a fashion statement and greatly helped in getting over the small–town boy inferiority complex I had."

Right Triggers
Jha stopped smoking abruptly one day. It has been three months now and he has not touched a cigarette. There were couple of things that made him consider the decision to quit smoking.

Few months ago Jha’s good friend, Dr Ravikant Singh, who runs an NGO called Doctors For You, was running an antismoking campaign for children from the slums of Mumbai. Jha volunteered to preach about the ill–effects of smoking to these children. "I was bad at convincing them," he says. "How could I ask them to stop smoking when I was smoking myself?" The next big trigger was when he saw his five–year–old daughter playing with his pack of cigarettes. "I always used to hide from the children and smoke," he says.

"However, by nature children are curious to know about things you hide. My daughter asked me ‘Papa, why do you smoke?’ and I had nothing to say. I realised, in fact, one can never have a good enough reason to smoke other than being an addict. I couldn’t tell her I am addicted."

Embarrassed, it dawned upon Jha that he has been fooling himself all these years. He needed a cigarette the very first thing in the morning before going to the toilet, after breakfast, while travelling to office, after lunch, during tea breaks, after dinner at home and before going to sleep.

He couldn’t do without it. The thought that he might develop cancer was always at the back of his mind every time he lit a cigarette. This time he decided to act on it.

"When you are young you don’t have so many responsibilities," he says. "You only realise that life is important when you get married and have children. I don’t want anything to happen to me till me at least till the time my kids are able to stand–up on their own feet."

Rough Road
Withdrawal symptoms kicked in within couple of days of quitting. Jha suffered from constipation and could not go the toilet. He had chest congestion due to mucus formation and he would cough the whole day.

"For a week I was on tablets for constipation. I inhaled steam every day to cure my cough," he says. His gums would itch from time to time and he would salivate at the thought of smoking. He was angry, frustrated and irritable for almost a month.

"I got annoyed at the drop of a hat. For instance, I forgot the car keys somewhere and would scream at the driver. If someone was talking loudly at work while I was working, I would snap," he says. HOW HE DID IT Training his subconscious mind to not crave a cigarette was the biggest challenge for Jha.

One by one he identified factors that led him to crave a cigarette and devised a solution to divert his thoughts.

Feed the Desire
Right after eating something, he craved a cigarette the most. "To resist the temptation, I started eating mouth fresheners such as sauf and chewing gum after meals," he says. "It worked successfully and it diverted my mind from smoking. Now I keep mouth fresheners handy all the time."

Kept His Mind Occupied
With nothing to do while travelling, alone for 45 minutes from home to office and back, he had the urge to smoke. Though he was never a fan of reading, he developed the habit for the time spent travelling. In three months he has finished a book by Osho and a couple of works by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.

At the moment he is reading a book on Lord Shiva. "It’s the best way to get enlightened and to avoid smoking," he smiles

Avoided Other Smokers
During the day he avoided going to places in his office that reminded him of smoking. This also meant not hanging out with this former smoking partners. "The company you keep defines your actions to a large extent. The moment you change your company, your actions change too," he says.

Stopped Stepping Out
Stepping out of the office during tea breaks was another catalyst which led to smoking. "Instead I hung about in the office canteen," he says.

Spent Time With Kids
At night after returning home, when Jha's mind would wander to thoughts of smoking, he would engage himself with his children. "I never smoked when kids were around me.

I never want them to get this habit. It turned out to be a very effective solution," he says. "I whined and cribbed the whole day about not being able to smoke but the next day I would feel so proud of myself that didn’t light a cigarette. The thing is that one day everyone has to quit. You can either do it voluntarily or decide to wait till death writes a cancer warrant for you."