Cult of office smokers

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Picture for illustrative purpose only

Tiring work culture has pushed a huge chuck of youngsters working in call centres and media houses in metros like Delhi and Mumbai to either take to smoking or increase their smoking habits. This has quite naturally impacted their health. It’s not only the older lot but many youngsters in their 20s and 30s are often seen having a smoke sitting or standing outside their offices.

“I take a smoke after attending to about 30 calls. It’s very tiring and a smoke makes me relaxed enough to take more calls. It increases my speed,” says Dorjee Bhutia who works in a BPO in Gurgaon. “It’s an immense relief to have a smoke after loads of work. It not only rejuvenates me, but also gives me that much needed break before I concentrate on my work once more,” says Gayatri Banerjee, who works with an MNC in Noida.
Active smokers argue that they are more productive than non-smokers because, according to them, smoking sharpens their brain cells and make them think at the speed of a computer. A 2007 Tobacco Journal study by Petter Lundborg of the University of Amsterdam found that smokers took 11 more sick days than non-smokers did — eight days when you factor in variables like a smoker’s tendency to take more risks and have poorer health.
Smoking at your workplace impacts the habit of employees immensely and also has an adverse affect on the health of others. Although smoking in public places was banned since October 2008, India still hasn’t made much progress when it comes to curtailing the high levels of tobacco addiction.
“I often see my colleagues, Pritam and Meera, sitting outside the office and smoking. I have no idea what pleasure they get from throwing the smoke out of their mouths into the air. Every time I ask them, they say I would not understand,” says Pramita Mukherjee who works with a media house.
Prohibiting smoking in the workplace can have an immediate and dramatic impact on the health of workers and patrons. A study conducted in Helena, Montana, found that the number of heart attacks fell by 40 per cent during a six-month period in 2002 when the city’s comprehensive smoke-free air law was in effect.
“I used to smoke packets while at work. Every time I lit up a cigarette I thought it was giving me more energy to work. I did not realise that with each cigarette I was actually reducing my life span,” says Ayan Kumar Das, who works in a call centre in Gurgaon.
So, do you too belong to the cult of office smokers? If yes, then isn’t high time that you checked your habit? The next time you’re tempted to light up, remember this: every cigarette you smoke reduces your expected life span by 11 minutes, according to researchers at the University of Bristol in England. Frightening isn’t it?