25 October, 2008 - Karma Gyeltshen burnt Nu 25,000 last year.

Hopelessly hooked onto a smoking habit, the 25-year old corporate employee smoked about 40 packets of Wills cigarette a month, which he says could have bought him a posh sofa set.

He picked up the habit in college five years ago. Karma feels he should shake off the habit, but stills smoke, knowing that it’s costing him, both physically and economically.

“If I’d saved that money, I would have used it more properly, like pay off my loans,” says Karma. “But, it’s gone and it’s okay.”

Like him, many smokers, both chain and occasional, don’t keep a tab on the amount they spend on these 74 mm nicotine sticks, that come neatly packed and fit the palm snugly.

While a few may rue the amount spent on this so-called relaxant, Sonam, 24, another corporate employee, doesn’t regret the amount she’s spent. She reasons philosophically, “I guess it’s okay for me, one has to try everything in life.”

The ban has in fact increased the number of smokers, say observers. Studies have shown that, ironically, the more evidence accumulated by science on the effects of tobacco, the more lucrative the business becomes and wider the margin of profit.

Most smokers said that they smoke when feeling up or down in the dumps, when too harassed and overburdened, or too unchallenged and idle, when threatened by the crowd or when lonely in a strange place. It defines and punctuates the periods of a smoker’s day.

“I have to start my day with a cigarette, else I feel something is amiss,” confessed Sonam.

One question, most smokers would gladly ignore, is: “How much do you spend in a month or how many packs a day?” The answer is usually an “I don’t know,” or a smile as they pull another drag of the cigarette.

Writer Nandini Mehta, in her opinion piece for Outlook magazine, writes, “Its hard to explain to the uninitiated that life is about more than mere longevity; that what makes cigarettes so seductive is the very fact that each one is a tiny, sublime intimation of mortality.”

Of course, all smokers admit that they know the ill effects of smoking. That this intimate need of theirs, despite being a mere article of merchandise, reaches everywhere inside them - hands, mouth, throat, lungs, hair, skin, clothes and even breath, unless you have a habit of popping mouth refresheners.

Yet none of them seem to complain unless they get a pain in their chests. The fact that it’s injurious to health - and also the wallet - is perhaps the last thing on their minds. “I don’t feel that I’m wasting money when I buy cigarettes, for me it helps me to think and work better,” says Karma.

We know smokers are gifted when rationalising their habits and so, while the smokers smoke, society fumes. Not that the smokers care, for them not even the cost matters!

The Upside of Downing Tobacco Within 20 minutes of quitting - Your blood pressure and pulse rate drop to normal and the temperature of your hands and feet increases to normal. Within 8 hours of quitting - Your carbon monoxide levels drop and your oxygen levels increase, both to normal levels. Within 24 hours of quitting - Your risk of a sudden heart attack decreases. Within 48 hours of quitting - Nerve endings begin to regenerate and your senses of smell and taste begin to return to normal. Within 2 weeks to 3 months of quitting - Your circulation improves and walking becomes easier; even your lung function increases up to 30%. Within 1 to 9 months of quitting - Your overall energy increases and symptoms like coughing, nasal congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath diminish; also, the small hairlike projections lining your lower airways begin to function normally. This increases your lungs’ ability to handle mucus, clean the airways, and reduce infections. Within 1 year of quitting - Your risk of coronary heart disease is half that of someone still using tobacco. Within 5 years of quitting - The lung cancer death rate decreases by nearly 50% compared to one pack/day smokers; the risk of cancer of the mouth is half that of a tobacco user. Within 10 years of quitting - Your lung cancer death rate becomes similar to that of someone who never smoked; precancerous cells are replaced with normal cells; your risk of stroke is lowered, possibly to that of a nonuser; your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas all go down. http://health.nytimes.com/ref/health/healthguide/esn-smoking-ess.html