So it’s been over two years that the smoking ban was implemented in Bombay. No smoking in public places anymore. It was the dramatic end of the era – the one where you could smoke and drink at the same time. Now, thanks to the ban, everyone has moved to smoking and drinking while driving, which according to a recent survey, is not going down well with many drivers as they say it’s beginning to interfere with their texting.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the smoking ban, especially in restaurants. Now when I order my smoked salmon, it doesn’t smell of smoke anymore. Bars and nightclubs, I’m not so sure of. Women think the ban is great. When they get home, their clothes and hair aren’t layered with smoke anymore they claim, even though the smell of cheap rum and Jágerbombs can be traced on them from two nakabandis away.
Men, on the other hand, aren’t quite sure of how to deal with the ban yet. They’re always torn between taking a cigarette break outside and ordering another beer. When on a date, this decision gets harder. Leave the girl alone inside or smoke later? Well more often than not, the cigarette wins. After all, the girl can always put on another layer of gloss, adjust her bra and check her BBM during all that time. No smoking in cinemas is fine. Anyway, missing ten minutes of a hindi film is a good thing. Hospitals needed it. So did schools and colleges.
The initial resistance has died down and the ban has worked pretty successfully throughout the city. Except in cabs. Guess it’s because our taxi drivers are just used to saying no to everything.
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