When I used to travel in the express or mail trains in my childhood, I was shocked to see the warning pasted on the train : Smoking is prohibited, Dont drink liquor. It implicitly meant that smoking is in no way possible, but one can drink if one wishes. Dont drink. Request and not an imposition. Except in the army compartment passengers especially those who are with their family people rarely drink. But I saw everyone smoking without any check.

Today the scenario has changed. Smoking is monitored. If anyone is found smoking he is heavily punished and fined. But in most cases the money of the law-breaker goes to the pocket of the law-protector. I have seen many people giving packets of foreign brand cigarettes to the police themselves. Many are quite unconscious about the presence of children and women.

What the chain smokers exhale is for the people around them to inhale. Smoking in public places has been banned officially. But all theoretical things are not practicable. So still the hawkers board the train with packets of cigarettes fully knowing the meaning of the billboard: smoking is prohibited.

I am not bothered about the unhealthy effects, coz , people know that cigarette smoking is injurious to health. But still they burn out their money.

I will conclude with an anecdote. Some years back, one cigarette company offered a fabulous amount of money to a physician to write a book describing the harmful effects of smoking. Only one condition has to be accepted that the company people will only add one single line at the end of the book. The physician was very sincere to discuss the all probable harmfulness of cigarette smoking.The book was of nearly 500 pages. One line the company will write- so what.So many arguments have been given against cigarette. No body will dare smoking after reading all these dreadful things about smoking.

The book was published with much fanfare. The last line of the book was added by the company : Still people smoke.

Without comment: After the publication of the book, even the non-smoker also started smoking. So many harmful effects, so much injurious to health, still people smoke. So. ...... something is there in cigarette. What an illusion !!!