‘What you breathe, is what you consume and what you consume is what you think and become’ a thought that provoked me to share an experience about how a habit affects one’s relationship and puts everyone’s healthcare at risk.

 
There is this person who belongs to the profession of healthcare advertising, who is a well groomed, well educated, mature, sensible and experienced enough to understand the facts and situation’s of life. Many years back I met him at a business meeting. He was very humble and polite by nature. I was impressed by his talks and his passion for Healthcare Advertising. In the middle of the meeting he began to smoke. At the end of the meeting, I casually spoke to him, that you are very impressive & a role model for many and by being in the healthcare business for almost 2 decades you probably know better about healthcare, so why do you smoke? He looked at me with a mysterious smile and quietly ignored my question. With curiosity, I asked him again, he said, I smoke for myself and it seemed that he was upset upon my repetitive questioning.

 
As the time passed, we became good friends and were quite familiar with each other’s family too. Later, his son came into business, and there came a chance to meet him. As I have seen his dad prospering in business, I asked the son who was now in business to follow his dad and gain the maximum from his massive experience. The son seemed to be sad. He looked at me and said “My dad has chosen ‘smoking’ over me”. I, shockingly asked, what did you say? He said, his dad prefers to smoke than to talk with him and the family. The son was quite upset with his dad’s habit of smoking. He also complained to me that his Dad once told him “better do not speak to me, while he smoked”. I wandered here, not only health but also a vital relationship is being ruined because of smoking. The smoke not only polluted the air, but also a relationship, a family and most probably a business too.

 
Friends, this incident, made me wonder, what kind of people are they who smoke at the cost of health, relationships, family, business and god knows what more. They seem to be wise enough to understand and analyze the most challenging situations of life, but when it comes to smoke, they ignore everything around their life. Through their actions, it is perceived that they don’t care of their health and anything around them, though they themselves keep on saying that they care about everything.

 
I feel, it’s high time that one should understand what kind of image and environment, people are nurturing when they are habituated to smoke or chewing tobacco or any other health hazards act. It’s time for one to introspect and look into what can be done to make things better.
Here is a short film made by our team ‘Golden mean advertising agency’ to depict the effect of second-hand smoke on one’s family. Have a look and share your experience if you have come across any such person or incidence

About the Author

Deepak Nanekar is the Strategy Director of an Award Winning, Mumbai Based Advertising Agency, Golden Mean. He has more than 16 years of experience in building healthcare brands and nurturing them to grow. He is known for the deep understanding of Brand advertising and its communication flow through various channels.