‘To quit smoking, I had to help myself in the end’

AALAP DEBOOR, 34 filmmaker, Mumbai

Deboor tried to quit smoking for the first time in 2017, ten years after he first started smoking. He was in Bengaluru for a month as part of an anti-smoking group. “I thought I had succeeded but then had a relapse a month after quitting. I didn’t know how to stop after that.” So strong was the addiction that even after he was put on ventilator after an attack of bronchitis, he wasn’t able to quit for good. Counselling for tobacco cessation never crossed his mind as he wasn’t sure if it would help him.

Ultimately, it was US comedian Allen Carr’s book How to Quit Smoking that did the trick for Deboor two years ago on April 8. “The lockdown was on and I started listening to the book’s audio version every day as I stood in line to buy groceries. I had a lot of support from my wife and family during this time,” he recalls. Deboor also realised that seeing someone smoke at the movies was a trigger for him and he began to work towards overcoming it. Today, the urge to smoke is not as strong. “You have to really want to give it up and keep yourself motivated. If there is quality cessation guidance and support available, that of course is added help, but the ultimate urge has to come from within.”