It\'s allright to smoke or booze

[just_one_in_crowd]

I thought of starting this topic as \'It\'s bad/wrong to smoke or booze\', but felt i may sound too outdated... Gone are the days where smoking or having a few drinks is considered bad. These are days when it\'s considered quite allright and normal to do. What made such a big change? Why was it wrong before and why is it ok now? And by the way, can someone tell what\'s wrong in doing these things? \'Cause I always failed to win an argument saying these things are wrong, it always proved allright to smoke/booze when we do a logical analysis. Is there anything beyond health or moral reasons which would defend the cause against smoking???

[laskar_sikandrabadi]

\"A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want? \" Thus spoke Wilde, Oscar.

Add booze to it and one has the world to himself!!

[Anita]

there is nothing wrong as long as you know when to stop. problem is our guys when compared to the western guys don\'t have self-control. they start with a feeling that they can stop it whenever they want, but finally they end up behaving like a wild animal to get that one. Anything will be good and allright as long as you don\'t become a slave to that.

[popesmokesdope]

\"sex, drugs and rock \'n roll / speed, weed and birth control / life\'s a bitch and then we all die / so screw the world and lets get HIGH!\" I guess that should answer you...

[bugsbaba]

Adding to that, they ruin not only their lives but also of the people who care for them. That just speaks of the hallowness and irresposibility of an individual. Stop a while, reflect on yourself, and ppl who care for you, you will turn out to be a better individual

[just_one_in_crowd]

Little curios to know... how did you find that western people have self control and not Indians. Is it not the west who is worst hit by drug abuse?

The very nature of cigarette/drink is that they are addictive, almost every one starts with false assumption of stopping them at some point. By the time they realize its time to stop, its too late, they almost get addicted to it and find it impossible to come out. So there is no tangible point where one can decide to stop. The only point they need to stop is at the start itself. Won\'t you agree..

[just_one_in_crowd]

perfect type of a perfect pleasure.....shouldn\'t we make it a must right from the school then??? )

[Aishwarya]

if there is nothing wrong anitha ... try smoking or drinking in front of your mom and dad.. lets se what they have to say to that!

[vivek of themavericks]

Every species has some way to socialise - dogs wag tails - dolphins neck... Likewise, smoking and boozing are nice ways to socialise... just as a tool. Not the only tool. I know you guys will hit on me. There is nothing wrong, two strangers (guys) can straightway get to talking like they were pals when both smoke and one offers a fag. Casual life / business discussions happen smoothly on a bar table. Try doing this in a park or some other place. The excitement is less. And, boys and men need something to constantly remind them that they are men. Some strong men need not have any reminder, but most of \'em do. Yes, smoke and booz do harm, but so does polution and so does a broken friendship. You meet an old pal he and you share a fag... all old days just come flashing. Cause there is a sense of informality created. I am not supporting these habits, but the point is, there is nothing wrong either. Now, smoking 10 fags a day and say lotsa beer is bad. Perhaps thats the reason that beer is not sold in supermarkets like in other place. Indians become nuisance value if booz is available everywhere!

[vivek of themavericks]

In front of mom and dad! Look, mom and dad don`t wanna know what we do all the time. nothin wrong in boozing - boozing in front of mom and dad is wrong. Nothing wrong in surfing porn, doing that in front of mom and dad is wrong! Nothing wrong in swearing, doing that in front of mom and dad is. They want us to be independent, so doing everything in front of mom and dad is wrong! I am sorry lady... bad argument you have!

[vivek of themavericks]

There is a limit to everything in universe... you can touch your friend and you can poke your nose... doesn`\'t mean you can poke your friend\'s nose. You\'ve got to know when to do what and how.

[Aparna]

Vivek all the things that you mentioned are \"sort of wrong\" it is just that the degree varies... and yeah like you said we still do them(it is a a different thing altogether that sometimes we indulge in some perverted fun)but the fact remains that boozing and fagging are wrong,for one that they are not good for health and for socialising... where does one draw the line and how can one be sure that it will only end there?why start something which you are not sure that you can stop!

[just_one_in_crowd]

Thanks for participating and coming out with some valid points. But...

\"And, boys and men need something to constantly remind them that they are men. Some strong men need not have any reminder, but most of \'em do.\".... If you go to any village in india you will see lot of old women smoking bidi or a county cigar...and in west female smokers are in equal number as male smokers. what is the reminder they are getting??? I feel your point is wrong. And...\"Casual life / business discussions happen smoothly on a bar table.\"... How could you safely forget that fights and big time crimes are also planned and happen across the tables in bars. If business meeting happen across the tables in the bar, its just because both the parties found a good reason to gulp their favorite drink.

[ravi]

habits should be like a stick to use
but not like a clutch to lean on
so, smoking or boozing should only be practised when its needed that\'s when u r among group of friends or else

[vivek of themavericks]

Ya but the problem is smokers and boozers are always with friends!.They are alone only when they are in toilets

[Venky]

Hey Ash util somebody feels something wrong, which may be right in other\'s context, it will be wrong to him. We are habituated to such environment when smoking and boozing is considered as immoral, but just come out of your circle of thought and think that boozing and smoking is just an act by a individual and is right, then u won\'t feel like saying that it is wrong (u feel it just like other needs). It\'s not I am favouring these attributes. So the bad and good depends on the way we humans handle it. We made stringent boundaries(culture) around us, these things falls out of this circle, just try to increase the diameter of this circle so that these things fall in it, then u will say doing all this is right! I am right?

[Srinu]

well... values change my friends. why just smoking and boozing, a lot of other values changed. dont think i need to list them out. its part of the evolution. my parents would be shocked abt a lot of things i do today. am sure so would we when we have our kids and they grow up... then maybe a lot of things that are \"unacceptable\" now... would not only be acceptable but a way of living. as for socializing, yeah, it helps.. but is it bcos we THINK its the best way.. why cant we socialize over a glass of cool lassi or a nice juice... food for thought... er.. juice for thought

[popesmokesdope]

save water...drink beer. / beauy lies in the eyes of the beer holder.

[Aishwarya]

Nice name Venky... according to your theory everything can be justified but thats not the case right.. infact that shouldnt be the case.. it is different to be open and broad minded but then having no priniciples.. thats unacceptable.. a house with doors and windows lets the beautiful wind in and it is refreshing but a house without walls is no house at all!

[Venky]

Ya.. definitly we can frame r own social circles. It\'s u r thinking that we can frame it for lassi and what not, similarly one can argue for a mug of beer and something else. But it\'s just the way and boundaries of thinking tha t matters right. You the law the world this universe and everything is expanding outwards not the inwards i.e boundaries are expanding so that everything come into the circle similarly the culture. So the thinking of ppl. should change for accepting changes and more over it\'s very free world for all.

[ex-hyderabadi2]

As a former smoker and social drinker, I have a couple of points. When you take a drink you are not effecting anyone else. When you smoke, you are effecting everyone around you! I didn\'t realize, until I quit smoking cold turkey and then I used to find the smell disgusting when somebody was smoking near me! When you drink socially, you tend to ease up a little and conversation is a lot more casual. conversation between sexes is also more free.

Ashok

[just_one_in_crowd]

Venky its right that thinking of people should change.... , but what kind of change are we talking here, we can\'t get standards like we have for weights and measurements or something else. I feel morals, ethics, values are time and place dependent. What was bad few days back is alright now What is right in some country may be totally wrong somewhere else. At present, in India we are slowly accepting smoking or boozing as ok. But drugs are big no no even for people who accept smoking/drinking. But in West and America they are one step ahead of us, they are questioning the morality of those who oppose the use of drugs and in Spain, Italy and Netherlands using drugs is very minor issue/ as common as smoking and the laws are quite liberal and minimal for drug abuse. Similarly in some cultures in world its not wrong to have sex among siblings, For us its....well, we cant even think of that. And as Vivek had commented if smoking is injurious so as pollution and n number of other factors. Its quite a logic. So we can not say something of this sort is wrong if we try to take a logical reasoning or question the morality of the issue. But if we think deep and try to understand the greater purpose of our life we definitely get the some answers. We have to be quite convinced here that the greater purpose of life is to realize the ultimate truth. I recently had chance to browse through Bhagvathgeeta, I was quite surprised to see that it has clearly classified things we enjoy into good, bad and worst. Though I do not want to go into the details, It candily puts the things that give us a momentary high into the worst category. These are the things that would mislead us in our pursuit to realize the truth. These are the things that would make us forget about the real purpose of life. And those who find happiness in those worst category are hopeless, they can never find a way out this cycle of life and death or the illusion on earth. So as long as we do not rise our thinking to a spiritual level we miserably fail to distinguish between right and wrong. Smoking, drinking, watching/or acting in pornos, being a gay/lesb, spending endless time in front of TV, rock n roll, hating Pakistan/ America..etc etc are all Right as long as we do not believe the greater purpose of our life on earth.

[popesmokesdope]

ahem...boozing is devoid of any kinda logic. a lot of ppl are of the impression that boozing means drinking ...boozing actually is excessive drinking, i have seen guys taking a tablespoon of beer an claiming that they boozed! so much for ignorance. Viveks logic attributing smoking to that of pollution is illogical ..its like saying life is meaningless..death inevitable ..so murder by the 180 degree is justified. one more thing dude, bhagavad gita and other fine arts of calligraphy were written like a long time back, things have changed a lot and most things said in that doesnt hold good. vedas might be the truth and upanishads the light....but these works actually try and make you think for urself and NOT embrace the things as said in that . and as far the purpose of life is concerned you are just born to enjoy life ..in whatever form and that is the ultimate truth. be it spiritual or metaphysical or incest-driven all paths lead to the ultimate truth--> enjoy life. life is too short to contemplate on things which are wrong and right, it is just that u should be responsibe for urself. And rawk \'n role rulz!! \\m/ . my karma ran over your dogma...

[llucifer-in-disguise]

terrific reply popesmoke dope, my full votes n support to you.....in telugu there is a saying \" adedo cheyyaleni vaadiki mangalavaaram addochindanta\".....what seperates a man from a man is the ability to control things, if you can drink 1 crate of beer and still drive carefully then you can, kaani popesmokedopeu , neeku telisina vishayame gaaa 90% shaatam mandi sariggaaa cheyaleru ani, eppudu mangalavaram antaru ani, vaalle ekkuvagaa eeh bagawadgeetha , sodi, unkollameeda padi edavatam gatra chestuntaaru......any way i like your posting ....continue that n enjoy...

[popesmokesdope]

LID, great you understood what I meant...and thnx for the encouraging words pal...but i did not get what u said about baghavad gita [i dunno telugu ]...