Aziz Abbas has lectured many people for smoking in a closed room.
The 16-year-old Andheri resident — who is severely allergic to tobacco smoke — does not think twice before giving people much older than him a piece of his mind if they light up in a room he is in.
“(If) people want to harm themselves, (they should) do it alone,” said the Class 10 student, who has chronic respiratory problems.
“They have no right to do so in front of others, especially children. You might be scowled at if you tell someone elder to stop smoking, but it works.”
Abbas is not alone in reminding smokers of basic courtesy.
According to the results of a survey by city NGO Salaam Bombay Foundation, nearly one in two Mumbaiites would ask an older person to move away if found smoking in a closed room.
More than 58 per cent of people interviewed said that they would not hesitate to pull up someone smoking near children.
Another interesting finding was that nearly 43 per cent respondents said that they would ask their boss to leave the room if he or she were smoking.
Nearly 2,000 Mumbaikars in the age group of 18 to 40 years were interviewed.
{{/usCountry}}Nearly 2,000 Mumbaikars in the age group of 18 to 40 years were interviewed.
{{/usCountry}}“The survey, which was conducted to study the actions people would take if they found someone smoking, found that one in two people wouldn’t hesitate to tell important people like their boss, best friends or elders to leave the room if they were smoking,” said Devika Chaddha, project director, Salaam Bombay Foundation.
Over 40 per cent respondents said that tobacco control should be included in school curriculum.
Most parents said that they found the attitude of Mumbaiites towards children’s health encouraging.
“I ask people to stub out or move away if they are smoking near my children,” said Dr Astrid Gajawala, whose son Ashutosh played the character of young Salim in Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire