The Brave Pedestrian

Ever wondered how cigarette and bidi adverts would look if genuine users endorsed them? Well here are some specimens. These are adverts made with real people -- real tobacco users who were, not surprisingly, patients at Tata Memorial Hospital back in 2012. Some of these people are alive, while others have passed on. Image: http://tinyurl.com/Malegaon-ka-superrman In October 2012, I interviewed almost all of the people in these ads -- with the sole exception of "Malegaon Ka Superrman" lead actor Shafique Shaikh (who had already died). And these guys told me, up close and personal, how much they had enjoyed chewing and smoking tobacco -- up until the point that it ravaged their bodies. Image: http://tinyurl.com/Gutka-barons Some of these people are still alive, but their bodies have been ravaged by radiation-therapy, surgery and chemotherapy. Some who were diagnosed with oral cancer have had half their lower or upper jaw removed, along wit...

30th May, 2015 Dear Shri Narendra Modi, Pranaam. Advance greetings from the widows of five former smokers and tobacco users on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day (31st May). We feel it is apt to greet you on this great occasion as the government is a major shareholder in the tobacco industry. Our late husbands have contributed considerable amounts to your government's massive tax income from the tobacco industries, and also to the profits of Life Insurance Corporation, financial institutions, mutual funds etc, who hold about 35% shares in ITC and other tobacco companies. We are writing to you also because, although state after state has banned chewing-tobacco Gutka, there is only one state where gutka is manufactured: Gujarat. It is the only state in entire India that continues to manufacture gutka. From there, it is smuggled to all other states of India, in violation of the bans. Surely you know this? Mr Prime Minister, Sir, we beg to introduce ourselves and ...

Dear friends, The Delhi bus-rape event clearly aroused our nation’s collective conscience, and “Nirbhaya” or “Patient-X” or “Jagruti”, who died yesterday in Singapore, became an icon representing all the victims of violence in India. But, going into 2013, let us ask whether our conscience has really awakened, or whether this is just a year-end orgy of self-righteousness. Let us take a look at another woman who is fighting for her life in a Mumbai hospital. Let us see if our collective conscience even blinks, let alone shed a tear. Meet Rekha Nerade of Nizamabad, Andhra Pradesh. She is 27 years old, attractive and single. Her eyes are asking you, “Am I any less of a victim than Nirbhaya, for whom you have shed copious tears, and continue to light candles all over the country? Doctors are worried that Rekha may not even survive to salute the flag on Republic Day 2013. But, unaware of the full gravity of her situation, Rekha and her elder brother Krishna are worried about how...