Amir Saleem

To the best of my guess, I believe I was studying in grade 3 those days. And the school was of course the one I have already told you about. It was less than 10 minutes walk from my home to school and was usually an uneventful one.

To the best there was this red berry tree half way through to school and I would often climb up a little to get my hands on some of the darkest berries. This would only happen on my way back home, because in the morning the sheer feeling of having to go to school was fearsome enough that I didn’t really want to indulge in an adventure as trivial as climbing a berry tree.

The concrete side walk, beside which the tree stood, was often marred with the blood of the crushed berries that couldn’t wait for kids like me and preferred falling off the tree at their own risk. That particular day, on my way back home as I was only a few yards from the tree and was gauging the branches that bowed towards the footpath due to the weight of the abundant fruit; I spotted a small cigarette pack resting aimlessly in the middle of the footpath a few yards from the tree.

When I got closer, I kicked it to throw it into the sewerage lane that ran along the sidewalk; I failed. The pack wasn’t empty. And then not out of curiosity but because of a strange thought I picked the pack up and opened it. It was a pack of 20 cigarettes out of which only three had been consumed.

I knew what cigarettes were; my headmaster at the school was a chain smoker and I hated the smell, the smoke, the whole concept of a person sucking a rolled piece of paper filled with tobacco and fire at the other corner. For me, it just didn’t fit into a human’s personality.

I brought that pack closer to my nose and sniffed it; yes, it was equally bad when it wasn’t being burnt and consumed. I sat under the tree, took out all the cigarettes and tore them one by one, flushing them down the drain. It was a great feeling; I had saved someone seventeen cigarettes, only if that someone understood it.

Even though I have never asked or told anyone to not smoke (except my best friend Ashar) yet my disapproval and loathing for the act of smoking will continue forever.