There were only two days left to the start of 2005.
As Colonel Umar lit what seemed like just another of the 30 cigarettes he smoked every single day, his 14-year-old daughter Anaam had a question: “Dad, why do you smoke all the time? I don’t like it.”
Colonel Umar chuckles as he remembers exactly what he told his daughter. “I told her: ‘I’ll quit right after I finish these last four cigarettes!’”
This wouldn’t be the first time that Colonel Umar, who now serves as AKU's D
irector of Security, would try to give up smoking. He had been a chain smoker for 19 years ever since he was introduced to cigarettes in his early army days in 1985.
Whenever he tried to drop the habit, and he had tried on a number of occasions, he would learn just how addictive cigarettes are. He clearly remembers the first few days of his attempts to give up cigarettes as being “unbearable”. He shakes his head as he recalls the urge to smoke being so strong that he could only hold out for five days maximum before returning to his one-and-a-half pack a day habit.
He knew that keeping his promise to his daughter to give up cigarettes for good was going to be challenging. But then he tried something different. A colleague and fellow chain smoker was also committed to quitting smoking and so they decided to do it together, to help maintain each other’s spirits. In true army style, the interaction soon turned into a friendly competition with each determined to outlast the other.
“Make sure to celebrate the landmarks. It’s a big thing to go 10 days without smoking,” he said.
“Also make sure you have a strong reason to quit,” he advises. “It could be that you want to save money, it could be because you’re worried about your family’s health or it could be a competition with someone.”
Now, Colonel Umar looks back to the day he decided to quit smoking with pride. “December 29, 2005, that really was my last cigarette. I haven’t smoked for 11 years.”
The achievement is a matter of pride for the family too and Colonel Umar’s daughter joyously tells all her friends that she was the reason her father’s health improved.
Once so hooked on cigarettes that the only time he didn’t smoke was when he was asleep, nowadays he doesn’t miss cigarettes at all.
“I used to wake up and reach for a cigarette. It was the first thing I did before I woke up. I would smoke after every meal, every cup of tea and before I started any major task. My life revolved around smoking. A cup of tea or a meal was really just an excuse to light up afterwards.”
Things are very different now and Colonel Umar doesn’t feel the need for cigarettes at all. In fact, he feels a sense of liberation.
“I feel free now. I’m no longer chained to the cigarette. There always used to be something in my mind when I was a smoker. A restlessness - that I have to do something. I would always be thinking, ‘I have to buy a pack now for tomorrow… I have had tea now so I should have a cigarette… I’m going to start something big now, I should have a smoke’. That is no longer the case.”
Besides feeling more relaxed, Colonel Umar has noticed a huge improvement in his quality of life. Like other smokers, he has found that his other senses have been heightened since he started a smoke-free lifestyle.
“I felt like I was in a new world after letting go of cigarettes. My taste buds felt alive again. I previously wouldn’t enjoy food so much as I couldn’t feel the taste. In fact, I only used to eat so that I could smoke after that! Food tastes better when you stop smoking.
“Also when you smoke you don’t realize how bad you smell. The room that you live in stinks; people tell you about the odour but you don’t realise it. Now a smoker comes and sits next to me and I’m struck by how bad that person smells!”
Another daily benefit that he feels is in his breathing. The morning cough that plagues most smokers is a thing of the past now.
“I used to cough a lot before I quit. I could really feel it as I used to cough a great deal. That has disappeared since I quit smoking,” Colonel Umar remembers.
Looking back, he wishes that he never even started. He recalls that he first smoked during his first few days in the Army. All his friends smoked and they teased him for refusing a stick of Dunhill by saying that smoking was the sign of a real man.
“That first puff was very dangerous. I used to hate smoking. I didn’t even like it when my father smoked. Come to think of it, it’s really silly that people say that real men smoke. It makes no sense at all. It’s been 11 years since I’ve quit and I’m still proud of my decision,” Colonel Umar adds.
The article is part of the AKU’s efforts to mark World No Tobacco Day.