A day after World No Tobacco Day, model-turned-actor and fitness enthusiast Milind Soman on Tuesday opened up about his smoking habits and called it is the 'stupidest thing' he has ever done.
Penning a note about how difficult it was to quit smoking, he wrote, "Every 31st of May, World No Tobacco Day, is a celebration for me, and also a reminder of the stupidest thing I ever did – smoke!!"
"I started smoking at the age of 32, on the sets of Captain Vyom, a sci-fi TV series I was shooting at the time. There was no reason to start, just hanging out with people who smoked, trying it out and getting hooked. I got addicted really quickly and was soon smoking 20-30 cigarettes a day. Was tough to stop and took me a long, long time, but I was fortunate that I could," the 'Four More Shots Please!' actor shared.
"I think i got off lightly. Probably because a lot of other good habits. Many are not so lucky," he concluded.
On World No Tobacco Day on Monday, actor Manish Goel also confessed that he regrets smoking and it is important to educate people to stay away from tobacco.
"I regret smoking. Now, I feel that while smoking you are not only ruining your health but also spoiling the lives of your most beloved people around you and polluting the environment too. Tobacco kills more people than any other addiction and it's time we educate people to stay away from tobacco. It may be difficult to quit smoking at first but it is not impossible," he said.
Manish said that this is even more important as we fight COVID-19 today.
"The world continues to struggle to contain the spread of Covid-19. Tobacco consumption through smoking has emerged as one of the factors increasing Covid-related health risks up to the point of fatalities and deaths. This was because smoking reportedly facilitates the entry of Covid-19 virus in the human body by increasing the expression of receptors through which the virus actually enters the body," he told IANS.
However, he admitted that it's not easy to quit. "I feel it's a very difficult task. To all those people who have managed to get rid of their addiction to tobacco, I congratulate you and thank you for setting an example to so many others who are trying to do the same," he said.
