Srinivas Padma: Personal Musings on Life, Growth, and Connections

Youngsters don't start smoking because they think it's cool. They take their first drag out of sheer curiosity, reveals a new study conducted by the Roy Castle Foundation. 82 per cent of smokers pick up the habit before the age of 18, according to the Liverpool Longitudinal Smoking Study. Some youngsters start puffing away as an act of rebellion; others take to it to attract friends and a few do it just to kill time. Young smokers in the city back up these findings. "I started smoking when I was 17," says Karen Thomas, a software professional at IBM. "There was no particular reason why I started. I was just curious. Then it became a habit to the extent that I was smoking 20 cigarettes a day," says Karen, who is now down to less than 10 a day. Kshitij Jain, a student at Wesley Degree College, stole his first fag from his dad, who is a smoker. "I tried it when I was 11, but it wasn't a regular occurrence until I turned 19," he says. "I

Latte factor makes the day brighter and happier for most youngsters. Yes, many can't function without their coffee of choice but the latte factor is more than that. This term owes its name to the coffee culture, but it describes the loosening of purse strings on a regular basis for an expensive magazine, CDs, cup of coffee, a certain sandwich from your favourtie daily, taking cabs and getting your hair done only in the best salon… At the end of the month or year, a huge chunk of money is spent on daily expenditure, which might seem trivial in the short run. But it's hard to quit the latte culture as it is one of the highlights of the day. And you have every reason to indulge in the latte factor in your youth as this is the only time when you have the least amount of responsibilities according to the youth. Rowena Rumah of Ideal Degree College says, "Looking cool is very important so we get our hair cut every two months in fancy parlours." Shoe addict, Mohit Srivastava