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...

Some doctors say that as many as nine of 10 visits to the doctor may be related to stress. But how can you actually reduce stress and avoid a burnout? Instead of staying stressed, a serious attempt must be made to tackle it, so that you can get back fresh and healthy to work even after a stressful event. To control stress, you have to first determine what is the cause. You need to list all the things in your life that you find especially stressful. After you have identified the things you can do something about, and those you cannot control and must learn to accept, you will be a lot more relieved and be able to consciously stop worrying about things you cannot do anything about. Usually, you can find something positive even in the thing that stresses you. You will discover that it is probably not as stressful as you’re making it out to be. Begin each sentence with “at least” whenever you’re stressed out. If you work for a bad boss, remind yourself, “At least I have a job.” At the same...