We had an Officer in our Department who was kind to workers who had claims against their employers for unfair dismissals. There was one claimant whose religion prohibited him from smoking. Every time he came to the office, the officer would offer him a cigarette and he would dutifully decline the offer. After about three or four days of his visits he found it not polite to refuse the offer and started smoking. That began his habit of smoking. Instead of waiting for the offer of free cigarettes, he resorted to buy his own supply of cigarettes. At first he hid this habit from family and friends but when he became a habitual smoker, he became bold enough to smoke in front of family and friends.The wife got fed up with this irritating habit as she found herself busy picking up cigarette stubs in addition to sweeping the floor. She reported her husband’s irritating habit to community elders. They hauled up the husband and warned him to stop smoking as it was contrary to community traditions. He tried to keep up with community traditions for a while but the craving for a smoke was all consuming and he could not stop this habit altogether. He told the community elders that he was not doing anything unlawful and smoking gave him relief from the pressures of work - and also argued that he saw no reason to give up this habit. On breaking traditions he questioned the need for such traditions when no harm was caused to anyone and relieved him from the pressures of work. He advised the community leaders that they should solve the problems of the community rather than trying to discipline members of the community for perceived wrong doings.
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