“I’m off now, wherever the road takes me…”

As a young and spirited public health researcher, the presenter urged people to quit tobacco. And then he met Ramesh, a cab driver in his mid-thirties, who listened to him quietly as he drove the researcher around on his field visits. In answer to the social worker’s long sermons on the ill effects of tobacco, Ramesh said nothing.

One day, unexpectedly, the researcher receives a notification on his phone. It is a long message, in Hindi, from Ramesh. The cab driver politely speaks his mind and opens his heart in a way that makes the researcher think, and consider the question deeply.

“You might think I chew tobacco out of habit or for fun. But no, it’s not like that. It helps me work. I have to drive for hours, day and night. You guests rest in the back after your meals, but I have to stay alert to get you home safely. When one is alone and has to stay awake, one needs some company. It keeps us going…”

Ramesh appears to be defending his tobacco habit, but in actuality he is uncovering the hard life of a daily wage earner who toils to make ends meet, and has to withstand numerous societal challenges every day. More so, it shines a light on the public healthcare system that makes little effort to prevent tobacco consumption but wakes up only when a user falls ill.

“If society or the government really wanted us to quit, they’d make it harder to access tobacco, wouldn’t they?” Ramesh asks. “But no, it’s available everywhere. Every other shop sells it alongside biscuits, hair oil, and shampoo. It’s cheaper than tea.”

What do you feel after listening to Ramesh’s letter? Drop us a note with your thoughts.

CREDITS

Akshay Ramuhalli, Bijoy Venugopal, Bruce Lee Mani, Gorveck Thokchom, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Sananda Dasgupta, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi, and Velu Shankar

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Taxi driver voiced by Sanjay Chauhan

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'सड़कों की आवाज़ें'

शुरुआती दिनों मे एक यंग एनेरजेटिक पब्लिक हेल्थ रिसर्चर के रूप में मैं लोगों को तंबाकू छोड़ने के लिए कहता रहता था। ‘भारत मे तंबाकू से संबंधित बीमारियों से हर दिन 2000-3000 लोग लोग मरते हैं। ‘पैकेट में मौत लिखी है वाली अक्षय कुमार की ऐड नहीं देखी?’ वगेरे वगेरे।

फिर मैं 30-35 साल के कैब ड्राइवर रमेश को मिला। क्यूंकी ड्राइवर लोगों मे तंबाकू का उपयोग बहुत आम है, मैं तंबाकू के बारे मैं रमेश को बताता गया और वो दिन रात सड़कों पर अपनी टेकसी चलाते चलाते मुजे चुपचाप सुनता गया । रोजाना मिलों का सफर तय करने वाले रमेश ने एक दिन अपने भीतर की यात्रा की, और हिम्मत जुटा कर मुझे अपने मन की बात कह दी। ''सड़कों की आवाज़ें' नाम के इस एपिसोड में आइए रमेश के तंबाकू छोड़ने के दिलचस्प दृष्टिकोण को उसी की जबान मे सुनते हैं।