In a puff of smoke

A Kashmiri man was recently injured by an explosive cigarette either distributed by militants or airdropped by Acme Corporation. While I feel terrible for the guy who was hurt, the moral here is, don’t pick up stuff by the side of the road and, like, smoke it.

Thakkar landed in hospital after he lit one of the two cigarettes he found lying in a field in Mislai village of Doda district…

… terrorists are probably experimenting with the low-cost idea of filling cigarettes with explosives, leaving them in public places to tempt smokers to pick these and light up. [Link]

“Militants are now using explosive-filled cigarettes to carry out blasts in Jammu and Kashmir. One such cigarette has been recovered last night,” Col Badola said. [Link]

If the FDA randomly hid a few of these in every thousand packs of cigarettes, just imagine where the smoking rate would be now.

That’s right, exactly the same. Only some smokers would need to switch hands while taking a hit off the cancer stick.

19 thoughts on “In a puff of smoke

  1. Wow I’ve only seen bums pick up half used cigs off the ground to smoke em! People randomly locate and pick up and smoke something in the fields??????

    If the FDA randomly hid a few of these in every thousand packs of cigarettes, just imagine where the smoking rate would be now.

    Brilliant brilliant idea!!

  2. Yes, but look at the punch line:

      ThatÂ’s right, exactly the same.

    Nice to see someone else lecturing about cancer sticks. 😉

  3. The Soviets used antipersonnel mines are camouflaged as toys, when they were fighting in Afghanistan. Looks like the terrorist groups in Kashmir have learned a few of those tricks.

  4. “Thakkar landed in hospital after he lit one of the two cigarettes…”

    Literally?

  5. Manish,

    Too many phoreners stupidly conflate the two, but more is expected of you. After all you run one of the finest, not to mention the most cerebrally inclined blog on all matters South Asia. Since I am on the topic, I would be remiss if I don’t mention that Sepia also boasts of having amongst its contributors one of the finest human specimen gracing the blogosphere – Anna, aka, Ms.Puchpan or Ms.55.

    So at the risk of sounding anal – Hansraj Thakkar is not a Kashmiri man. “A Kashmiri man was recently injured by an explosive cigarette either distributed by militants

    Mr.Thakkar is a Dogri man, from Doda, which is a district in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. And does not even lie within the province of Kashmir.

    So there…

  6. Hansraj Thakkar is not a Kashmiri man.

    If he lives in Jammu and Kashmir, he is Jammu & Kashmiri, politically speaking. In practice, nobody spells out the full state name.

  7. No, they don’t spell out the name, but Kashmiri people say they are Kashmiri, and Dogri people say they are Dogri. Two (close) cultures sharing a mapped location. Nothing unusual about that in South Asia.

  8. If the FDA randomly hid a few of these in every thousand packs of cigarettes, just imagine where the smoking rate would be now.

    You know what would be funny (and very painful) ? Some enterprising, indignant desi inventor-uncle, irate at all the hanky-panky supposedly going on amongst desi youngsters these days, creating exploding condoms.

    “That’s right, betas and betis. Try having some secret pre-marital nookie now, and Bunty risks getting his danda blown right off. Bwaahaahaahaaa…..”

  9. Bunty risks getting his danda blown right off.

    Oy, don’t go giving them ideas.

  10. Manish – As I said, more is expected of you. Esp, since you obvioulsy know the diff between Jammu and Kashmir.

  11. donÂ’t pick up stuff by the side of the road and, like, smoke it.

    SNAP!!

    I would love to see FDA experiment with exploding ciggies.

  12. As I said, more is expected of you.

    I appreciate the edumacation, but you’re missing the difference between political groupings and ethnic ones.

  13. On the contrary, Manish, I have been trying to bring your attention, repeatedly, to the ethnic differences between the peoples of Jammu and Kashmir. And god knows, there are differences.

    I could never understand why smart people are so reluctant to acknowledge their oversight and rectify it?

  14. Mr.Thakkar is a Dogri man, from Doda, which is a district in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. And does not even lie within the province of Kashmir.

    I think you are being needlessly anal. Let’s see, I won’t get angry if I was called an Indian instead of a Tamil, because India is a bigger entity enclosing Tamilnadu. I do see your point which is similar to calling me a Telugu which is wrong. But I don’t think many people know the difference between Ladakhi/Jammu/Kashmiri/Dogri etc.. Even I came to know of that only later. I was surprised to know that Urdu is the official language in Jammu&kashmir and not Kashmiri (??.. correct me if I am wrong..)

    Lot of people have an opinion on the Kashmir issue inspite of knowing zilch about the region.. (that includes me too)

  15. For the third time: This usage is political, not ethnic. A Dogri resident of the state of Jammu and Kashmir can be described as Kashmiri in the same way that a Latino resident of California can be described as Californian.

  16. It is true that Urdu is the official language of Jammu and Kashmir. Much like Muslim Punjabis, the Kashmiris decided that their own language was not sufficiently ‘Islamic’ to be used as their literary language. Therefore, they learn Urdu and English in school, and not Kashmiri. Kashmiri is not taught AT ALL. Much like Punjabi in Lahore, Kashmiri in Srinagar is dying out among the educated urban younger generation. It is still strong among middle-aged and older people, and in the rural areas. Also, much as rural ‘Sikh’ Punjabi is considered to be the most pure, hard-core Punjabi, ‘Pandit’ Kashmiri (i.e the language as spoken by Kashmiri Hindus) is considered the most pure, hard-core Kashmiri (pure being defined as least amount of foreign vocabulary, highest amount of native idioms, expressions, grammatical features, and vocab). Muslim Kashmiri has a lot of Urdu/Persian/Arabic vocabulary mixed in. Languages are dying around us everyday and people don’t seem to realize the loss (forever) that entails.

  17. Couldn’t agree more with you, Amitabh. And check out the plight of the Pandits. Very tragic. Poonyin, As I said – at the risk of sounding anal. Manish, I get your point. However, you have listed the story above as “Humor”, not Political. So a little effort was warranted.

  18. NotPC Uncle-ji (Aunty-ji?),

    You are, like, not living up to your handle, yaar? Your comments couldn’t be more cancerstick-up-the-butt PC.

    and Manish, if this is an anti-smoking post, you really picked the wrong image to go with it. Look at that gal! Could smoking look any more glamorous than that!

    off to light a ciggie while tossing my hair about