Date:10/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/10/stories/2008101059910700.htm

Tamil Nadu

Where ban on smoking is 90 years old

Shastry V. Mallady

There is no wine shop also in A. Pudupatti which has a population of 3,500

— Photo: K. Ganesan

VILLAGERS’ VIGIL: Elders of A. Pudupatti village in Madurai district.

MADURAI: Alanganallur in Madurai district is well known for the annual bullfight event, ‘jallikattu.’ A village just one km away from it has a silent success story where the ban on smoking in public places may not have any relevance.

A. Pudupatti, about 20 km from Madurai, has a self-imposed ban on cigarettes, beedis and tobacco products for the last 90 years.

Shops in this village do not sell cigarettes as part of the diktat of village elders. There is no wine shop also in this village which has a population of 3,500.

Karupanna Thevar, 86-year-old villager, gets angry at the very mention of the word ‘tobacco.’ “The rule of this soil is that cigarettes or beedis should not be available in our shops. If we see outsiders smoking, we gently ask them to go to village outskirts and do it,” he says.

Locals, recalling the reasons for this rule, say 90 years ago a major fire occurred at A. Pudupatti when a person after smoking threw a cigarette butt on a haystack. The rule was followed and gradually it became a norm.

The local panchayat president, K. Alagupillai, and members of self-help groups do not have much to work on the recent ban on smoking in public places. Locals say that most of the youngsters in this village are non-smokers and others go to nearby village if they have to buy cigarettes.

Health inspector at the Alanganallur Primary Health Centre P. Jayakumar points out that he has nothing much to do in this village due to its discipline.