Instagram, punching bags to help quit smoking

Rishav, 29, has nearly stopped stepping out of office. The intense summer heat is a reason, of course, but that hadn’t stopped him when he used to take several breaks a day to go out for a smoke.
Ever since he and his colleague, Surabhi, 28, took a public pledge in office to quit smoking, their colleagues at cashback website CashKaro have kept an eye out for them whenever they looked like they were about to crack. They would be asked where they were going, or even accompanied out to make sure they stuck to their promise.

New-age companies are using the power of community to keep employees healthy and engaged. Research indicates that community support goes a long way in helping addicts get rid of substance abuse.

Community support is an “excellent resource” for getting rid of addiction and makes people feel responsible, said Mumbai-based psychologist Seema Hingorrany.

It’s not just colleagues watching Rishav and Surabhi. Until May 31, World No Tobacco Day, both have been putting out a video a day documenting their journey on CashKaro’s Instagram page that has 16,000+ followers.

Surabhi and Rishav have received supporting messages from their friends and family ever since they started this – and at times they also get the odd snarky text. “One friend just wouldn’t believe I could quit,” said Rishav, who has been a smoker for 11 years.

According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey concluded in 2017, one in four adults in India uses tobacco in some form or the other, down from one in three in 2007. More than half of those who are smokers wanted to quit, says the survey.

The day Surabhi quit, she went to clear her dues with the local panvadi (tobacco-products seller). He cheekily told her not to try, saying it would be too hard. Occasional jibes aside, Surabhi and Rishav said the public nature of the challenge, although a source of pressure, has worked for them. Both haven’t touched a cigarette for the last two weeks. Now, they do something else whenever they feel like a smoke — drink water, read a few pages of a book or chew gum.

CashKaro cofounder Swati Bhargava said the move has helped build goodwill for the brand too — someone she met at a social gathering remarked that he too would have tried to quit if he had support from his workplace.


Co-working space GoWork has set up a punching bag in office that smokers can hit whenever they feel like taking a puff. The company’s CEO, Sudeep Singh, himself a smoker, said he set it up because he wanted to promote a healthy lifestyle among members, most of who are young and spend long hours in office. Like some other co-working spaces, GoWork has a gym and yoga zone, too.

But it’s not just venting — GoWork too is leveraging the power of the community. The punching bag is attached to a bell, which lets others on the floor know about their efforts. Many come and cheer, said Avinash (name changed), a 32-year-old branding professional. The punching bag has made him watchful of how much he smokes. “It would be a little embarrassing to go out for a smoke after everyone saw me punch the bag and cheered,” he said. When asked how much he’s cut down, he laughed: “There’s a bruise on my knuckle now which is proof (of how much I’ve reduced).” He and another smoker at GoWork said they’ve halved the number of cigarettes they used to smoke.

Companies adopt such strategies to maximise the number of hours that staff spend in office, and make them feel good, said Nishant Uppal, associate professor at IIM-Lucknow. Policies like these can’t build loyalty, as they can easily be replicated by other organisations, he said.

Cloud-based software startup Freshworks’ human resources head, Suman Gopalan, on the other hand, said while employees do spend a lot of time in office, motivating them to take healthy breaks increases productivity, as humans are designed to do work in short bursts. It could also drive down medical care costs, she said.

Are measures like these sustainable? Uppal said they could only be temporary, but Gopalan, who was part of a running group at her workplace in Singapore, felt that it could sustain if employees eventually took ownership of the initiative and kept each other motivated. The group usually did 10K (10km) runs, but if anyone wanted to run a marathon, they would always find someone to help them train. GoWork’s Avinash said the punching bag had helped create a sense of camaraderie with other smokers who were also trying to reduce smoking, or quit.

At CashKaro, Surabhi found that a colleague had reduced the number of cigarettes he smoked from 10 to two and one more is planning to quit, after the campaign started.

CashKaro has promised Surabhi and Rishav surprise rewards if they make it to May 31. After that, they will be on their own. By the looks of it, their habit might just go up in smoke.