There is little point of getting through an 19 hour fast and then lighting up at the end of it.

I last had a puff on that dreaded stick back in 2006 and whilst I have been tempted like most ex-smokers I have yet to yield to the pressure.

Ramadan and fasting during the summer months is tough but it is particularly tough on the smokers. Essentially during a fast one must not eat, drink or smoke between sunrise to sunset. Oh you can’t swear and curse on the school run but that is for another column.

Some smokers find the fast difficult due to nicotine withdrawal. It becomes a daily battle and I find the worst time to meet anyone is the mid-morning period when they have not ‘had a fag’ all day.

Steer clear of these fellows or stand there and listen to them talk about how they miss a smoke more than water. Yes, it has come to this. Smoking is more important than a glass of water.

Even then, I actually have a lot of sympathy for smokers as the whole month can be testing. What I don’t understand is how some of my friends will hurry out to have a cigarette almost minutes after the fast has opened.

Having gone through the worst of the withdrawal symptoms why then would you want to start the whole process again? Then one must smoke another seven in the next few hours.

It does not make sense to a non-smoker but it makes all the sense to a smoker.

But there is hope for everyone.

Giving up cigarettes is not easy – it requires a great dal of effort. Like I said I was one of the region’s biggest smokers back in the day.

I would smoke at half-time during a football match to make sure I had some energy for the energy second period. But that all changed when they stopped me smoking in a restaurant and cafes. When they made the smoker an outcast it was time to quit.

I was one of those people who ‘liked’ to smoke and I did not look forward to Ramadan.

I still have a friend who will secretly have the odd smoke during his fast and then waltzes in to Iftar (sunset meal) and hope that no one notices. I’m generally too polite to say anything. Call it the spirit of Ramadan.