Our Story
Change happens when passionate people come together. Our summer travels to India were accompanied by second hand smoke and red spit marks along the roads. We hated the smells but were too young to question the smokers. As we grew older we learned more about the dangers of smoking and all the efforts made by public health organizations to reduce smoking. Then, we learned that Indian-Americans use tobacco very differently from other groups, as do first-generation immigrants. Indian-Americans, especially first generation from India, primarily use smokeless tobacco, which brings its own separate problems that public health organizations in the USA are not fully equipped to address. The last major attempt to understand Indian-American Tobacco use patterns was in 2004, before the major influx of IT-driven immigration from India. The Aegle Project was born to address this gaping need.
The Aegle Project aims to understand the usage of tobacco including smoking, vaping and smokeless tobacco as well as the prevalence of Second and Thirdhand Smoke in the Indian-American community including the youth.
Additionally, The Aegle Project supports tobacco cessation efforts towards breaking the addiction to nicotine in smokers and smokeless tobacco users in India. During our research we learned that over 50% of Tobacco users in India wish to quit. Yes, the support system for quitting is very limited. We aim to replicate some of the successful support systems available in the USA to the Tobacco users in India wishing to quit.
The Aegle Project aims to understand the usage of tobacco including smoking, vaping and smokeless tobacco as well as the prevalence of Second and Thirdhand Smoke in the Indian-American community including the youth.
Additionally, The Aegle Project supports tobacco cessation efforts towards breaking the addiction to nicotine in smokers and smokeless tobacco users in India. During our research we learned that over 50% of Tobacco users in India wish to quit. Yes, the support system for quitting is very limited. We aim to replicate some of the successful support systems available in the USA to the Tobacco users in India wishing to quit.
The Aegle Project is an initiative by the Praadeethya (First Light) Foundation, a 501(c)3 registered non-profit.