Here (in India) everybody uses a hookah, and it is impossible to get on without’. ... I have frequently heard men declare they would much rather be deprived of their dinner than their hookah.” So wrote William Hickey in the manuscript of his “Memoirs” shortly after his arrival in Calcutta in 1775. Hickey, born in 1749, was a lawyer, bon-viveur and general man-about-town best known for this book. Hickey’s “Memoirs” give an extraordinarily vivid picture of life in late 18th-century London, Calcutta, Madras and Jamaica.
For the young and trendy, then and now once more, the hookah (water-pipe) is a social activity. You sit around, you talk, you inhale. Instead of saying, “Let’s go out to eat or to a movie,” you say, “Let’s have a hookah!” Like in the Ottoman times, ritual, tradition and culture are associated with the hookah. Often it is even smoked after a family dinner.
Have you ever thought about how the name, hookah, came about? It began in India, and was most commonly used by English-speakers who first sampled the effects of the water-pipe while in that country. If you have ever had the opportunity to travel to the Near and Far East to places such as Pakistan, India and China you will find some similarities to Turkish culture.
The Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries are also similar in some ways. Nargile, widely used across the region, is the name most commonly used in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Israel, Bulgaria and Romania, though the initial “n” is often dropped in Arabic.
Just be ready the next time you are with some friends or invited to someone’s home -- you may be invited to try a hookah. Just because the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland smoked, it doesn’t mean we all have to. Remember Hickey’s response!
Is it really a way to chill out or is it fashion? Is it a health hazard?
Some folks have written and asked me, “Isn’t smoking from a hookah better for me than smoking cigarettes?” I just quote the article “The Latest on Hookahs: What You Don’t Know Can Kill You” by Kamlesh Asotra (2005) which answers the question, saying: “Smoking on a hookah for 45 minutes is equivalent to the toxins in a whole pack of cigarettes.” Asotra also raises the point of the effects of second-hand smoke.
An anti-tobacco Web site raises the question “Who are these tobacco companies advertising to when they make bubble-gum, banana and watermelon flavored tobacco?” Today we might see these fruit flavors as indirect advertisements to young people.
Here is another creative way to use tobacco:
Gail in Florida writes: “To date, I have lost a total of 85 pounds and six dress sizes in my new diet. A chewing-tobacco habit helped me lose weight. Wait! It’s not what you’re thinking. I’ll explain.”
Gail is a teacher in Texas. One morning as class was starting she noticed one of her teenage students walk past with a big wad of something stuffed in his lower lip. The student admitted he was chewing tobacco. “Miss Gail, I know it’s wrong to dip, but I only do it every once in a while. And all the other guys do it!”
Gail said, “You need to kick that habit!”
Bad habits are hard to kick! Gail understood this because she was 100 pounds overweight. She had her own addiction -- excessive eating. “John, give me your chewing tobacco,” she commanded. She took his pack of tobacco home and set it on the kitchen counter.
She never touched the tobacco, but every time she saw it she thought of her student and his struggle with his habit. This daily reminder helped her to be careful in her struggle not to overeat, and she started to eat less. She feels like a new woman now.
As John noticed her losing weight, he gained the strength to stop chewing.
I really like Gail’s approach on trying to diet!
Note: Keep your questions and observations coming: I want to ensure this column is a help to you, Today’s Zaman’s readers. Email: c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com
