Our World of Smoke, Shisha....n Flavour

         
The Origin


The origin of Hookah smoking can be dated millennia back and its initial traces have been found in the North Western provinces of India alongside the border of Pakistan in the state of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The Hookahs of the ancient times were very simple, rugged and archaic in design. The initial Hookahs were crafted out of a coconut shell base. The Hookah headed for Persian Kingdom and made its way towards Pakistan, Afghanistan, many parts of Asia and Arab parts of Northern Africa. To know more about the origin & history of Hookah smoking, read on…


While on the way to Persia, Hukkah smokers came across a new concept of Tombeik, which refers to a dark tobacco that is predominantly cultivated in modern day Iran. Tombeik is washed and packed in the large heads designed in the old style. Hot coal is then applied to the wet Tombeik and this lends a strong flavor to the tobacco. These primitive style heads of Hookah were more popularly known as "ghelune" amongst the Persians. The Hookahs designed at the time of Persian Empire are still crafted with hand using pieces of wood. 


By the nineteenth century, many women in Persia indulged in Hukkah smoking considering it to be a great pastime activity. When Hookah found its way in Turkey, it gained momentum at a very fast pace. It became an icon of fashion and a symbol of high status. It transformed completely in terms of its style and design. It became quite complex in designing and attained its final shape that we find today. New additions were made like the introduction of brass and glass in the designing of Hukkah water pipe. To enhance the aesthetic appeal, mosaics and elaborate paintings were added. 


Hookah saw tremendous popularity in its growth in the Turk society. It went to the extent of finding its way in the bars. The Hookah bar tender was given the same status as that of a chef, due to the extensive preparations required in setting the Hookah. The tradition of smoking Hukkah went a step ahead and headed towards Lebanon and Syria, where it was named Nargile. Later, it migrated to Egypt and Morocco, where it got the name Shisha. In Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates., it is popularly known as Hubble bubble. In the contemporary times, Hookah bars are seen as a social place, where people discuss on varied issues such as politics and several local events.

     

                                           

The Evolution



Middle East


In the Arab world, social smoking is done with a single or double hose, and sometimes even more numerous such as a triple or quadruple hose in the forms of parties or small get-togethers. When the smoker is finished, either the hose is placed back on the table signifying that it is available, or it is handed from one user to the next, folded back on itself so that the mouthpiece is not pointing at the recipient. Another tradition is that the recipient taps or slaps the previous smoker on the back of the hand while taking it, as a sign of respect or friendship.


In cafés and restaurants, however, it is rare for each smoker not to order an individual hookah, as the price is generally low, ranging from USD 1 to USD 5.


Most cafés ) in the Middle East offer hookahs. Cafés are widespread and are amongst the chief social gathering places in the Arab world (akin to public houses have in Britain). Some expatriate Britons arriving in the Middle East adopt shisha cafés to make up for the lack of pubs in the region, especially where prohibition is in place.




Turkey


In Turkey, the hookah (Turkish: Nargile) is smoked on a social basis, usually in one's home with guests or in a cafe with friends. Most cities have hookah cafes where a hookah is offered with a non-alcoholic drink (mainly tea). This is mostly for health rather than cultural reasons. Often people will smoke a hookah after dinner as a replacement for cigarettes. In bigger cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Adana, restaurants may have dinner & hookah specials which include a meal, beverage (alcoholic/non-alcoholic), Turkish coffee, and hookah.


Once the centre of Istanbul's social and political life, the hookah is considered one of life's great pleasures by the locals today. In certain parts of the country, people use hookah cafes to watch popular TV shows, national sports games, etc. and smoke hookahs to socialize.



Asia


In South Asia, hookah, owing to an unfortunate miscommunication, literally translates into prostitute.

Afghanistan

In Afganistan the hookah has been popular for some time, especially in Kabul where it is better known as a "chillam".


In America, many Afghans own their own hookah set at home but do not smoke publicly. It has been a long tradition to Afghans to smoke all together with family and friends on special occasions.



Pakistan

In Pakistan, although traditionally prevalent in rural areas for generations,[2] hookahs have become very popular in the cosmopolitan cities. Many clubs and cafes are offering them and it has become quite popular amongst the youth and students in Pakistan. This form of smoking has become very popular for social gatherings, functions, and events. There are a large number of cafes and restaurants offering a variety of hookahs.

The United States

Recently many cities, states and countries have implemented smoking bans. In some jurisdictions, hookah businesses can be exempted from the policies through special permits. Some permits however, have requirements such as the business earning a certain minimum percentage of their revenue from alcohol or tobacco.


In some cases, hookah bars have been forced to close or consider alternatives, such as offering non-tobacco based maasel. In many cities though, hookah lounges have been growing in popularity. From the year 2000 to 2004, over 200 new hookah cafes opened for business, most of which are targeted at a young-adult age group,[10]and were particularly near college campuses or cities with large Middle-Eastern communities. This activity continues to grow in popularity within the post-secondary student demographic.


In North America, the term 'shisha' is not as commonly used as 'hookah'. Sometimes 'Shisha' can also refer to the Flavored Tobacco inside the pipe as opposed to the Hookah pipe itself.



Europe


In Spain, the use of the hookah has recently increased in popularity. They are usually readily available to smoke at prices between 5-10€ at tea-oriented coffeehouses, called teterías in Spanish, which are often run by Arab immigrants or have some other sort of affinity with the East. Hookah pipes are usually sold at prices between €10 and €70, and hookah tobacco and charcoal is easily found in those same coffee houses, or at stores run by eastern immigrants. Immigrants and native Spanish alike enjoy this custom, and it is usually seen as a lighter way of smoking than cigarettes. Buying one's own tobacco and hookah can be noticeably less expensive than ordering hookahs at a coffee house.


Hookahs are also becoming increasingly popular in Moscow and other Russian cities. Many bars employ a "hookah man" or "niam" which is commonly pronounced "ni-eem" (Russian: ?????????, tr. kal'yanshchik), often of middle-eastern appearance and wearing an approximation of Arab or Turkish costume, to bring the pipes to customers' tables and wrappings may be provided to each person at the table for hygiene reasons.


Hookahs are popular in Kyiv as well and other Ukrainian cities.


In Germany, smoking hookah (locally called Shisha or "Wasserpfeife", "hookah" is a unknown term) has enormously risen in popularity, originating from a large population of Turkish imigrants in West Germany, particularly in big cities as Berlin and Cologne, where a large amount of hookah bars exist. Hookahs are also very easy to acquire and many shops are specialized in selling water-pipes, flavored tobacco and charcoal. The prices are affordable and as a result, many teenagers own a hookah. The hookah has become also popular in East Germany, where the number of Turkish imigrants is very small, which shows that smoking hookah has become a general youth-trend in the last years (since approx. 2001), no more depending on ethnical backgrounds. Hooka bars are even commonly found in towns with just 100,000 inhabitants and less. Since april 2006 there is a special-intrest magazine about hookahs available which is called "hookahMag"



In Italy, hookah bars are still uncommon, but their number is increasing, as hookah (usually known only as narghilè) smoking is currently gaining favor, and is seen as less dangerous and irritating than cigarettes for others nearby (though hookahs are still covered by anti-smoking laws). There used to be a ban by the Italian government on wet and fruit flavoured tobacco, but this ban has been abolished since the production of tobacco in Italy is no longer limited by "Monopolio di Stato." Italy is now itself a producer of high-quality hookah tobacco.


In the Czech Republic, hookah is relatively common in many tearooms (usually cost between 100 and 150 CZK). Hookahs are usually sold in specialized orient-shops and tearooms at prices mostly between 500 and 2500 CZK. Local names for hookah are "šíša", "vodnice", "vo?ár", "vodní dýmka", etc.


In Scandinavia, hookah smoking is on the rise. Cheap hookahs and hookah-related products, like tobacco and charcoal, are now available in the many kiosk-like businesses run by immigrants, mostly of middle-eastern origin, found in the larger cities. Hookahs are mostly used by teenagers and immigrants, but the use is slowly becoming more widespread. Hookah bars and similar establishments are still very rare though, in part due to anti-smoking laws which forbid smoking in restaurants and in public buildings.


In Lithuania hookah bars (locally named "kaljanas") are popular among young and middle-aged people. It usually costs 30-200 euros.


Hookah ('vesipiip' in Estonian, 'vízipipa' in Hungarian) has also gained major popularity in Estonia and Hungary amongst teenagers, where it has caused controversy amongst the troubled parents. The same goes for Cyprus, its used extended to young adults too. In Nicosia it is offered not only in specialised coffee-shops, but also in restaurants and other places, and often it is considered a given.


Word "hookah" is not popular in Poland, more common terms reffering to water-pipe are "shisha" and "nargila". Shisha smoking is rather not popular but in every major city one can find either a tearoom where shisha is served as an addition to a tea or a restaurant where one can smoke shisha independently. Prices are between 20 - 50 PLZ for one shisha (7 - 12 euro).


Narghile smoking teahouses (also known as "chicha bars") had started becoming popular in France, but were hit full on by the recent ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. It remains to be seen if they will benefit from special exemptions or will disappear altogether.


United Kingdom


In the United Kingdom, as of 2007, Hookah cafes (sometimes known locally as "Shisha Bars") exist in most major cities. London's Edgware Road area is noted for a high distribution of shops which serve hookah, but hookah cafes can be found in most cities in the south. There are several bars in Leeds and Bradford.


Smoking was banned inside public places in England in July 2007 (Scotland, 2006). Since then, hookahs are only allowed to be smoked outside, with a few exceptions: if the building has three areas of ventilation, such as two walls with windows and a roof with a skylight that can be opened, then it can be smoked inside.


Hookah is often found in Indian restaurants but is most commonly found in Lebanese restaurants and Egyptian-run "hubbly-bubbly" bars. Concentrations of these hookah establishments are often found in close proximity to University campuses, as on Rusholme's Curry Mile in Manchester or in Oxford, and they cater to a mixture of British and Middle-Eastern clientele amongst students.


India

The hookah was invented in East Asia by a physician during the reign of Emperor Akbar as a purportedly less harmful method of tobacco use. The physician Hakim Abul Fath suggested that tobacco "smoke should be first passed through a small receptacle of water so that it would be rendered harmless."


In India, the hookah is becoming better known, and cafés and restaurants that offer it as a consumable are popular. The use of hookahs from ancient times in India was not only a custom, but a matter of prestige. Rich and landed classes would smoke hookahs. Tobacco is smoked in hookahs in many villages as per traditional customs. Smoking molasses in a hookah is now becoming popular amongst the youth in India. It is a growing trend amongst youngsters and adolescents. There are several chain clubs, bars and coffee shops in India offering a variety of hookahs. The new trends emerging are that of non-tobacco hookahs with herbal flavors.


Koyilandy, a small fishing town on the west coast of India, once made and exported these extensively. These are known as Malabar Hookhas or Koyilandy Hoohaks. Today these intricate hookahs are difficult to find outside of Koyilandy and not much easier to find in Koyilandy itself.