The Hookah And Her Shisha

Hookah is the South Asian word for a large ornately decorated waterpipe. Shisha is a particular form of tobacco smoked in the waterpipe. Originally the hookah came from India but has since gained popularity in the Middle East, Europe, the Americas and Australia. Depending on the culture, the hookah and shisha may have different names. For example, in Iran the hookah is called Galyan. In Uzbekistan it is called Chillim. In Romanian cultures, it is called Lula or Lulava.

The history of the hookah begins around 1540AD in the northern provinces of India, bordering Pakistan. British author and explorer Cyril Elgood credits an Iranian physician attending to Emperor Akbar as inventing the hookah following the European introduction of tobacco to the region. It was thought that when the smoke passed through the water, it was purified. Gradually, the composition of the tobacco changed and became known in Indian culture as shisha. It is important to note that some Middle Eastern and European cultures refer to the pipe as shisha, instead of the substance to be smoked. For example in Egypt, the Sudan and Arab countries, shisha (meaning glass in Persian) are applied to the waterpipe. In Romanian cultures, the word shisha refers to the bottle piece, not the entire waterpipe or tobacco.

The use of hookahs and shisha among the youth of India is very popular, usually in clubs, bars and cafs. The most common shisha blend is that of tobacco and molasses. Smoking a hookah originated as a sign of prestige and wealth, whereas now it is smoked in many villages according traditional customs. During the 1960's and 1970's the hookah became popular in North America for smoking marijuana. Today, the use of the hookah in western culture includes traditional shisha, tobacco free shisha and flavored varieties.

The components of the hookah are as follows: bowl, windscreen, hose, purge valve, water jar, plate, grommets and diffuser. The bowl is a clay container designed to hold the coal and the shisha. The bowl is loaded with shisha and then covered with a piece of perforated foil. A lit coal is placed on top of the foil so it can heat up the shisha without burning it. The windscreen or hookah cover is placed over the burning coal to prevent a breeze from burning the coal too quickly. Some hookahs have a single hose, others have two or three, but technically the waterpipe is not a hookah if it has a hose as the word hookah traditionally means 'straight-neck tube'. The point of a hose for inhaling is that it allows the smoke to cool down before entering the body. A purge valve is located on the area where smoke accumulates, and is for purging stale smoke. The body of the hookah sits atop the water jar. The smoke passes from the bowl, through the water jar and into the body of the hookah. Passing through the water means the smoke is cooled during the humidification process. The plate sits just below the bowl to catch falling ashes; the grommets are placed at seams and adjoining parts to prevent smoke from escaping the hookah. Some hookah users like to use a diffuser, which creates a cleaner smoke and less gurgling noise.

The use of a hookah is considered a much more harmful way of smoking tobacco than cigarettes; however there are no tests that have provided conclusive results proving so. A quick comparison between the habits of a cigarette smoker and a hookah smoker do not necessarily prove a point either. A hookah session usually lasts about 40 to 60 minutes and each smoker will inhale between 100 and 200 times. Most hookah smokers will participate in two to four sessions per day. A moderate cigarette smoker has 10 to 15 cigarettes per day, all day long. The chemicals added to the cigarettes are not filtered out and have a lasting effect on the smoker. Even with the use of diffuser, the hookah smoker is still inhaling a 100 to 200 times more nicotine than a cigarette smoker. There are not as many harmful additives to shisha, but the increased amounts of nicotine in the bloodstream can cause multiple serious health issues.

The hookah and her shisha are experiencing a resurgence of popularity in North America, and not just when the shisha is marijuana. The South Asian cultural ritual has found its way around the world, along with descendents of the original hookah smokers. Try out a hookah session for a taste of the old Indian monarchical ways.