Hookah

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Man holding a water pipe (hookah)

This article is about a traditional smoking pipe. For divers supplied with breathing gas from the surface, see surface supplied diving.

A hookah (Urdu/Arabic: حقہ, Hindi: हुक़ा), also known by many other names, is a multi-stemmed, often times glass based water pipe device for smoking tobacco, originating from India. From India, it was made popular as the form we now see it in today in Turkey. A hookah operates by water-filtration and indirect heat. It can be used for smoking many substances, such as herbal fruits, tobacco, or cannabis.

1 Etymology
2 Design and function
- 2.1 Tobacco
3 Culture
4 Style and health
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Etymology

Depending on locality, hookahs are known variously as a water pipe, nargeela/nargile/narghile/nargileh, argeela/arghileh, shisha/sheesha, okka, kalyan, or ghelyoon or ghalyan. Many of these names are of Arab, Indian, Turkish, Uzbek, or Persian origin. Narghile (نارگيله) is from the Persian word nārgil (نارگیل) or "coconut", and in Sanskrit nārikela (नारीकेल) since the original nargile came from India and was made out of coconut shells^[1]. Shisha (شيشة) is from the Persian word shishe (شیشه, literally translated as glass and not bottle). Hashish (حشيش) is an Arabic word for grass, which may have been another way of saying tobacco. Another source states, "In early Arabic texts, the term hashish referred not only to cannabis resin but also to the dried leaves or flower heads and sweetmeats made with them".^[2] "Hookah" (Arabic حقة, Hindustani हुक़ा حقہ) itself may stem from Arabic uqqa, meaning small box, pot, or jar. Both names refer to the original methods of constructing the smoke/water chamber part of the hookah.

Narghile is the name most commonly used in Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Palestinian Territories, Israel and Romania, though the initial "n" is often dropped in Arabic. Shisha is more commonly seen in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Somalia. In Iran it is called ghalyoun or ghalyan (قليان) and in Pakistan and India it is referred to as huqqa. The archaic form of this latter name, hookah is most commonly used in English for historical reasons, as it was in India that large numbers of English-speakers first sampled the effects of the water pipe. William Hickey wrote in his Memoirs that shortly after his arrival in Calcutta in 1775:

The most highly-dressed and splendid hookah was prepared for me. I tried it, but did not like it. As after several trials I still found it disagreeable, I with much gravity requested to know whether it was indispensably necessary that I should become a smoker, which was answered with equal gravity, 'Undoubtedly it is, for you might as well be out of the world as out of the fashion. Here 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.^[3]

[edit] Design and function

Closeup of a hookah of the type commonly used in Egypt. The green glass is the base, the pipe is the metallic tube above the base, the hose is the black and silver coil, and the bowl is hidden by a wind guard. A pair of tongs, for holding the coal during lighting, rests on the tray.

A hookah is constructed from four fundamental components:

the base, vase, or smoke chamber, which is partially filled with water
the bowl or head, which contains the tobacco; the heating apparatus is placed on top
the pipe or stem which connects the bowl to the base by a tube that descends into the water
the hose, which connects to a second tube in the pipe that does not descend into the water, but only the air of the smoke chamber

These basic parts do not vary in function; naturally, there are any number of decorations or subtle variations in form. The heating apparatus is usually charcoal, but in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf, electric heaters are common. The charcoal is usually placed on a metal mesh or perforated aluminium foil, but these are often omitted to produce a denser smoke. The hose may or may not be detachable — simple hookahs simply have a tube into the air of the smoke chamber; elaborate hookahs have three or more hoses in a single chamber, sometimes with filters attached at one or both ends of the hose. Traditionally, hookahs have been ornately decorated. Some modern hookahs bear little resemblance to older designs.

When a smoker inhales through the tube, a pressure difference forces air past the coal, heating the tobacco, which gives off smoke. The smoke is pulled down from the tobacco, and bubbles up through the water into the air of the smoke chamber. From there, it is drawn through the hose and inhaled by the smoker. Passing through the water partially filters tar and particulates from the tobacco smoke in addition to cooling it.

The design of a hookah allows for multiple hoses to lead to a single filtration chamber; this simplifies use by groups. Multiple hoses can, however, reduce suction and makes drawing smoke difficult or impossible. Some hookahs incorporate a ball-bearing check valve into each hose to combat this problem, while others require smokers to block the mouthpiece with their finger when not in use. Multi-hose hookahs are particularly popular in the Western world, where hookah smoking is a social phenomenon. They are not as common in Asia and Africa.

[edit] Tobacco

Tobacco smoking was not the original use of hookahs, as there are many examples of hookahs in both art and archeology prior to the arrival of tobacco in the Old World. In this period, the most commonly smoked substances in hookahs were opium and hashish. After the arrival of tobacco in the Old World, hookah use became more widespread because of the lower level of intoxication induced by tobacco smoking, although the practice of smoking opium and hashish in hookahs is not extinct. While all forms of smoking are looked down upon by highly orthodox Muslims, tobacco is generally more accepted than opium and hashish.

The most commonly-used hookah tobaccos (known as tobamel or maassel) are produced using a 1:2 mixture of shredded tobacco leaf mixed in with a sweetener such as honey, molasses or semi-dried fruit. Originally, tobacco was mixed with one of these sweeteners to form jurâk, a moist, flavorless tobacco. The fruit-flavored hookah tobaccos popular today got their start in the late 1980s when Egyptian tobacco companies began experimenting with flavored tobacco as a way to sell more of their products to women.^{[citation needed]} Contemporary manufacturers have begun to use glycerin as the primary sweetener in hookah tobaccos because of its humectant qualities and subtle sweetening properties that accentuate the various tobacco flavorings. Today, shisha tobacco is often mixed with dried fruit, natural extracts, and artificial flavorings to produce a varying assortment of tobacco flavors, including: apple, strawberry, rose, mango, cappuccino, vanilla, coconut, cherry, grape, banana, kiwifruit, blueberry, Arabian coffee, mixed fruit, watermelon, cantaloupe, cola, lemon, apricot, peach, white peach, licorice, orange, mint, and even bubblegum. This proliferation of flavors is rather new, starting perhaps in the mid-1990s.

[edit] Culture

Hookahs for sale in Jerusalem at the bazaar.

Sheesha dealership in Cairo marketplace

[edit] Middle East

In Arab society, social smoking is done with a single hose. When the smoker is finished, either the hose is placed back on the table signifying that it is free, or it is handed from one user to the next, folded back on itself so that the mouthpiece does not point at the person receiving it. The receiver taps or slaps the giver on the back of the hand while taking it. In cafés and restaurants, however, it is common for each smoker to order an individual hookah.

In Turkey, nargile is done on a social basis, usually in one's home with guests or in a cafe with friends. Most cities have nargile cafes where nargile is offered with a non-alcoholic drink. This is mainly for health reasons rather than religious reasons. Often people will smoke nargile after dinner as a replacement for cigarettes. In bigger cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Adana, restaurants may have dinner & nargile specials which includes meal, beverage (alcoholic/non-alcoholic), Turkish coffee and nargile. In certain parts of the country people use nargile cafes to watch popular TV shows, national sports games, etc. and smoke nargile to socialize.

In the Palestinian Territories and Israel, the hookah is prevalent among Palestinian Arabs and Middle-Eastern Jewish immigrants from places like Yemen, Iran, Iraq and Turkey. Use of the hookah has become popular in Israeli society at large where smoking is already a cultural norm. Hookahs can be found at some coffee houses, restaurants and more recently, at outdoor concerts and nightclubs. Some nightclubs even offer the option of renting hookahs. For example, patrons at club Vertigo near the port city of Haifa will often sit with friends on the lawns outside the club with a hookah in order to cool off from dancing to psychedelic trance music. Hookah use is also common in the Palestinian Arab home where families will commonly smoke after a large meal or at a family gathering. Many Israeli families have also adopted this custom, although individual usage patterns vary according to culture heritage and custom.

Persian woman, in Qajari dress seen here smoking the traditional Qalyan.

In Iran, the hookah is known as a ghalyun (قليان). It is similar in many ways to the Arabic hookah but has its own unique attributes. Use of water pipes in Iran can be traced in to the Qajar period ^{[citation needed]}. Today in many regions of the country, especially Tehran, men and women of all ages visit tea houses and traditional restaurants for the sake of smoking. It is highly popular in Iran even today, and can be seen commonly in many teahouses, restaurants, and similar public spaces. The hookah is frequently served along with tea, dates, and other sweets to alleviate the change in blood pressure that may be caused by smoking it. Hookah prices can range from 5,000 Toman (US$4.50) to 4,000,000-5,000,000 Toman (US$4000-5000).^{[citation needed]} The hookah was, until recently, served to all ages; Iranian officials have since passed a law forbidding its use by those under 14.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] United States and Canada

In the United States and Canada, many city, state/provincial and federal jurisdictions have in more recent years moved to ban smoking in public places. Though most jurisdictions, through the purchase of a special permit, allow hookah businesses to remain open to the public, others do not. This has caused many hookah lounges and bars to close their doors to the public. In many cases, hookah businesses have been able to remain in business by replacing their traditional, tobacco-based shisha with tobacco-free, herbal alternatives.

"Hookah bars" or cafés have been springing up throughout the United States, especially near college campuses. The use of hookahs is very popular among Muslim college students in America as well, especially those who do not drink. Hookah has become so popular, in fact, that some schools sponsor "Free Hookah" events, notably University of California San Diego^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Europe

In Spain, the use of the hookah has been recently increasing in popularity, and they are usually readily available at tea-oriented coffee houses, called "teterías" in Spanish, which often are run by Muslim immigrants or have some other sort of affinity with the east. Hookahs are usually sold at prices between €25 and €60, 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 is usually 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" (Rus. кальянщик tr. kal'janschik), often of middle-eastern appearance and wearing an approximation of Arab or Turkish costume, to bring the pipes to customers' tables and to prepare and light the tobacco. A single hookah and hose are normally used; interchangeable plastic mouthpieces in sealed wrappings may be provided to each person at the table for hygiene reasons, but these are often ignored.

In Britain, hookahs are very rarely seen in Indian restaurants and are 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 clientèle amongst students. A ban on public smoking was enacted in Scotland in 2006, and a similar ban will take effect in England in April 2007. The effect of these laws on hookah bars is not yet clear.

Hookah smoking has also risen in popularity in Germany, particularly in Berlin, where many hookah bars exist due in part to a relatively large Turkish population. Hookahs are also very easy to acquire. During the 2006 World Cup, many booths in the area outside of the Zoologischer Garten Bahnhof specialized in selling the water-pipes and flavored tobacco. In addition, many teenagers create homemade hookahs due to the relative ease of construction and the high cost of a quality pipe.

In Sweden, hookah smoking is on the rise. Cheap hookahs and hookah-related products, like tobacco and charcoal, is 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.

[edit] Asia

In Asia, particularly South and South East Asia the hookah is becoming better known, and cafés and restaurants that offer it as a consumable are popular.

In Pakistan and Afghanistan, hookah smoking has become a trendy social activity in which youth can legally partake. Numerous hookah bars exist in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, and Kabul. Normally the ambiance is dominated by Punjabi bhangra or Turkish music and deliberately oriental interior decoration. Younger tourists or expatriates in Pakistan and Afghanistan can often be found "chill-marring" in such establishments.

In India, for example, hookah smoking was popularized by a small cafe in central India called Mr. Beans in the city of Indore. Because of its success, cafés began to spring up all over metropolitan India. Malaysia too has seen an increase in sheesha use and cafes offering sheesha pipes.^[4] In the Philippines, the popularity is vastly growing, in the capital's most cosmopolitan city, Makati, various high-end bars and clubs offer hookahs to patrons.

Although hookah use has been common for hundreds of years and enjoyed by people of all ages, it has just begun to become a youth-oriented pastime in Asia in recent times. Hookahs are most popular with college students and teenagers, who may be underage and thus unable to purchase cigarettes.^[5]

[edit] South Africa

In South Africa, hookah, colloquially known as a 'hubbly bubbly,' is popular amongst the Cape Malay, Indian and colored population, where it is smoked as a social past-time.^[6] Hookah bars are relatively uncommon, and smoking is normally done at home or in public spaces such as beaches and picnic sites.

[edit] Style and health

The Caterpillar using a hookah, from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

A review published in the medical journal Pediatrics found that the concentration of cancer-causing and addictive substances in water-pipes may be equal to those found in cigarettes, with the heat involved being sufficient to generate carcinogenic nitrosamines, and the smoldering charcoal adding some carcinogenic hydrocarbons as well as heavy metals to the smoke.^[7] Similarly, a study in the November 2005 issue of the Journal of Periodontology found that the impact of water pipe smoking is equivalent in magnitude to that of cigarette smoking.^[8] Ironically, use of the hookah may increase the smoker's toxic exposure, in that studies have shown that the typical hookah smoker spends more time per smoking session than do other smokers, presumably because the smoke is less immediately harsh or irritating. Thomas Eissenberg, a professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University co-authored a hookah study which found that a session of hookah smoking which lasts about 45 minutes, delivers 36 times more tar, 15 times more carbon monoxide and 70% more nicotine than a single cigarette.^[9] Generally, a cigarette will last no more than 5 minutes, which makes approximatively 9 cigarettes in order to compare to the 45 minutes hookah session. A study in the Journal of Periodontology found that hookah smokers were five times more likely than non-smokers to have signs of gum disease.^{[citation needed]} This is of concern to doctors in North America, as 86% of colleges and universities have at least one hookah lounge within close proximity^{[citation needed]}. Other researchers have raised objections to the methods used in these studies, most notably those raised by researcher Kamal Chaouachi.^[10] Hookah advocates counter that existing studies have failed to take into account past tobacco or other drug use, and that it is unclear what ill-effects were directly related to hookah smoking, as opposed to other causes, including past cigarette smoking.^{[citation needed]}

The quick-lighting charcoal used by many hookah smokers may be an additional hazard, because it produces greater levels of carbon monoxide and other dangerous substances than standard charcoal.^{[citation needed]} The quick-lighting charcoal is produced by mixing powdered charcoal with various chemicals such as potassium nitrate, that allow it to be quickly and easily ignited.