The Hookah in India
The origin of the hookah is from India. The basic hookah was made up of a coconut shell, called a nargile. In the earlier days of the hookah, tobacco was not mixed with molasses. Tobacco was actually mixed with molasses on accident, but the benifits of the thick smoke and uniform heat conduction created a trend that has continued till today. With the passing of time, numerous variations of the basic pipe were developed by different castes.
The hookah was and still is a common household item in most houses in rural India.
The hookah was a form of entertainment that helped people to relax. Actually, the heritage of hookah culture in rural India is still alive and very much the same as it was few centuries ago.
The use of hookahs from ancient times in India was not only a custom, but a matter of prestige. In ancient days in rural India, when zamindars (landlords) had control over the villagers, the "hookah" was considered a symbol of respect and royalty. During the days of British Raj (pre-indipendent India), the hookah was a matter of prestige among the Nawabs (rulers of princely state). In those days, Nawabs used to smoke the hookah for long hours while playing chess and gossiping. The hookah was used by many rulers in India. Mughals also enjoyed smoking the hookah. In ancient India, kings used to love being portrayed with hookahs.
Hookah culture was also assimilated by the British, who ruled India some 60 years ago. They took hookah culture with themselves to their native land when they returned back.
Hookahs meant the same to people of rural India as coffee, tea and soft drinks mean today in our daily lives. Moreover, the hookah was commonly offered to guests as part of a warm welocome into one’s home.
In ancient rural India and even today, when powerful people are able to take conrol over the law and order of villages, these governing bodies are called panchayats and the head of such a body is called a sarpanch. If a panchayat meeting takes place, the hookah would be smoked as the meeting was in session.
In India, men as well as women smoke the hookah. Women in rural India prefer smoking a smaller hookah than men.
Hookah was not only an object of pleasure but smoking the hookah was considered to cure many aliments of the stomach. The belief was that the vapors from the burning molasses had healing properties.
Even holy men smoked the hookah for relaxation. They would often mix tobacco with cannabis to separate themselves from the world.
In ancient rural India, the method was diffrent from the modern day method.
After placing tobacco in the clay bowl, a red hot dried cow dung cake was placed directly on the tobacco. The cow dung cake was used instead of charcoal. It was prepared by mixing cow dung with small husk particles and then circular cakes were formed and left in sun to dry. These cow dung cakes were also used as fuel in those days. Even today, the dried cow dung cakes are used in rural India in the same way for smoking the hookah. However, these days most people use charcoal, and aluminum foil to separate the tobacco from the charcoal.
Today, cigarettes have overtaken the hookah among the elite classes, but hookahs are still widely used rural India.
The hookah trend is also prevalent in urban India. Hookahs can easily be spotted on the road side for sale by vendors. The current trend for hookahs is moving away from tobacco and starting to use non-tobacco herbal substances. Several modern restaurants are famous for this in India. In metropolitan cities in India, there are numerous hookah cafes.
The hookah is very popular with younger people in urban India. On weekends the hookah cafes are jam-packed with people. The youth of India is ready to pay several hundred ruppees for the "smoky" pleasure of a hookah for an hour.
