Opinion

Deep in sugar flavoured Sheesha. By Fatima tuz Zahra

Shisha is arabic, from the persian word shishe ( meaning glass), which is a fancy word for hooka. the Hooka has survived and evolved for 400 years in a number of countries, and its so luring that not only are they practiced in the middle east and Asia but they have migrated to UK, US, Canada, Mexico even Newzealand.

Not only has it introduced itself in foreign soils but has also won the hearts of a considerable number of the people, so much so that it peacefully exhales smoke amongst the toughest critics, and yet somehow neutrally remains a trend.

So why should we complain? Simple. We are following the trend. They (as in the foreigners) complain, and have published countless studies and research papers, branding the hooka as worst than smoking. But to no avail, people are unable to resist its poetic appeal, the sheer history and drama behind it, the image it portrays of rich,lazy luxury the fact that we mere mortals are indulging in what the great Mughals, the pashas, sultans and other powerful and romantic, long gone figures reveled in, either that or because its shinny since, fish are attracted to shiny objects maybe humans are no different.
So why are we fussing over the elegant, slim and elaborately painted Shisha/ Hooka? Before we start laborously pondering this, we must know how it works. The jar at the bottom of the hookah is filled with water sufficient to submerge a few centimeters of the body tube, which is sealed tightly to it. Tobacco is placed inside the bowl at the top of the hookah and a burning charcoal is placed on top of the tobacco. When one inhales via the hose, air is pulled through the coal and into the bowl. The air, hot from the charcoal, roasts the tobacco, producing smoke. This smoke passes down through the body tube, which extends into the water in the jar. It bubbles up through the water and fills the top part of the jar, to which the hose is attached. When a smoker inhales from the hose, smoke passes into the lungs, and the change in pressure in the jar pulls more air through the charcoal, continuing the process.
The main reason why people perceive it as almost harmless is because of the great purificating power of water, which is the source of all life and the lustre of the world, its healing and protective properties have long been estabillished in myths, fables and fairy tales, and there is where the catch lies, it is possible only in fantasy, because realistically speaking water does not have the abillity to break down the smoke particles and extract the “bad stuff” leaving only the “good stuff” unless water performs some complex procedure, which scientists have been kept in the dark about, on only shisha tobacco. So it is reasonable to say that it is a misconception, that Shisha is safe, bolstered by the shop keepers and our own desire to believe it. Even if common sence leaves ground for the rejection of this argument, statistics and medical facts don’t, referring to the World Health Organistaion advisory after one hour of inhaling Shisha it exposes the user to 100-200 times the volume of smoke inhalled from a cigerette.
Even though Shisha seems simple, it was invented 400 years ago after all, its side affects and after affects are complicated. Water, our misconstrued white knight whose shield bars the entry of “bad stuff” from our castle, actually polishes our enemy’s armour and gives them a pat on the back and tells them where the back door is located. Sheesha can cause lung infection, coughing, respiratory illness, tuberculosis, as well as cancer, and because smoke passes through water it stays for a longer period of time in the lungs and hence it is more dangerous than smoking. The smoke itself after passing through water contains a high level of toxins including carbonmonoxide, heavy metals and other carcinogens. And if that wasn’t enough our ‘water knight’ presents us with rose tinted glasses so that we can’t percieve the danger possed by Shisha since the moisture induced makes the smoke less irritating and gives us a false sence of security and hence reducing concerns about the health affects. Also there is Tar to be considered because as tobacco burns tar is produced and the quality of coal used and the hygene factors, can we really be sure that the Hookas have been cleaned properly, and that on the surface may not seem like such a big deal but consider the sharing of the Hooka between people poses a risk of TB, herpes, flu, meningitis and hepatitis transmission. and like cigeretts it also affects passive smokers.

But Shisha has evolved in a way that cigerettes have not evolved, like any consumer brand it comes in different flavours ofcoarse. Some of the flavours are vanilla, coconut, rose, jasmine, honey, strawberry, watermelon, mint, cherry, orange, raspberry, apple, apricot, chocolate, licorice, coffee, grape, peach, cola, bubblegum, pineapple and others and we can get even more complex flavours by blending. The immediate question that comes to mind is that these things are available freely and naturally so, why? That is very simple we believe in efficiency we do not want to over exert our jaws with the process of crushing and chewing, and then we want to spare our bodies the tediousness of digestion, so we find a shorter and more efficient way of enjoying the flavours, by cutting out the work of jaws and digestion, and besides it is a delicacy like poisonous spiders it doesn’t need to make sense.
Like any controversial trend there is a safer way to reduce the risk. The level of impact on a smoker’s health is linked to the set-up and components of the hookah . A hookah only utilizing the basic components is believe to have much harsher health consequences than one set-up properly and with various safety devices installed: Since the tobacco in a hookah is roasted as opposed to burned, the density and temperature of the tobacco is paramount to ensure a safer quality of smoke The use of a nicotine filter at some stage of the smoke cycle, preferably in the hose, may reduce health risks Hookahs can also be smoked with tobacco-free flavours These contain Sugar Cane Bagasse with no tobacco, nicotine or tar. This new method of smoking is aimed at replacing tobacco and eliminates its negative health effects but this needs to be properly searced into. But we must be practical do you realloy think that the shop keepers are going to go to all that trouble for our health, when their customers are happy with what they have?
So, should you continue the delicacy of shisha or not? Honestly it depends on how soon you want to die and of what, every person inevitably digs his own grave though it may not be only shisha’s sword point that makes him fall into it. The sole purpose of this article is not to condemn or acquite Shisha but to illluminate it,as being full of risk, so you can now puff out your chest and swagger a little and proclaim that you have lived on the dangerous side and have come out unscathed. But know this that The shisha smoker may inhale as much smoke during one session as a cigarette smoker would inhale consuming 100 or more cigarettes. Well now at least you know that you have been duped into believing that shisha is harmless and you can continue with all the gruesome facts in front of you, and simply say “i’m killing time” or “only once in a blue moon” or “let me live my life” or “hey, i’m not doing drugs!”. Or you may get an ephiphany and swear off it for the rest of your life. Decisions, decisions…

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